Outdoor Movies | Open Air Cinema | Backyard Theater » Iraq http://www.openaircinema.us/blog Outdoor Movies and Open Air Cinema with an Inflatable Backyard Theater Screen Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:45:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Baghdad, Iraq: Iraqis Defy Bomb Threat to Attend Outdoor Movie Nights http://www.openaircinema.us/blog/2009/baghdad-iraq-iraqis-defy-bomb-threat-attend-outdoor-movie-nights/ http://www.openaircinema.us/blog/2009/baghdad-iraq-iraqis-defy-bomb-threat-attend-outdoor-movie-nights/#comments Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:42:15 +0000 Open Air Cinema http://blog.openaircinema.us/blog/?p=6224

Small crowds of Iraqi movie-goers defied the threat of bomb attacks this week to watch films at a outdoor cinema, an event unimaginable for years as violence swirled.

Huddled against winds blowing off the Tigris, viewers laughed beneath the bombed facade of the Foreign Ministry at a screening of “Taqweem Shakhasi” (“Personal Calendar”) which pokes fun at Iraqis unable to remember the days of the week as they contend with the confusion brought on by war.

Less than four months ago, two truck bombs ripped through this site and the Finance Ministry, killing 95 people.

But as relative calm returns to Baghdad, its residents are gradually indulging in activities they enjoyed before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. In November, 88 civilians were killed by violence, the lowest monthly death toll in 6-1/2 years.

At least 100,000 people have died since the invasion and in the sectarian warfare it sparked.

“Just the idea of showing movies is in itself a risk,” said Aliya al-Maliki, a local poet wearing a woollen jumper and cap who attended a movie showing Thursday night with her mother and about 50 other Iraqis. “By coming here, we are sending a message to terrorists that we are willing to challenge death.”

Dubbed the Mobile Cinema Festival by its young creators, screenings were scheduled on four nights this week at sites around the capital where insurgents have staged deadly attacks. The festival has also travelled to five towns outside Baghdad.

RESPONSE TO ATTACKS

The screen showing “Personal Calendar” was propped up against blast walls decorated with candles placed in bags.

“Choosing these places is a response to the terrorist attacks and to show is a civilised society,” said Mohammad Hashim, an actor in the award-winning film “” (“Dreams”) made by the same group as “Personal Calendar.”

Atiya al-Darraji, whose company produced the films, said Iraqis were unaware of the country’s filmmaking efforts. “They have no idea what has been made here since the war,” he said.

“Dreams” was Iraq’s submission to the 2006 Academy Awards.

Before the U.S.-led invasion, movie-going was fashionable among families and couples who visited Iraq’s 60 or so cinemas to watch Hollywood action films starring actors such asArnold Schwarzenegger or Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Today, only five cinemas operate, the Cinema and Theatre Directorate said, as fans deserted public spaces out of fear of being targeted by insurgents in the kind of attack that struck the Foreign Ministry on August 19.

Iraqis instead prefer the safety of their homes, where they can now watch hundreds of satellite-television channels.

Qassim Hassan, a police officer guarding the Mobile Cinema, had not seen a movie in more than a decade. “I feel sadness and pity when I see our lives reflected on the screen,” Hassan said, his eyes glued to the movie as he gripped his rifle. “But this is the reality we live with because of the pressures we face.”

Editing by Ayla Jean Yackley/David Stamp

source-http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/12/04/world/international-uk-iraq-cinema.html?_r=1

]]> http://www.openaircinema.us/blog/2009/baghdad-iraq-iraqis-defy-bomb-threat-attend-outdoor-movie-nights/feed/ 0 Baghdad, Iraq: It's Outdoor Movie Night with 'Ahlaam' on a Baghdad Street http://www.openaircinema.us/blog/2009/baghdad/ http://www.openaircinema.us/blog/2009/baghdad/#comments Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:08:40 +0000 Open Air Cinema http://blog.openaircinema.us/blog/?p=6216

People in wait to watch the award-winning film, one of the first Iraqi features made since 2003. (Ned Parker / Los Angeles Times / December 1, 2009)

The filmmakers set up their screen in front of the abandoned Justice Ministry, propped up a creaky 35-millimeter projector and hoped the crowd would come and watch their film in this place where car bombs recently killed nearly 160 people.

Soldiers and police checked passing cars as a small crowd gathered to watch “,” or “Dreams,” one of the first Iraqi features made since 2003. The movie had been shown around the world and won awards at the Brooklyn International Film Festival, but only now was it making its debut in Baghdad.

The audience included children, not used to outdoor cinema, who thought the crowd was gathering for a funeral. Others in attendance had survived the bloody day in October when two car bombs ripped through a one-block area. A few men shouted out when a suspicious-looking car appeared and then relaxed after inspecting the vehicle.

Looking on at the detritus of concrete and metal bars, the organizers said they wanted to help bring life back to Baghdad. They planned to show movies for three more nights: once in front of the Baghdad governorate building, which had been hit in the same Oct. 25 attack; then at the Foreign Ministry, which was struck in August on a day that saw nearly 100 people killed; and finally at a park on the eastern bank of the Tigris River.

The opening had originally been planned for Oct. 25 in the city’s upscale Karada district, but was postponed after the attack for fear of further bombings.

“In this place, my people were killed. In this same place we [now] gather children and youth,” said one of the film’s stars, Bashir Majid. “This is an effort to bring life back to a dead place.”

As the sky went dark, the projector showed images of the American airstrikes that lighted up Baghdad the first night of the U.S.-led invasion. Then the film settled down to tell the tale of two mental hospital patients, one of them a woman named Ahlaam, and their doctor as they wandered their looted city in the first days after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

The audience strained to watch as street lights switched on and bleached out the movie screen. Images would come into focus only to be wiped away.

Despite the glitches, Majid was happy. The unshaven actor described the “Ahlaam” crew’s harrowing experience filming in this same area in 2004 when Sunni Arab gunmen kidnapped them for a day.

The moviemakers had to convince the armed men that they weren’t working with the Americans or Iraqi government. Finally they were spared, but only after being threatened with death and, according to one of the producers, marched before a mock firing squad.

Their soundman had been shot in the leg during the ordeal, and the group went to the hospital for treatment. There Shiite Muslim militiamen detained them, accused them of being terrorists, beat them and handed them over to the U.S. military, Majid said.

The Americans held them for about a week and released them after the men had given interrogators a copy of their script to prove that they weren’t filming propaganda videos for Sunni gunmen, he added.

The crew and actors debated quitting but decided to carry on.

Their next feature, “Son of Babylon,” has been scheduled to be shown at the Sundance Film Festival next month, and they have also produced a short film about their near-death experience making “Ahlaam.”

Frustrated by the poor viewing conditions Tuesday night, the crowd started to dwindle. Alaa Abdullah, a fishmonger, hung around in hopes of making a few sales.

“I don’t like the movies where they fight and the blood isn’t real,” he said. “The movie star isn’t hurt. These are all lies.”

Ned Parker and Usama Redha

source-http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg--film2-2009dec02,0,4808358.story

]]> http://www.openaircinema.us/blog/2009/baghdad/feed/ 0 Military Bases Host Outdoor Movies for Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines http://www.openaircinema.us/blog/2008/military-bases-host-outdoor-movies-for-army-navy-air-force-and-marines/ http://www.openaircinema.us/blog/2008/military-bases-host-outdoor-movies-for-army-navy-air-force-and-marines/#comments Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:20:04 +0000 Open Air Cinema http://blog.openaircinema.us/blog/?p=1956

Military Bases host Outdoor Movies for Navy, Army, Marines and Air ForceIt’s the sort of tall tale that quickly becomes an Internet legend. True or bogus? It was a hot topic about a year ago.

At a military theater at , Balad – a gigantic military air base in , dubbed “Mortaritaville” by the inhabitants, and the only base with a modern 35-millimeter projection system – the evening performance started, as they always do in military theaters, with a recording of the national anthem. The military audience stood at attention. It’s one of the things that never changes on a military base, a link to the continuity of culture inside the armed forces.

This night, something went wrong with the recording. It stopped. It started, then stopped again. More than 1,000 military airmen waited, standing at attention. Then one began to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” then another, and then the entire audience joined in, remaining at attention, and then sat down to enjoy the movie. Which was, apparently, “Superman 3.”

The incident would be no surprise to anyone who grew up in the military-theater system, or anyone who has even attended a movie on a military base. It would be unthinkable to begin a movie in a military base without the national anthem, generally illustrated with swooping images of aircraft, broad landscapes and fluttering flags.

Military theaters are part of the vernacular architecture of life in the armed forces, and have been ever since Edison started hand-cranking nitrate. Every military installation has a theater, or at least the reconstituted remains of one or more.

Movies on military bases are a function of the Morale, Welfare and Recreation branch of base-support services. They’re staffed by civilians and moonlighting GIs. Films are distributed via two chains, one an Air Force/Army system administered by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, and the other a Navy/Marine system. The movies lag behind civilian theaters by about a month, and the larger theaters often have “sneak previews” of newly released films, generally free to the first couple of hundred patrons.

Admission is a couple of bucks. These theaters aren’t run as moneymakers, they are a service to military families and active-duty personnel.

Every military base used to be awash in movie theaters, particularly during the war years. Every housing area had one, often an open air cinema in a natural outdoor theater. Only four primary military theaters remain, although some have been converted to other uses. Like civilian theaters, they are victims of cheap DVDs, cable TV and movies that you can’t watch in an open air theater with your mother or commanding officer present.

There was a time, though, when the theaters changed films every night, and the Air Force and Army films were 25 cents a seat, the Navy and Marine movies were 15 cents, and a military brat with a fast bicycle and a dollar could see three per night and still have enough change left over for a couple of Baby Ruths.

Those days are gone, but the military theaters remain. Like old soldiers, though, they’re fading away.

Source: http://archives.starbulletin.com/2008/06/29/features/story01.html
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]]> http://www.openaircinema.us/blog/2008/military-bases-host-outdoor-movies-for-army-navy-air-force-and-marines/feed/ 0 Baghdad, Iraq: Outdoor Movies Are Just One Example of Improving Conditions in Baghdad, Iraq http://www.openaircinema.us/blog/2008/baghdad-iraq-outdoor-movies-in-baghdad-iraq/ http://www.openaircinema.us/blog/2008/baghdad-iraq-outdoor-movies-in-baghdad-iraq/#comments Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:33:06 +0000 Open Air Cinema http://oac.nfshost.com/blog/?p=1337

Outdoor Movies in Baghdad, Iraq — If you’re in and need a new car, Abdul Azeez is the man to see. Or Hakeem Estafa just around the corner. Or any one of several dozen other car dealers in al-Nahada District on the western edge of the city.

On a recent evening tour of Baghdad car dealers and shopping districts, it was easy to see that conditions, despite 12 years of sanctions in the wake of the Gulf War, are improving, even if only slightly.

Streets and storefronts are bathed in light, thanks to electrical plants that now provide 24-hour power. Food, clothing and electronic equipment is everywhere. Kinetic crowds of young men and women crowd the sidewalks. Restaurants and pizza parlors are packed. Theaters show movies from , and even the , although most of them, judging from the billboards outside the theater, appear to be B-grade or worse.

For the more intellectual crowd, there is the Orfali Art Gallery, which has offered exhibits, movies and musical events since 1963. On this night, a CD movie of an opera, “The Tales of Hoffman,” was playing on an outdoor movie screen, while, inside, an Iraqi musician was playing her own compositions on the piano.

]]> http://www.openaircinema.us/blog/2008/baghdad-iraq-outdoor-movies-in-baghdad-iraq/feed/ 0 Outdoor Movies http://www.openaircinema.us/blog/outdoor-movies-inflatable-screens/ http://www.openaircinema.us/blog/outdoor-movies-inflatable-screens/#comments Sat, 19 Nov 2005 04:48:51 +0000 Open Air Cinema http://blog.openaircinema.us/blog/?page_id=1778

Outdoor movies and inflatable movie screens have been appearing in locations all around the world. Over time we will be adding links to articles about outdoor movies and open air cinema events. These articles are listed according to the country where the inflatable movie screen has been set up or the country where the outdoor movie event takes place.

A

B

C

D

E

F

  • Falkland Islands (UK overseas territory)
  • Faroe Islands (Self-governing country in the Kingdom of Denmark)
  • Fiji – Republic of the Fiji Islands
  • Finland – Republic of Finland
  • France – French Republic
  • French Polynesia (French overseas collectivity)

G

H

I

J

  • Jamaica
  • Jersey – Bailiwick of Jersey (British Crown dependency)
  • Jordan – Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

K

  • Kazakhstan – Republic of Kazakhstan
  • Kenya – Republic of Kenya
  • Kiribati – Republic of Kiribati
  • Korea, North – Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
  • Korea, South – Republic of Korea
  • Kosovo – Republic of Kosovo
  • Kuwait – State of Kuwait
  • Kyrgyzstan – Kyrgyz Republic

L

  • Laos – Lao People’s Democratic Republic
  • Latvia – Republic of Latvia
  • Lebanon – Republic of Lebanon
  • Lesotho – Kingdom of Lesotho
  • Liberia – Republic of Liberia
  • Libya – Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
  • Liechtenstein – Principality of Liechtenstein
  • Lithuania – Republic of Lithuania
  • Luxembourg – Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

M

  • Macao – Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (Area of special sovereignty)
  • Macedonia – Republic of Macedonia
  • Madagascar – Republic of Madagascar
  • Malawi – Republic of Malawi
  • Malaysia
  • Maldives – Republic of Maldives
  • Mali – Republic of Mali
  • Malta – Republic of Malta
  • Marshall Islands – Republic of the Marshall Islands
  • Mauritania – Islamic Republic of Mauritania
  • Mauritius – Republic of Mauritius
  • Mayotte – Departmental Collectivity of Mayotte (French overseas collectivity)
  • Mexico – United Mexican States
  • Micronesia – Federated States of Micronesia
  • Moldova – Republic of Moldova
  • Monaco – Principality of Monaco
  • Mongolia
  • Montenegro
  • Montserrat (UK overseas territory)
  • Morocco – Kingdom of Morocco
  • Mozambique – Republic of Mozambique
  • For “Myanmar”, see Burma

N

  • Nagorno-Karabakh – Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh)
  • – Republic of
  • Nauru – Republic of Nauru
  • Nepal – Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal
  • Netherlands – Kingdom of the Netherlands
  • Netherlands Antilles (Self-governing country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
  • New Caledonia – Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies (French community sui generis)
  • New Zealand
  • Nicaragua – Republic of Nicaragua
  • Niger – Republic of Niger
  • Nigeria – Federal Republic of Nigeria
  • Niue (Associated state of New Zealand)
  • Norfolk Island – Territory of Norfolk Island (Australian overseas territory)
  • Northern Cyprus – Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
  • Northern Mariana Islands – Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US commonwealth)
  • For “North Korea”, see Korea, North
  • Norway – Kingdom of Norway

O

P

  • – Islamic Republic of
  • – Republic of
  • Palestine – Palestinian Territories
  • Panama – Republic of Panama
  • Papua New Guinea – Independent State of Papua New Guinea
  • Paraguay – Republic of Paraguay
  • For “People’s Republic of China”, see China
  • Peru – Republic of Peru
  • Philippines – Republic of the Philippines
  • Pitcairn Islands – Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno Islands (UK overseas territory)
  • Poland – Republic of Poland
  • Portugal – Portuguese Republic
  • For “Pridnestrovie”, see Transnistria
  • Puerto Rico – Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (US commonwealth)

Q

R

S

T

  • Taiwan – Republic of China
  • Tajikistan – Republic of Tajikistan
  • Tanzania – United Republic of Tanzania
  • Thailand – Kingdom of Thailand
  • For “Timor-Leste”, see East Timor
  • – Togolese Republic
  • Tokelau (Overseas territory of New Zealand)
  • Tonga – Kingdom of Tonga
  • Transnistria – Transnistrian Moldovan Republic
  • Trinidad and Tobago – Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
  • Tristan da Cunha (Dependency of the UK overseas territory of Saint Helena)
  • Tunisia – Tunisian Republic
  • Turkey – Republic of Turkey
  • Turkmenistan
  • Turks and Caicos Islands (UK overseas territory)
  • Tuvalu

U

V

  • Vanuatu – Republic of Vanuatu
  • Vatican City – State of the Vatican City
  • Venezuela – Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
  • Vietnam – Socialist Republic of Vietnam
  • Virgin Islands, British – British Virgin Islands (UK overseas territory)
  • Virgin Islands, United States – United States Virgin Islands (US organized territory)

W

  • Wallis and Futuna – Territory of Wallis and Futuna Islands (French overseas collectivity)
  • Western Sahara – Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Y

  • Yemen – Republic of Yemen

Z

  • For “Zaire”, see Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Zambia – Republic of Zambia
  • Zimbabwe – Republic of Zimbabwe
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