Festival Films A-Z

Daylight Factory
James Longley, John Sinno
2608 Second Avenue
PMB 117
Seattle, WA 98121
USA
Tel.: +1 206 661 5030
E-Mail: james_longley@yahoo.com
Internet: www.daylightfactory.com

James Longley

Billy McMillin, Fiona Otway, James Longley

Ton / Musik: James Longley

The Film Sales Company
Andrew Herwitz
151 Lafayette Street , Fifth Floor
New York, NY 10013
USA
Tel.: +1 646 274 0945
Fax: +1 646 274 0923
E-Mail: contact@filmsalescorp.com

Typecast Films
Don Saunderson
3131 Western Ave, Suite 514
Seattle, WA 98121
USA
Tel.: +1 206 322 0882
E-Mail: don@typecastfilms.com

Synopsis

Iraq in Fragments illuminates post-war Iraq in three acts, building a vivid picture of a country pulled in different directions by religion and ethnicity. Filmed in verité style, with no scripted narration, the film powerfully explores the lives of ordinary Iraqis: people whose thoughts, beliefs, aspirations, and concerns are at once personal and illustrative of larger issues in Iraq today.

Longley describes his unusually patient approach to documentary filmmaking in Iraq in Fragments by describing his work on the first episode: "Every morning for months on end I would drive out to the shop where Mohammed worked and wait around for hours, gradually becoming part of the furniture until nobody paid attention to me or my camera. I didn't just want to bring the viewers into Mohammed's neighborhood - I wanted to put them inside his head. I wanted them to see what he saw, hear what he heard, including the sounds of his own thoughts.
To make the voice-over narration in this chapter, I conducted extensive audio interviews with Mohammed, gradually working through his shyness until he was speaking in clear, complete sentences. It took about a year to reach this point."

This patience paid off. It's rare to see documentary films that get so close to their protagonists in such a respectful and poetic manner. Longley has won many awards, and his work has also been nominated for the Oscar.

Longley's award-winning short film Sari's Mother, about a boy with AIDS in Iraq, is running in this year's Short Film Programme 2.

Biography

Gaza Strip (2002), Iraq in Fragments (2006), Sari?s Mother (2006)

Filmography

Gaza Strip (2002), Iraq in Fragments (2006), Sari?s Mother (2006)

Dates

13	02.10.2007	21:30	Festsaal
87	08.10.2007	21:00	Filmhaus