Baghdad Filmschool - How to survive as an independent filmmaker in Iraq

Tina’s Birthday

What do you do when you have a birthday party in Iraq? Today we had a birthday of our camerawoman Tina. Tina is joining me on this trip with her camera and I am very happy that she is here with me. It is her first time in Iraq so it is quite an experience for her. Sometimes, when I look through my viewfinder, Tina says, everything is so unreal that I have the feeling that I am watching some kind of Hollywood movie. 

The day started very promising. For breakfast we had ordered a birthday cake as a surprise for her. The whole staff of the hotel was involved. Nobody would tell her anything. So what was the first thing that Ahmed, the waiter, yelled out to her when she entered the breakfast room? Look at the nice cake that we made for you! Gone was the surprise!

Anyway, we had a good day of filming with all the usual ups and downs and when we were finished Nather and Kasim had organized a wonderful dinner with Masbouf (grilled fish), Iraqi raki made from dates and amber (a kind of Iraqi pickles). We all sang Iraqi birthday songs and then of course the piece the resistance: the cake with on top of it a fantastic plastic birthday candle holder that produced an electronic song: Happy Birthday! I will show you the photo’s tomorrow…..