Turtles Can Fly ~ The Movie

I just watched this film, and it was amazing. The story is a hard one. But, truth told is often brutal and ugly and makes you cry.

This is a story of children in a refugee camp that is located in Kurdistan and what they do to survive which is disabling land mines. It takes place just before the American invasion. There are no trained actors in the film. These children are real.

A quote from the director, Bahman Ghobadi:

"This is the first film that has been made in Iraq after the fall of Saddam. Prior to anything, here, I should confess that from a Kurd's point of view, I'm very glad that Saddam's dictatorship has finally fallen. That is when I have decided to make a different kind of film.

I traveled to Iraq along my film and camera crew in order to take a variety of images from different subject matters. We captured many shocking images, if we chose to display all of them, they would be so unbearable to the audiences. Whatever is seen in the film is absolutely and truly documented and the comedy and funny parts have mostly come from the local people and some from myself."

There were no Special Features to tell me about the makers of the film and the fantastic young actors, so I Googled for information and was surprised to find that, although, the film was given many awards (scroll down) and a 90% on the Rotten Tomatoes film thermometer, some people thought it was supportive of the American invasion of Iraq.

This is where my dumbness begins to show as I cannot understand, how, if one watched the film, they would get this idea.

My emotions on this topic run deeply and wildly and my expressions may not be coherent, so I have linked others who give information better than I ~~

Roger Ebert gives a great detailed review.

This article from a London Film Festival writer Shahram Heidar gives information I was happy to read:

With financial help from friends and colleagues, the blind toddler has been operated on his eyes in Baghdad and hopefully soon will regain his eye sight. We also supplied health insurance for the handicapped kids so that they would also receive a little financial help for the rest of their lives. The young girl who acted in the film lives in "Soleymanieh" and holds a job at the local TV channel and the youngster boy who played "Satellite" desires to become a director. He is to accompany me in my next film as first assistant director.

We have a responsibility to children in this world, do we not? I did not support the invasion in Iraq; an invasion that would eventually became a war that would be called a war on terror, an abstract term for fear, and then would become what looks like, endless, and God knows I hope I am so wrong about that.

Man has spent much of his time on this planet robbing the innocence of children. I do not understand this concept, and I am grieved at the thought.

Watch this film if you think you can stand becoming emotionally connected with the world.