Last night, Brian Conley, of Alive in Bagdhad, began posting on twitter (which will soon be down til
about 10 pm tonight) the news that one of his reporters had been killed. Below are some of his updates (He has also written a post about what he knows so far):
| First Alive in Baghdad staff member killed. There was a US raid, we don't know how he was killed. |
He was working on a secret project, I don't know if I can release his name yet.
It was a project about the Badr Corps, his mom told us he was killed in a multinational raid, but we dont know if it was US or ING. [this was his 1,000th update on twitter]
that brings AIB deaths for
2007 to 5, Isams cousin, omars dad, nabeels brother, and hayders
sister, and now our correspondent Ali
Ali was the last survivor of three sons, he is survived by his sister and mother. He was 24.
@annierocks at least they are in Syria, but his dad and brothers are all dead, so who knows how they're paying the bills. (paypal?!)
Alive in Baghdad correspondent Ali Shafeya was killed on December 14th, details are still coming in. He was 24, survived by mom and sister
you can make a donation to suport his family to smallworldnews@gmail.com via paypal, please note that it is for Ali's family
they say that security is improving, but 2 relatives of Iraqi staffers have died in the last month.
Omar is at the funeral now, with his mom and sister, we hope to have the full story in the next three hours, thx for your donations so far
e news last night, Ali Shafeya, an AIB correspondent, was killed yesterday in Habibya, we are still waiting for the details. Stay tuned.
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| @acarvin advice on dealing with dead colleagues, especially on supporting my bureau chief omar who is taking it hardest. i am a wreck too |
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| @newmediajim thanks. means a lot. you know i was out for a pre-christmas gift from my fiancen. death always happens when u least expect it |
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| At 11:30PM 12/14 Iraqi National Guard arrived at Ali's street. 15 minutes later gunfire was heard by neighbors. Ali did not answer his phone |
After 3:00am Baghdad time the INGs left. Neighbors called his cousin Amar, who went to the house where Ali had been alone
He was found shot dead in the living room. Amar called the Iraqi Police and gave the story he heard from Ali's neighbors. More info soon.
Ali Shafeya was shot 31 times in the head and chest. According to the morgue he was killed instantly. He would have been 24 on Sunday.
correction, 23. He was born December 16th, 1984
I'll update this with more info tonight.
Five of these will be nominated on Jan. 22nd:
"For the Bible Tells Me So" http://www.forthebibletellsmeso.org
"Lake of Fire" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_of_Fire_%28film%29
"Nanking" also see ted.aol.com/category.php?catID=359
"No End in Sight" (on DVD)
"Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience"
"A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman"
"Sicko"
"White Light/Black Rain" (on DVD)
What's the best music documentary or concert film you've seen?
There are many excellent films, but the best is still Stop Making Sense. I saw it when I was in high
school when it was first released, showed it several times in college, and own the DVD.
The CounterCorp Anti-Corporate Film Festival opens at the Victoria tonight and continues through the 20th.
The Arab Film Festival opens at the Clay and continues in several venues (including the Roxie) in the bay area through the 28th and then in LA October 31st to November 4th.
The United Nations Association Film Festival is at the Roxie in San Francisco tonight, then East Palo Alto on the 19th, and San Jose on the 21st. I'll write more about some of the films which will be playing at Stanford from the 24th to the 28th.
On many PBS stations, it will be followed the Wordplay on Independent Lens (check local listings). Until it airs (or you watch it on DVD), you can work on this crossword puzzle. And you can listen to Will Shortz every Sunday morning on NPR.
There are a couple of special film events in San Francisco on Tuesday, October 9th (tonight). The Mill Valley Film Festival comes to the San Francisco Art Institute with a screening at 7:30 pm of Welcome to Nollywood. The documentary looks at the film industry in Nigeria which only started in the early 90s, but is already the third largest behind Hollywood and Bollywood. Director Jaimie Meltzer (Off the Charts) and producer Henry Rosenthal (The Devil and Daniel Johnson) both live in San Francisco. Michael Fox interviewed Meltzer for SF360.
The Orchestra of Piazza Vittorio screens at the Clay Theater at 7:30 followed by a performance by the group and Q&A with filmmaker Agostino Ferrente. The documentary tells story of an effort to save a historic theater by creating an orchestra made up of musicians from all over the world. The tour is being presented by Netflix's Red Envelope Entertainment.
I went to a sold out screening of The Living Goddess at DocFest. It will be shown again at 5 pm on Saturday, October 6th and Sunday, October 7th at the Roxie.
In June, Andy Carvin met Sajani, the subject of the film when she was in the US for Silverdocs, and he interviewed her by email in September.
When she went back to Nepal, she was stripped of her divinity. One of the filmmakers wrote:
Yep - she was sacked but we went to Nepal and negotiated her reinstatement. We were all devastated by the news of her dethroning and we and her family took her to India while the situation was sorted out. Many people from her hometown refused to accept her being dethroned...
There are photos taken during her visit and the filming.
The political process in Nepal is again in the news, and seeing this film gives the headlines a human perspective.
Chicken John introduced Rev. Billy before the Q&A. They'll be having a conversation at 8 pm on Tuesday,
October 2nd (details).
Baez, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, and Larry Harvey). There are also many more great documentaries at DocFest through October 10th.
a panel discussion of the internet and film distribution with Tiffany Shlain and Ken Goldberg. The film
is now availalbe on iTunes for $1.99 and also on DVD with a discussion kit.
There also is a podcast about the film and a facebook group. Photos from the premiere (even before it played at Sundance).
Strange Culture is playing at the Roxie and the Rafael through Thursday, September 27th. It will be at the
Cinema Village in New York from October 5th to 18th (check the website for other places it will be shown).
It tells the story of artist Steve Kurtz's arrest in 2004 weaving together documentary, segments with Tilda Swinton and other actors, and animation. I saw Kurtz talk about his art at SFMOMA in March and saw the film at the San Francisco International Film Festival in May (photos).
Lucy Gray interviewed Kurtz and director Lynn Hershman Leeson in March and interviewed her again recently.
DocFest opens at the Roxie on Friday and runs through October 10th and the Mill Valley Film Festival opens at the Rafael and other theaters on October 4th and runs through October 14th. I'll be writing about both festivals.
