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October 3, 2003 GLOBAL NOMADS GROUP AND IN THE MIX PRESENT 'IRAQ UNPLUGGED' New PBS Special Features a Videoconference Dialogue Between Iraqi and U.S. Teens Shortly After the War. Premieres on PBS on the Week of September 18th across the US (check local listings) October 3, 2003 (New York) - Several weeks after the Bush administration declared major combat in Iraq over, a group of Iraqi children from the elite high school of Baghdad College met face-to-face via videoconference with their peers at the Metropolitan Learning Center, a public magnet school in Bloomfield, Connecticut. This was the second time they talked to one another. Their initial meeting took place just two weeks prior to the war in a similar videoconference organized by the Global Nomads Group, a non profit group with the mission of fostering dialogue and understanding among the world's youth (the first meeting was the subject of the In the Mix special entitled Voices from Iraq). In Iraq Unplugged, which premieres on PBS on Sunday, September 19th at 11:30 a.m. (check with your local PBS station for listings), In the Mix takes a look back at the exchanges that occurred between these students, and offers viewers a unique glimpse of post-Saddam Iraq through the eyes of the children that lived through the war. For example, we meet Omar, a bright 15-year old Iraqi with an uncanny knowledge of American weaponry, whose excellent English enabled him to secure a job as a translator with the American occupying forces. Omar tells us about how he once found an unexploded bomb on the ground and brags about being granted more military access than foreign reporters because of his special status. Sitting on the roof of Iraqi student Ruba's house for the length of the videoconference, the kids talk about what life had been before, during and was after the war. When asked by an American student what Iraq was like before the war, Omar talks about the widespread practice of giving preferential treatment to students who were members of the Baath party: "They (recruiters) would always try to persuade us to enter the party. When we were about 13 years old, they started coming to school saying 'hey, why don't you enter the party, it will give you all sorts of privileges...but for me personally, I just wanted to stay out of politics. Until now." We visit Ruba's home in an upscale section on Baghdad, and she shows us the damage done to her house by stray bullets. We also visit Noordeen, who gives us a tour of his family's improvised bunker in his home's bathroom. He confesses his mixed feelings about the occupation: "When I started meeting American soldiers, I found that it wasn't the picture that was in my mind. Some of the soldiers were 19 years old - one or two years older than you - and you feel like 'how am I supposed to fight this guy?'" Videos of Iraq Unplugged (and the previous chapter Voices from Iraq) will be available for sale on http://www.pbs.org/inthemix. The Global Nomads Group (http://www.gng.org) is an international non-profit organization dedicated to heightening children's understanding and appreciation for the world and its people. Using a combination of live remote broadcasting (satellite uplink) and videoconferencing, we bring youth together face-to-face to meet across cultural and national boundaries to discuss world issues that affect and unite us all. Now in its 11th year on PBS, In the Mix is the national award winning weekly series for teens that addresses critical issues and provides useful information. The series was created by WNYC radio. In the Mix is an independent production of Castle Works, Inc. For more information, please contact: In the Mix 212-684-3940 Sue Castle, Executive Producer suecastle[at]inthemix.org Global Nomads Group 212-529-0377 Chris Plutte, Producer chris[at]gng.org David Macquart Global Nomads Group 212/529 0377 david[at]gng.org |
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