Hometown Baghdad

Hometown Baghdad uses information and communication technology (ICT) to raise awareness, foster empathy and understanding, and spark discussion. Organisers say that, while images of destruction dominate the media (especially in the United States), "the life of the everyday Iraqi is the great untold story." The video series, available for viewing by clicking here attempts to "humanise" what to some might seem an abstract conflict; the videos portray 3 individual stories of young Iraqis struggling to maintain a semblance of life, sanity, and safety as their country descends further into civil war. They include: Saif, a 23-year-old recent college graduate with dreams of becoming a dentist; Adel, an aspiring rock musician whose hopes of forming a band are continually dashed by the violent and dangerous situation in Baghdad; and Ausama, a 20-year-old medical student whose family has been repeatedly threatened and endangered by both American and insurgent forces. (Profiles of the participants are available online).

The production process was fully participatory, in that it was shot completely by young Iraqis. The intention of the filmmakers and subjects was to show the world what Baghdad is truly like, so the 3 youth profiled usually speak English and not Arabic. Organisers explain that "The brave Iraqi subjects and crew risked their lives every time they turned on a camera to make this series. They did it to share their stories with the world; to make sure that the voices of regular Iraqis did not remain unheard." Fady Hadid, Hometown Baghdad Producer, said, "We had to enter one of the most dangerous and disturbed areas in Baghdad several times to shoot with the cast, and we were stopped by the Iraqi army and police several times to search our car and equipment. Sometimes the crew had to stay the night at the cast's houses because they couldn't leave at night."

ICTs are the primary mode for distributing these videos, and for inspiring discussion about the issues raised there. In order to reach as wide an audience as possible, Chat the Planet edited the footage into short-forms and released the videos directly online. The hope was that viewers would pitch in on the distribution effort and send the videos around to friends. In addition to hosting a blog and forums of its own (in which the cast and crew frequently leave comments for viewers), Hometown Baghdad hoped that other blogs would regularly post the episodes. They explain, "We went into this believing that the internet is the world's most powerful distribution system and we were not disappointed. The videos have been viewed millions of times on hundreds if not thousands of different blogs and websites." In the email introducing the project, and on its website, Chat the Planet offered a number of URLs, encouraging young people and others to build momentum and spread the message of tolerance and understanding by discussing the initiative with friends, passing along links to the website/videos, and posting comments/voting on social networking websites like Digg and Reddit.

Conflict, Youth.