We’re proud to announce that we’ve received a grant from The Fledgling Fund for educational outreach with THE LIST! The Fledgling Fund gives support to media projects that help to change the lives of at-risk and marginalized groups and communities. Out of 326 letters of inquiry that Fledgling received, THE LIST was one of only 22 grantees selected. This funding will be used to create a core standards-based curriculum and study guide with Columbia University Teachers College, and to build our partnership with veterans who are overcoming issues of PTSD. Thank you Fledgling for your continued and unwavering support! And congratulations to all the other grant awardee – it’s an honor to be in your company.
Blog
Recording THE LIST’s Score in Prague
We’ve just returned from our trip to the Czech Republic, where we recorded the orchestrated tracks of our original score for THE LIST in a studio just outside Prague. As Kevin and I walked in we were stunned when we heard John’s compositions played by live musicians for the first time. It’s unbelievable to me that we had forty members of the Czech Philharmonic recording tracks for our film. It’s something we’ve never experienced before and I don’t know how we lived without it.
Our composer, John Califra, has really inspired us through the score he’s composed. It’s unified the vision that Kevin and I have had for this project since the beginning. John said it best, “This is about Kirk and what he’s done as an American being [in Iraq]… He represents an ideal of what [America] pretends to be but isn’t.” John’s vision for this score has always been to avoid trying to reference an Arabic style of music in any way. Trying to emulate a certain style, he says, makes it all about the emulation of a “foreign” sound and puts up a barrier between the audience and the film. This story is really about people connecting to people, not just Americans connecting to Iraqis.
Working with Christo Pavlov, our conductor, has been wonderful, and he’s really brought some great insight to the music. He and John have been communicating about the score for a while now and it’s clear that they’re on the same page with what needs to be done. The recording day was incredibly successful and we’re all excited to put the music together with the final cut of THE LIST.
Principle Inspirations: Characters
Thanks to our anticipated trip to Prague to record THE LIST film score with members of the Czech Philharmonic, I am re-reading the masterful “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.” In this passage about “characters” I’m reminded of how we as documentary filmmakers make decisions about those we feature in our films:
“…characters are not born like people, of woman; they are born of a situation, a sentence, a metaphor containing in a nutshell a basic human possibility that the author thinks no one else has discovered or said something essential about… The characters… are my own unrealized possibilities… an investigation of human life in the trap the world has become.”
Principle Pictures goes to Boston College!
Principle Pictures in partnership with Primary Source and Boston College’s Center for Human Rights and International Justice hosted an exclusive screening of Beyond Belief on September 21st at Boston College. More than 150 attended to view our film and to participate in the Q&A session. Director Beth Murphy was joined on the panel by Patti Quigley, whose story is featured in the film, and Ali Banuazizi, Boston College professor and scholar of Afghan history.
Prof. Banuazizi provided the film’s historical foundation for the audience, and invoked scholar Thomas Barfield’s Swiss cheese analogy for the country. Unlike an American cheese model where the same law applies uniformly to everyone within its borders, Afghanistan is more of like Swiss cheese, with large sections governed indirectly—something that lends itself to lawlessness.
Patti Quigley, whose story is featured in the film expressed her cautious optimism for Afghanistan. She discussed the empowering work she now does with the women in Afghanistan as the Executive Director of Razia’s Ray of Hope Foundation, but noted it will take decades to see marked progress in the country.
At the event, Director Beth Murphy explained her inspiration for the film. “The work that Patti and Susan (Retik-Ger) do and who they are as people represents an incredible humanity that we all share…They viewed Afghan women as individuals from the beginning. I was struck by their ability to view Afghanistan in all its complexity.” Beth concluded that Patti and Susan “illustrate what we can do as world citizens.”
DocDay Take One
It’s DocDay at Principle Pictures! We are welcoming our new interns–Patrick, Ilyssa, Meghan, Antheia, and Rachel–and what better way to start off a new semester of possibilities than with a brilliant documentary and delicious food. To commemorate the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, our inaugural DocDay featured Jim Whitaker’s film REBIRTH. It is a stunning recording of recovery, as Whitaker follows five people for nearly ten years as they rebuild shattered lives. (Special thanks to TFI’s Ryan Harrington who put this film back on our radar with his FB post about REBIRTH standing out from other 9/11 fare.) Our good friend Sora Hameed (who we met in Baghdad last summer filming THE LIST) joined us> She brought trays full of minty salad and Kubbah, a Middle Eastern dish of rice and minced meat. Next DocDay may have to be in Sora’s kitchen so we can learn how to make it!
Riding, Remembering, Recovering
Biking through the streets of Boston yesterday on the final leg of the 3-day ride from Ground Zero, I rode through Kenmore Square feeling like it was 1994, and I was navigating from one of my grad classes at Boston University to my tiny studio apartment in Beacon Hill.
As a little girl I had dreamed of studying at BU; it was my Dad’s alma mater, and some of my best memories as a child are of traveling there from our home in Connecticut to watch my Dad play his trumpet in the alumni band. While he practiced, my Mom and I enjoyed the school and the city. One year that meant picking through all the treasures at a tag sale being held in the Music Department. There was a luxurious red snow fox stole—with glass eyes, four legs, feet and a tail—that for $1.50 was clipped around my neck and coming home with us. The next year’s big find: a red plastic clown nose from a convenient store. Another visit brought introductions to Julia Child and BU President John Silber.
Since Dad died at the end of May, I have had the overwhelming sensation of being forced to perform in play for which I never wanted to audition. How I would love to be back at that tag sale just outside the band room, sounds from his brass section muted by the closed door. Instead, the whole summer has been somewhat of a blur. Important training time for the 270-mile ride from Ground Zero was replaced by frequent trips home to CT, and long rides alone were bittersweet: beautiful times to reflect, but too much time to think. I would return red-eyed, swollen — all the while thinking, “I just don’t feel like ‘me’.”
Yesterday, veering onto Comm Ave from Beacon Street, I had a sudden, clear, unexpected realization: For the first time in three months, I did feel like “me.” And I have Susan Retik, founder of Beyond the 11th and organizer of the ride, to thank for that. Susan created a community of riders who shared a powerful sense of purpose—to remember 9/11 in a way that connects us with each other and our world.
Susan lost her husband, David, on September 11th. They had been college sweethearts. She was seven months pregnant. In her darkest hours she chose to understand the pain of others–particularly those beyond our borders affected by the same tragedy. She forged a kinship with Afghan war widows who are among the most oppressed and impoverished people in our world. In the 8 years since she co-founded Beyond the 11th, she has helped 10,000 Afghan widows to help themselves and their families. At the end of the ride, Susan told an Esplande crowd of 5,000, “We cannot literally force the rest of the world to be our friend. We have to befriend the world.”
Three days earlier, overlooking Ground Zero on the first day of the ride, Susan said, “The events of that day were completely out of my control. Even just getting on the bike from the hotel, I felt – I’m in control.”
Together, 44 of us spent three days pedaling 262-miles through four states. We made our way from Ground Zero through busy intersections in Manhattan and Brooklyn. We watched the sun come up along the Connecticut shoreline as cranes caught their breakfast. We dodged chipmunks, squirrels and turkeys. We pounded pink and blue Powerade and wild berry power gels. We were cheered on by strangers, accused of being menaces, given an escort by the Mayor of Bridgeport, and were mistaken for Neil Armstrong by a man who quickly wished he’d yelled Lance. We talked and talked. Laughed and laughed. And we cried when Susan had her accident on Day 2, wishing the broken collarbone and concussion had happened to ourselves instead. 
For the final 25 miles, our spirits were buoyed as nearly 200 riders joined us for the final leg to the banks of the Charles River. As we made our victory lap around the Hatch Shell in front of 5,000 people, the Boston Pops Brass Ensemble began to play – and I could hear Dad’s trumpet ringing in my ears.
A Reminder
I just arrived at the Club Quarters Hotel overlooking Ground Zero in New York City. In about 12 hours, my husband, Dennis, and I will join 43 other bike riders for a 270-mile journey back to Boston to support Beyond the 11th, an organization borne out of the tragedy of 9/11 and focused on healing the wounds from that day.
Towering near the hotel is One WTC — a structure that continues to climb 84 floors. Below, construction vehicles buzz around the haunting crater where the World Trade Center towers once stood. I can hear the jackhammers and loader engines in my room as I catch up on emails: forms for fiscal sponsorship need filling out; a meeting for our Executive Producer at the Toronto Film Festival needs confirming; licensing fees need to be worked out with Brazil’s largest TV network. Everything needed. Needed now. Distracting me from connecting with this moment, and the reasons I have chosen to be here.
And then I open an email – one of the most beautiful I’ve ever received – from Bonnie Pedota of Ontario who has just watched our film BEYOND BELIEF. This is it in its entirety:
I am a mother and wife (most importantly, but among other things) living in Brooklin, Ontario, Canada, just outside of Toronto. I borrowed Beyond Belief from my public library.
Just wanted to share how blown away I was by this film.
I was crying so many times watching the moving stories about Susan, Patti, and all of the women of Afghanistan that were featured. What brave and strong women, to create something so beautiful out of their deep mourning at losing their husbands. What brave and strong women are these widows of Afghanistan, to keep moving forward, despite so many cards against them.
What struck me most was the prosperity of our North American lives, and the relative poverty of their Afghan lives at so many levels, especially regarding human rights. I had the same “aha” moment as Susan when she was crying in embarrassment at her relative wealth after one of the women suggested she send photos of her home in Boston to Afghanistan.
As a mother, this film make my heart bleed for the Afghan mothers who can often not supply the basic necessities of life to their children, sometimes even losing them to starvation.
When I became I mother just five years ago, I feel as though I became a mother to all the world’s children. As a mother now, I so deeply feel the pain of mothers who cannot feed their children. Your film left me asking myself what more I can do.
Congratulations on an outstanding project and film.
Bonnie Pedota
Thank you, Bonnie, for reminding me how much what is happening outside my window right now is connected to the rest of our world.
Principle Voices: Alyssa and her passion for film
I was a really big theater geek in high school, and have always been into still photography. At some point during my senior year, I realized that film was a great way to combine these two passions. The ability to tell someone’s story through film appealed to me and I really liked the artistic aspect of filmmaking. So I decided that I wanted to pursue filmmaking at Boston University, and eventually I realized that documentaries appeal to me the most.
I spent about a year and a half in Chicago and moved back to my hometown of Plymouth about two years ago. That same week my alumni high school director told me about a producer at a documentary production company right in downtown Plymouth who was looking for interns. I contacted Sean, sent him my resume, went in for an interview and within two weeks I was interning at Principle Pictures. Six months later the internship turned into a paid job.
My primary position at the office is Beth’s executive assistant. Shadowing a documentary filmmaker has been a fantastic learning process for me. I’m able to see exactly what her job involves on a day-to-day basis.
I ‘m really excited about taking on some more creative roles with the company. We’re trying hard to increase the number of still photos we take while on shoots, which can be difficult when you only have a two person crew. I’m eager to help out with this effort- not only with taking photos, but also editing them and using them for social media purposes. I’m learning Adobe InDesign and Photoshop, and I’m super excited to try my hand at designing some of our press and promotional materials. I’m also hoping to make the time to teach myself how to edit this summer.
My favorite experience I’ve had so far is the trip I took to California to shoot for THE LIST. Beth called me at 11pm to see if I could fly out the next morning. I cleared my schedule, got coverage for my other job, flew out seven hours later and suddenly found myself in the San Jose airport in California. This was my first on-location shoot. I was Sean’s production assistant and also helped with the logistics during our trip.
We spend five days with an amazing family from Kurdistan who treated us like family and cooked us an enormous meal when we first arrived. We all hung out and danced around. I had a really great time. And with the happy moments there were some really tough moments too. Anna, the Iraqi refugee we were filming, visited her mother’s grave for the first time- a very emotional experience.
The trip gave me a sense of what it’s like in the field and showed me that I may have a knack for field producing, where you get to be on location and help with organization and logistics; one of my strongest skills. It would be a great way to combine and use my skills well.
To go from multiple part-time jobs which aren’t very stimulating, to working for this production company that does a thousand things at once, all of which are really important, has been a whirlwind experience. And all in the best way possible, because I’m learning everything at once and I get to figure out where I fit in and where my passion lies. It has been awesome!
Uganda’s Justin Bieber
Alex Ssekweyama lives in the western Ugandan village of Kakumiro. His family’s status in the community comes from his mother’s success – people walk far distances to visit her drug shop where she doesn’t only dispense life-saving medications, she also confirms diagnoses, makes referrals to hospitals and always shares a kind word and gentle touch. The family home is the only gated one on the street, and the property is packed with prized mango, banana and orange trees.
Life here serves as the inspiration for Alex’s singing and songwriting. When he heard we were coming to visit, he put on his best suit – a dark, over-sized jacket with pants that nearly matched.
He was beaming when he greeted us.
My name is Rioman. Well, that’s what I call myself when I sing, he grinned. And I want to be Justin Bieber.
He could hardly contain himself while his three sisters introduced themselves to us. When the youngest girl–a dimpled 7-year-old–was finished speaking, Rioman stepped forward to perform.
As we were leaving, he handed us a couple light blue air mail envelopes with this message inside:
Dear my friend, I am so grateful and happy that you have visited our home… Although I am still an upcoming artist to start my music and acting talent in 2013, I see it as my task to make your friends, relatives and parents my friends as well. As you go back to your respective homelands, tell them that Rioman Ssekweyama Alex loves them so much…
So there it is, my friends. A young man from Uganda who has talent, a dream, and the charisma to be discovered.
What a Bat Reveals
As our car zig-zagged to avoid pothole after pothole on a poorly paved road in Eastern Uganda, we caught glimpses of life: a motorcycle passed carrying two men and a cow (the dead animal was on the very back and the passenger held its legs around his waist); locals dined at a restaurant called God is Good Pork Joint; and two men ambled down the road holding an enormous bat—an outstretched wing in each man’s hand gave the mammal a 4-foot wingspan.
We were in a hurry, but never has there been a better reason for a U-turn. We approached the men to get a close-up look and find out what they planned to do with it. “We’re going to eat it,” they laughed.
It’s true. Ugandans do eat bats. But Lilian, the health worker traveling with us, wasn’t convinced that’s what these men had in mind.
There is a common practice here in which bats are burned and the ashes mixed with lotions and vaseline to perform “genital stretching.” And it’s exactly that. Caustic herbs and lotions are used while the labia is pulled and pulled in an attempt to stretch it to the length a middle finger.
In Lugandan the ritual ceremony involving labia elongation is known as okukialira ensiko which literally means “visiting the forest,” and it’s believed – among men and women – to be a form of genital enhancement that’s necessary for marriage. It’s agonizingly painful and can cause permanent disfigurement. While it’s being done (up to 45 minutes a day for weeks at a time), the area becomes painful and swollen, making it difficult to walk and urinate. Some women who are not stretching “properly” are forced to wear a belt with weights attached to their genitals so that there is a constant tugging.
The goal, Lilian tells us, is to make sex better for men. That’s why she addresses the topic early on in any relationship. “This isn’t something just for people in the village. My male and female friends from university think it’s the right thing to do.”
She remembers the first time she heard about it. “I was fifteen, and my friend told me she was planning to do it. She said if I didn’t, then I couldn’t be a woman.”
Worried, she asked her aunt (Lilian is an AIDS orphan) who told her that the choice was hers. Grateful then, and even more grateful eight years later, Lilan decided against it. And now she’s become an outspoken advocate against “pulling.” Her friends were stunned when she wrote an op-ed against the practice, and even more surprised, she says, that she actually practices what she preaches.
“It’s hard because people in my tribe and in my clan want it to be secret. They don’t want it to get all the attention that ‘cutting’ gets.”
Unlike other forms of female genital mutilation in which the genitals are cut off, “pulling” is a practice that doesn’t carry the same international condemnation. But it’s something that plagues women their entire lives – starting as teens and often continuing through menopause.
Until it ceases to be the norm, Lilian refuses to be silenced, even if speaking out comes with a price.
“There are a lot of men who would refuse to marry me for this reason, but I don’t want to marry them. What if we had a daughter one day?”
