Son of Babylon selected as Iraq's Official Entry for Oscars 2011! (08/07/2010)
Leeds / Iraqi film Son of Babylon has been selected as Iraq's official entry for the foreign language Oscar at the 2011 Academy Awards. Son of Babylon is directed by Mohamed Al-Daradji, co-written by Mohamed Al-Daradji and Jennifer Norridge and produced by Leeds based Human Film with support from Screen Yorkshire's Production Fund. Son of Babylon was selected by Iraq's Ministry of Culture. No Iraqi film has ever made it to the nomination stage before at the Oscars.Set in 2003, the film follows a 12-year-old Kurdish boy and his grandmother travelling through northern Iraq in search of their missing father/son, who was a soldier in the Gulf War. Son of Babylon is a sensitive road movie that shows with iconic images and situations, the search for healing after a reign of terror by war in a devastated country. Despite the tragic circumstances of the film's humour and lightness, Al-Daradji arouses sympathy and the hope for reconciliation in Iraq that audiences globally are connecting with.
Son of Babylon has had fantastic success on the international festival circuit and recently scooped the prestigious NETPAC award at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic, as well as screening at Sundance, Berlin, where the film picked up The Amnesty International Film Prize Award & The Peace Prize Award. Son of Babylon also screened at Edinburgh IFF this summer where it received a special mention under the Moët New Director's Award and last month took the Award for Artistic Achievement at the IFF Cinema City Serbia.
The producers of the film hope the awards will all go further towards spotlighting their associated IRAQ'S MISSING campaign that is lobbying for the identification of Iraq's missing people in a more efficient way. The campaign has the backing of the Ministry of Human Rights in Iraq. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/iraqs-missing-campaign
Son of Babylon has the support of partners from across the globe: Iraq Al-Rafidain, Crm-114, Cinema Production Centre, Sundance Institute, the UK Film Council, Screen Yorkshire, UK Trade & Investment, Fond Sud & CNC, Hivos, Doen, Nederlands Fonds voor de Film and Rotterdam Media Fonds, Jordan's Royal Film Commission, Sunnyland Film ART, Mawred Fund, Pyramedia and ADACH. Roissy Films is handling international sales.
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