Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra (INSO) Documentary
It was achievement enough that the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra managed to survive the darkest days of the war, when it struggled for supplies and electricity when its members fled for safety abroad and those who remained practiced in secret for fear of offending militants who considered music un-Islamic. They’ve survived bombs, random attacks and power failures during performances – which puts our worries about the role of the arts in perspective. The INSO Documentary has participated in several international film festivals in different countries and was a real competitor to other major participated films from around the world, the results were awarding the INSO documentary film some awards from those international film festivals and praised by others, the film participated in international festival such as CFA – California Film Awards, CIFF – Canada International Film Festival, BIFF – Baghdad International Film Festival and PPIFF – Phnom Penh International Film Festival: INSO Documentary International AWARDS Award Of Merit 2018 – Impact Docs Awards Official Selection 2014 – Phnom Penh International Film Festival Silver Award Winner 2012 – California Film Awards Rising Star Award Winner 2013 – Canada International Film Festival Jury praising winner 2013 – Baghdad International Film Festival INSO Documentary page on IMD: Official INSO Documentary Website: www.INSO-DocFilm.com The Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra, which established early in the forties of the last century, and because of the unstable situations that occurred in Iraqi since then, the INSO have faced a lot a lot of problems and obstacles and because of its members love to the classical music it wouldn’t stay alive till now. The Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra is considered as the oldest Orchestra in the Arab world, where it’s beginning was in the forties of the last century. The Orchestra’s journey wasn’t perfect like the other Symphony Orchestras, or at least it wasn’t a normal journey, as it always been facing difficulties because of the unstable political and social conditions during many decades ago. So, what were the obstacles encountered by the INSO? was it able to survive and evolve? what was the position of the successive Governments of them? and what was the fate of its members? I don’t want to talk more about the film, but to those who would have the chance to attend any film festival, I strongly encourage them to watch this film on theater. يتكلم الفيلم عن اقدم فرقة سمفونية في الشرق الاوسط، والتي تشكلت في بداية الاربعينيات من القرن المنصرم وبسبب الاوضاع الغير مستقرة التي حصلت ومازالت تحصل في العراق منذ ذلك الحين تأثرت وتعثرت الفرقة السمفونية الوطنية العراقية وواجه اعضائها الكثير من المصاعب وبسبب حب اعضائها لها كان من المستحيل ان تصمد الفرقة وتكون موجودة الى يومنا هذا. الفرقة السمفونية الوطنية العراقية تعتبر اقدم اوكيسترا في العالم العربي، بل في الشرق الاوسط حيث تكوينها في بداية الاربعينيات من القرن المنصرم. مسيرة الفرقة السمفونية الوطنية العراقية لم تكن مثالية كمثيلاتها من فرق الاوركسترا في دول العالم، او على الاقل لم تكن مسيرتها طبيعية فمسيرتها لطالما كانت متعثرة بسبب التغيرات السياسية والاجتماعية خلال العقود الكثيرة الماضية. فما هي هذه الصعوبات التي واجهتها السمفونيه؟ وماذا كانت مواقف الحكومات المتتاليه منها؟ وماذا كان مصير عازفيها؟ This is the Official Film Poster for the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra Documentary: After six months of continuous working the film finally was completed, I mean the INSO (The Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra) documentary film which took all my time in those tough months as this film has participated in International Film Festivals. I did my best in every part of the work starting from the screenplay and commentary scripts, to the lighting, videography, montage and editing, sound mixing and fixing, color corrections and special effects, directing, poster designing, translation and subtitling and many other small things that you may find in the INSO film website. ستة اشهر من العمل المتواصل على مدار الساعه، واخيرا اكتمل الفيلم الوثائقي، وهنا اقصد الفيلم الوثائقي (الفرقة السمفونية الوطنية العراقية) الذي اخذ وقتي كله في تلك الفترة الزمنيه الكبيرة حيث شارك في مهرجانات دولية . لقد فعلت ما بإستطاعتي واعطيت الكثير من جهد وتركيز ومتابعه وبحوث كثيرة ابتداءا من السيناريو وكتابة التعليق، الى الاضاءة والتصوير، المونتاج وتعديل الالوان، مكساج الصوت والمؤثرات الخاصة، تصميم البوستر وموقع الفيلم، تحويل الافلام القديمة وتعديلها ، تعديل الصور القديمه وجعلها ملائمه وبجودة عاليه ، اعداد الحوارات وادائها ، ناهيك عن اخراج العمل ككل .. HARD TIMES Power Shutdowns During the interviews shooting period, there were a lot of national power shutdowns, as this is the situation in Iraq. Noises and Distortions There were a lot of noises and distortion because of the house power generators and big area generators that provide the power when the national electricity is down, getting those noises from the interviews was like hell. Shooting Delays A lot of shooting delays occurred because of the electricity shutdowns even when the power generation was there because sometimes the lighting becomes fluctuate and shooting an interview was impossible. Military Checkpoints Another obstacle raised up during the interviews preparations which are the transportation, facing lots of lots of traffic jams caused by military checkpoints even on the highways. Lack Of Security And the security situation takes a big part in the hard times, any time, anywhere we expect an explosion or machine gunfights. Long Distances Putting in mind that most of the INSO members I interviewed were living so far away. To take a closer look at the film’s content and observing how the INSO documentary is telling a story of the Iraqi symphony during their journey in several decades of unstable occasions I am sharing with you some snapshots from within the film to give you that impression. SCENARIO AND SCRIPTS The scenario and voice over scripts were written and prepared by Firas Sameer after a very long time studying, reading and researching paper books and over the internet regarding the Iraqi society and the INSO. CAMERAMAN All Interview footage and many concert rehearsals plus behind the scenes in addition to parts from a couple of new concerts were shoot by Firas Sameer. LIGHTING Lighting
INSO Documentary International Awards !!
Great news, INSO Documentary has recently awarded International Awards from a well known International Film Festivals. The Awards were from: Raising Star Award, by Canada International Film Festival 2013 Silver Award, by California Film Festival 2012 The certificate and the trophy also where received, it was amazing to have such an achievement. This is from the Canada International Film Festival 2013 – Rising Star Award Also INSO won California Film Awards 2012 – Silver Award And also recently the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra documentary has participated in the Baghdad International Film Festival and awarded a special Appreciation letter by the Festival jury regarding the film’s rich content including historical facts and events which were never been covered or archived by any other documentary films over the past decades. Read More about inso participation in BIFF and see the certificate, video, images, interviews and many more from the below link: BIFF Jury Praised the INSO Documentary The film was totally produced by Babylon Gate Films, and the news of winning Awards on several International Film Festivals is a fact that we at Babylon Gate Films are proud of, and this presents our quality in our services and production. For more info you may visit the Official INSO Documentary website at: www.inso-docfilm.com
