The First Movie On DVD
Mark Cousins gives Iraqi children cameras to film their lives
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Life’s a mash-up of fantasy and reality in kids’ heads. But what if the kids live in a war zone? Does the fighting curtail the light sabres and magic princesses? Belfast born Mark Cousins goes to an Iraqi village to find out. It’s Ramadan, so the adults are indoors. Cousins gives the kids little cameras to film their lives. He hears of a fish called Bery who lives in a magical palace. A child combs a dove’s feathers in the gloaming. In the resulting film we see life when the war tide is out.
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Charming documentary on innocence and image-making
" —Time Out
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It is heart-on-sleeve stuff and I found his idealism inspiring.
" —The Guardian
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Delightful, extremely affecting documentary
" —The Observer
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Evocative, poetic and playful, The First Movie is a true and pure anti-war film.
" —The Times
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The First Movie
— Kermode Uncut
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Cinema Odyssey: An Interview with Mark Cousins
— The Skinny
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Widescreen: The First Movie
— Prospect Magazine
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Mark Cousins brings a Kurdish lesson in film-making to London
— The Guardian



— The GWF Team