BEHIND THE SCENES OF TURTLES CAN FLY

Behind the Scenes of Turtles Can Fly was made by a Kurdish filmmaker, Abdin Aliveisi, who stayed with the crew for six months of the gruelling shoot, with the aim of showing the conditions under which the film was made. A remarkable document of the production of a remarkable film, it explains the circumstances out of which the film comes, as well as the effort and genius required by Bahman Ghobadi and his crew in order to make it. In addition to the usual turmoils related to working with young children, small budgets and thousands of extras, Turtles Can Fly was produced in the shadow of the recent war in Iraq - it was shot in Kurdish Iraq - and in the face of military disquiet, civil lawlessness and every other social problem that wars create. Featuring remarkable scenes of Ghobadi working with the actors and multitudinous extras, as well as interviews with key cast and crew, Behind the Scenes is a record of the trials and triumphs of filmmaking in the most difficult circumstances imaginable. --- D Abdin Aliveisi, Hayedeh Safiyari P Bahman Ghobadi WS Mij Films L Kurdish w/English subtitles TD video/col/2005/76mins