Fried Eggs

In 2003, Eddie Moretti, the head of VICE Films, and Suroosh Alvi, VICE co-founder, tracked down and documented the lives of the only heavy metal band in Iraq, Acrassicauda (pronounced a-cross-i-cow-dah, meaning "deadly black scorpion").

Happening almost by accident, the story of Heavy Metal in Baghdad was originally printed in an issue of VICE as a short article. After years of venturing back to Baghdad and having many personal conversations with the four band members: Marwan, Tony, Faisal, and Firas; their story was made into an intimate portrayal of the band's desire to simply stay alive and headbang to their music in peace.

Moretti and Alvi's main goal was to capture the day-to-day lives of innocent Iraqis who were forced to leave their home and become part of the largest refugee crisis in history. Moretti filmed Alvi sitting with members of the band in open, public settings like their hotel lobby in order to gain their trust - initially, the band was apprehensive of the filmmakers intentions. As the film progresses, we see the band and the two filmmakers form a close relationship. Near the end, there is an emotional moment inside the band's new home in Syria, as they watch footage of themselves from their experiences of the previous years.

Scenes of everyday Baghdad were also caught on tape. From their hotel room's balcony, Moretti filmed bombs blasting in the distance. Both he and Alvi voiced their anxiety countless times, knowing they could be shot down and killed at any moment, despite being armed and wearing bullet-proof vests. Walking outside was near impossible; their drivers often cautioning them to get off the streets and back to their hotel. Stopped by undercover police officials, Moretti's camera was put under scrutiny. Fortunately, he managed to keep the footage that became Heavy Metal in Baghdad.

The unique aspect of the documentary, which also included some clips of the band's live shows, is that while it is directly about a band, the power of music, and how it can connect people, it is also indirectly an in-depth, street-level look at the disastrous aftermath of the Iraq War. Ironically, while music is meant to connect, the members have endured nothing but hardship, having to leave their families in Baghdad and starting over in Syria where they work illegally for ridiculously low pay.

Screened during the Toronto Film Festival, there was a Q&A session after the film, where Moretti informed the audience of their failed efforts to bring the band into the country - the band was flat-out rejected by the Canadian Embassy. He also offered an adapted message from the band's Blog, originally written in slightly-improper English - they learned the language by watching American films and listening to American music, and as a result, use the f-word in every other sentence and refer to most people as "dude."

"So the last thing that hits our mind is to seek your help to get us out of here where we going to be able to live the dream of our life and being out there on stage with you wherever you are. Let the metal unite us let the metal rule. Yours, AcrassicaudA," Moretti read to the audience.

Moretti and Alvi ended the night with hopeful thoughts, encouraging everyone to vote for the film in the hopes of receiving enough press to give the band's story extra attention to get them out of Iraq. More information about the film and where you can donate money are available at www.heavymetalinbaghdad. com.

Published by The Medium

Pixar’s tenth animated film, UP, is filled with adventure, mortality, love and is coloured with humour throughout.

Carl Fredrickson, a 78-year-old widower does all he can to fulfill the dreams he feels his wife left behind. Although the film is in 3D, the real pops and shocks come from the astounding, rich love a man can have for a woman, and the lengths at which one will go to end up where they always dreamed.

With a cute and suspenseful subplot about saving a bird, the themes of wilderness and care for animals is carried out beautifully with Russel, the little explorer who ends up pairing up with Carl for the adventure; this movie takes innocence to a whole new level.

“The detail, and emotion in this movie is unreal,” said one guest at the advanced screening of the film.

Check out the film in 3D at your local theatre, out May 29th.

Published by Faze magazine

"It’s raining here like mad, big chunks and drops of rain. Sometimes it hits the windows like it’s flying sideways. Sometimes the walls creak and I imagine them caving in and taking my life. Someone’s gonna die out there, someone’s gonna smash up their car and face and chest cavity. Then they’re gonna die and some others are gonna most likely die inside, too. It’s a real tragedy, all the crashes and smashes that are happening this minute, the dying and all. The rain takes lives and good moods too. It’s taken away the little joy in my heart right now and all I can think about is sadness. Does that happen to you? It happens to me when it rains or when I watch certain films or when I have to iron. Especially when I iron - there is something depressing and therapeutic about the whole thing, running a hot slab of metal over fabrics, destroying the wrinkles, flattening out its land and turning the things around, trying not to forget the sleeves and collars, making sure you flatten out your thoughts and that you put enough pressure on the voices to burn them away without actually putting a hole through the garment, or your heart. It’s a tricky task; it means the same thing the rain does. I hope you’re having a nice day."

In response, her lover wrote back telling her she should cheer up, and appreciate the rain. Feeling worse than before, she wrote back once more:

"I didn’t mean to say I don’t like the rain - surely I understand its purpose, and enjoy a good blast of it every now and then - the real subject of my discourse was about its violent temper and consequences. We drive by accidents on the highway and it’s all glorious because the metals smashed up and the lights from the fire coming out of the vehicles are something amazing, but there’s really a dead baby inside and its mother is still breathing though she’s paralyzed and wont realize until later that she cant move. She’s lost both her lives at one and the same time, all at the mercy of a storm. When the rain hits as hard as it did, that’s all I see. It’s all shit."

She shredded office documents for the rest of the day, indulging in her sadness, while the rain fell hard and sideways against the windows.

The End.

Published by Everything Magazine