Page 28 - DIVA_3_2007_No.30

Poisoned Chalice - the UN in Iraq

Interview with Francis Mead,
author and producer

It's a forceful film, about disabled people. It is a deployed in residential
showing the lives of big subject in Iraq. You areas, not very far from
these men and know, they have had several where the UN was, the
women who have wars, and there are at least a Canal Hotel.
accepted to serve the million disabled veterans
United Nations in from the wars, and the I went out with somebody
Iraq, despite the risks disabled people in Iraq are that morning, and there was
to their own lives. having a very tough time. a missile with a launch pad
right next to a couple of hou-
An Iraqi who had set up an ses. It was very hot, mid-
The film was checked
association for disabled summer, and the temperatu-
by the UN Security
people was basically trying re was around 50 degrees C,
people - so that
to get support for his and the missiles were very
nothing can harm
organization to obtain unstable and could have
those who are still in
equipment, money and so gone off from the heat. I
the field.
forth for the people in took some photos.
Francis Mead Karbala. So I went down to
Francis Mead's film Karbala and met him, and it That afternoon there was a
He worked for the UN pays tribute to those was very interesting. That press conference at the UN
in Iraq during the terri- who were killed in the was the last time you could mission, and you can see
terrible attack in the
ble explosion that travel around the country. images from that in the film,
Canal Hotel on the 19
killed Sergio Vieira de The bombing was a kind of and they are unique images
August 2003. If you
Mello and other UN watershed. On the actual day as the bomb went off while
have a chance, see it -
staffers. At that time, of the bombing, I was in fact they were filming - and you
it's definitely worth it.
he was working for doing a piece on unexploded see the reaction of people at
IRIN doing reports on munitions and bombs in the time. I'm in the footage
Q: What did you do in
the social and econo- Iraq. One of the features in myself, covered in dust and
Iraq?
mic conditions of ordi- Iraq after the war was the looking bewildered. I was
nary Iraqi citizens. abandoned munition facto- very lucky in that I escaped
I was working there for
ries and the enormous injury, but of course many
HUN [the United Nations
Francis Mead, being a amount of ammunition all people were wounded and
news service] for about 3 or
member of the media, over the country - most of it killed.
4 weeks. My main remit was
decided to do a film to write about humanitarian was unguarded. I remember
about the UN mission and social issues in Iraq. So that when I went to Baghdad Q: What made you
in Iraq so that ordinary I was writing about things I used to see these huge fac- decide to do this film?
that
were
people could get a pic- like the electricity shortages, tories
ture of what life is like water shortages, and their abandoned, and they were After the bombing.. .1
on a mission. Although impact on ordinary Iraqis. fill of munitions, missiles, thought about writing about
life on any peacekee- guns - all sorts of things. So it. First of all I thought about
of course that made it very gathering people's impres-
ping mission is tough, At that time, it was really the sions and doing something
there is no other place last time you could travel dangerous. Anybody could
just create a bomb or blow like that. But I work in
where the UN staff around relatively freely, so, I
something up. It was just broadcasting and I'm a video
encounters as much saw Baghdad. It was
lying there and most of it producer, so, eventually I
danger as in Iraq today. possible to travel as long as w
decided I wanted to do a
a
Almost four years have you went with a UN vehicle. unguarded. S documentary film. There
passed, but the violen- So I went with the UN and have been plenty of
ce in Iraq continues. NGOs, and I saw different So that morning I had gone documentaries about the war
communities, and different
and written about some old in Iraq, butt wanted to show
Francis went back to locations. I remember doing Russian missiles that had something that no one else
Bagdad in 2005, filming a piece about a clinic based been deployed around has covered: the life of the
the lives of the UN staff in a very poor area at the Baghdad in anticipation of UN staff who are there
that work there. The edge of Baghdad,. I even tra- the invasion. They were today. I felt I'd met some
result of his work was veled down to Karbala very old missiles, from the remarkable people working
which was south of
recently shown to 350 1950s, and they were very for the UN in 2003 - people
UN staff in New York. Baghdad and did an article unstable. They had been who were doing their best to
26 3 2007 Diva
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