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NICE BOMBS Premiering on the Sundance Channel March 19, 2008

NICE BOMBS premiers on SUNDANCE CHANNEL

Artvamp is proud to announce the broadcast premiere of “NICE BOMBS.”

THE SUNDANCE CHANNEL
MARCH 19
6:30 EST/PST

Check your local listing for channel number.

NICE BOMBS follows director Usama Alshaibi on a journey back to his home town of Baghdad, Iraq.

thoroughly engaging . . .offers a uniquely time-layered vision of the war.“-Ronnie Scheib, Variety

Loaded with candid conversations and opinions about the hot-button issues of war, terrorism, and Islamic extremism,’Nice Bombs’ offers many different Iraqi and American points of view and portrays a time and place of nightmarish complexity.“- Bruce Bennett, NEW YORK SUN

Chicago filmmaker Usama Alshaibi grew up in Iraq and the U.S., and although he recently became an American citizen, his personal video documentary has plenty to say about the day-to-day existence of his Baghdad relatives, whom he visited in 2004. Distance tends to simplify our view of anything, and this video humanizes the situation on the ground mostly by complicating it: in a voice-over Alshaibi says he’s often asked what “”the Iraqis” think, but by the end this question has become as meaningless as asking what “the Americans” think. Much of his previous work has been experimental, but this becomes formally adventurous only near the end, as he converses by phone with a cousin who tells him how much worse the situation has grown this year.” 92 min.-Jonathan Rosenbaum, Critics Choice, Chicago Reader.

In early 2004 Chicago filmmaker Usama Alshaibi returned to his native Iraq with his wife, producer Kristie Alshaibi, and his camera. He had been away for nearly a quarter-century. The result is a surprisingly warm first-person video diary, blending a series of reunions with Alshaibi’s vast array of relatives and footage of the bazaars, streets, homes and everyday perils of life in post-Saddam, mid-occupation and mid-chaos Iraq.“-Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune


new artvamp projects


[can’t see a video above? click here to watch]

Currently in pre-production, this Artvamp documentary directed by Kristie Alshaibi is about the relationship between molester and molested, as experienced by a sex worker and the father who sexually abused her as a girl. Through animation, interviews, educational films, and home movies the project will reach beyond mainstream sensationalism surrounding pedophilia and address the surrounding issues with frankness, and compassion.

We are currently raising funds to complete this movie. PayPal contributions are accepted via store@artvamp.com, or investors may contact us directly for a complete project plan and budget.

Also in Production:

Usama Alshaibi began shooting in September 2007 for a new docu-fiction about finding the Middle East in the heart of the Midwest. In search of a mythical city where his deceased brother wished to be buried, Usama goes on the road to find BAGHDAD, IOWA. Check out the project’s web site: www.baghdadiowa.com