The First Movie

Filmmaker Mark Cousins grew up amidst violence in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Now, he takes his lens—actually, a collection of mini-DV cameras—to another ravaged trouble-spot, in the Middle East. Cousins meets children in the war-torn village of Goptapa with the intention of giving them the means and opportunity to communicate their thoughts and values in their own DIY narratives using camcorders. After a free showing in the town square of classic international children's films (climaxing with E.T.: The Extraterrestrial), the boys and girls begin to document their own lives and concerns, although the results we see are strongly (and probably necessarily) filtered through Cousins's own poetic musings on youthful resilience and storytelling in response to deprivation and immense suffering. Although many viewers may guess in advance, only near the end of the documentary does Cousins name this land—Iraq—and identify Goptapa as one of the Kurd villages hit by chemical weapons during Saddam Hussein's genocidal 1980s campaigns. The First Movie is a beautiful visual essay, less concerned with history than with general humanity and morality (and the potential healing power of cinema). Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)