This page is referenced by:

• 1 2013-07-06T14:58:05-07:00 Zoom in on Baghdad 11 split 2013-08-29T09:55:04-07:00 Ageless Iraq opens with an establishing shot of an airplane and the commentary, “At the center of our world lies the Middle East, and at its very heart the ancient land which is Iraq.” The subsequent shot, taken from the ground perspective, is of a shepherd looking skyward, the ruins of the Arch of Ctesiphon looms large in the background.  “Out of this ancient heritage, the citizens of one of the world’s youngest nations are building a new life and a modern state.” The next shot cuts to an aerial view of the monument. The sequence establishes the viewer in the role of a tourist approaching Baghdad from the air, contrasting the normative perspective from the airplane with the local perspective on the ground.  The image of the airplane flying over Iraq provides continuity throughout the opening sequence that indicates the viewer's approach towards Baghdad with a tourist's gaze and aerial perspective. The sequence establishes the signature features of the surroundings and city: the river, the ancient monument and the dense network of roads and buildings in an older urban neighborhood. "Ageless Iraq is no longer a remote, isolated country; today she is a main junction linking the East and West." The commentary and the film title, referenced here, establish from the outset that this is a story of both continuity and change that reinforces an East-West dichotomy.  European tourists arrive in Baghdad by train. “Ageless Iraq is no longer a remote isolated country. Today she is a main junction linking the east and west.” The viewer’s arrival in the capital is indicated by a pan to the sign “Baghdad West” and the narrator’s words: “Her capital is Baghdad, a name that conjures up all the romance of Haroun Al-Rashid and the Arabian Nights of a thousand years ago when this was the fabulous capital of the Islamic World.” After this reference to the orientalist imaginary of Baghdad, tradition and modernity are visually contrasted in order to establish a narrative of progress based on visual codes of individual dress and built environment: “The tempo of an age old way of life, contrasts with the swifter rhythm of the new.” In the first instance, the camera frames a crowd of casually dressed young boys and old men near the river with a herd of cattle drinking from the water at their feet, and a small boat moving towards the opposite bank in the background. The second shot, depicts a group of young schoolgirls in uniform playing volleyball, a modern concrete block building in the background.