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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Bigfoot Redux: Syrian 'Hero Boy' Video Faked By Norwegian Director |
| 2014-11-15 |
| [BBC] Millions of YouTube viewers have been captivated by the 'Syrian hero boy' who manages to rescue a little girl while under gunfire. Now a group of Norwegian filmmakers have told BBC Trending they are behind it. They say it was filmed on location in Malta this summer with the intention of being presented as real. Lars Klevberg, a 34-year-old film director based in Oslo, wrote a script after watching news coverage of the conflict in Syria. He says he deliberately presented the film as reality in order to generate a discussion about children in conflict zones. "If I could make a film and pretend it was real, people would share it and react with hope," he said. "We shot it in Malta in May this year on a set that was used for other famous movies like Troy and Gladiator," Klevberg said. "The little boy and girl are professional actors from Malta. The voices in the background are Syrian refugees living in Malta." Were they comfortable making a film that potentially deceived millions of people? "I was not uncomfortable," Klevberg said. "By publishing a clip that could appear to be authentic we hoped to take advantage of a tool that's often used in war; make a video that claims to be real. We wanted to see if the film would get attention and spur debate, first and foremost about children and war. We also wanted to see how the media would respond to such a video." In fact the film received funding from the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI) and the Audio and Visual Fund from Arts Council Norway in October 2013. The filmmakers say their application for funding made clear they wanted to upload the film to the internet without making it obvious it was real or fiction. They also claim that those who financed it were aware of, and supported, these intentions. "The children surviving gunshots was supposed to send small clues that it was not real," said producer John Einar Hagen. "We had long discussions with the film's financiers about the ethics around making a film like this." "It was not a cynical way to get attention. They had honest motivations," Ase Meyer, short film commissioner for the NFI told BBC Trending. "I was surprised people thought it was real. When I see the film, the little boy is shot but he keeps on running. There is no blood on the child." The NFI awarded 280,000 kroner (ã26,480) towards its production. "It was a really low budget film," says Ms Meyer. "People normally apply for more money." However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... when Ms Meyer heard that the film was online she contacted the filmmakers to encourage them to reveal it was fiction. When asked if the NFI had a responsibility to tell people the film wasn't real, Ms Meyer said "It was the responsibility of the filmmakers". So once the film was made, how did it go viral? "It was posted to our YouTube account a few weeks ago but the algorithm told us it was not going to trend," Klevberg said. "So we deleted that and re-posted it." The filmmakers say they added the word "hero" to the new headline and tried to send it out to people on Twitter to start a conversation. It was then picked up by Shaam Network, a channel that features material from the Middle East, which posted it on YouTube. Then it began to attract international attention. Since being uploaded to YouTube on Monday the video has been watched more than five million times and inspired thousands of comments. There has been a big debate about whether it is genuine. How those viewers will react to learning that it's a work of fiction remains to be seen. "We are really happy with the reaction," Klevberg said. "It created a debate." |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #19 You would say that of course. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-11-15 22:57 |
| #18 I'm just tired that everytime someone lies to y'all, y'all complain that it's "Just Like Bigfoot." |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2014-11-15 20:25 |
| #17 Nearly posted earlier but shelved out of fear ("Please don't kill me!") of the Kurdish lobby (whose reports I've read with great interest): I don't say the she-Kurds are slouches; I'm sure that their bullets make ouches. I don't say they're iffy, But they sure look spiffy With those pristine magazine pouches. |
| Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 2014-11-15 19:21 |
| #16 Milli Vanilli--Very apropos. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2014-11-15 15:59 |
| #15 The Milli Vanilli of documentary film-makers. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2014-11-15 15:09 |
| #14 So we'll assume anything you film from now on is totally faked, right, Lars? So if you happen to accidently film something in the future that's Pulitzer-worthy, everyone will presume you faked it. Nice life you've made for yourself. Idiot. |
| Posted by: Barbara 2014-11-15 13:18 |
| #13 A discussion based upon a lie, is a conclusion based upon a false. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2014-11-15 12:50 |
| #12 First I saw the film, it was labeled Syrian Soldiers Shoot at Kid. When it made it here, it was ISJV Shoots at Kid. I figured it happened, but everyone claimed it on their side. You're part of the problem Lars. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2014-11-15 12:48 |
| #11 Well a good picture of Winston is always good. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-11-15 12:00 |
| #10 Ship: I was looking for "Oh &*(* not this shit again..." but I'm sick right now and out of energy. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2014-11-15 11:58 |
| #9 Green Helmet lives again!!! |
| Posted by: AlanC 2014-11-15 11:27 |
| #8 They could have just as well made a real film instead of a faked film. There are plenty of atrocities to film. Of course, there might have been more risk to themselves. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2014-11-15 08:55 |
| #7 A symptom of the Left, like the 'synthetic people' in Obama's bios. Facts are what they want them to be, reality need not apply. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2014-11-15 07:53 |
| #6 Part of the Bodyguard of Lies Snowy?. I was certain a lot of the stuff coming out of ?Kurdistan was way overboard. Still good to see tho, we need more propaganda actually. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-11-15 07:47 |
| #5 Yep, yep and yep. Thought so. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-11-15 07:43 |
| #4 grom, I think you are right. I spent 2 years in Erbil, and was in frequent contact with the KRG. I never saw a female Kurdish soldier (not saying they don't exist), but they are certainly not prominent. Also Kurds have distinct features, and don't look anything like the female billboard posters. Saying that, think it was you who noted a week ago, this is still effective PR. |
| Posted by: Incredulous 2014-11-15 07:37 |
| #3 Methinks a lot of the reporting from Kobane, including the Kurdish female heras, is the sign of MSM favor. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-11-15 03:43 |
| #2 I can't find the image I want to. Instead, here's a picture of Winston Churchill. Please enjoy it while he's still having existed. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2014-11-15 00:25 |
| #1 These people spend their time promoting an inside joke to the world that Lutefisk is actually edible. A faked video is small beer. |
| Posted by: Elmeregum Gravique7215 2014-11-15 00:16 |