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P.O.V.: What is this film about?
Jason DaSilva:
"A Song for Daniel" is about two children, Ahmed, who is from Baghdad, and Daniel, whose parents were from Baghdad and now live in the US, and their relationship to their homelands.
P.O.V.:
How did you go about making this film in Iraq?
Jason:
I had to do something a little different with this one. I gave up a certain amount of control, which I like to have in my films. As an American citizen I wasn't able to go to Baghdad, but a friend of mine who had a relationship with the Turkish embassy there was able to go, and she did the filming there. We set up a few meetings and I gave her direction on how to shoot. She's a director of photography so I was confident that she'd be able to pull off a lot of these things. She shot Ahmed on 16-millimeter film, so we really had no way to tell if it was good or not, but luckily we got it back and it was fine. Then I took over and I shot Daniel in the US. I've never even met Ahmed before — it's kind of a weird relationship, similar to Daniel's relationship to Ahmed.
P.O.V.:
How did you establish trust with Daniel?
Jason: I hung out with Daniel maybe four times before we even started shooting. There's not so much trust that you need to establish in a film like this. It's like, "let me hang out with you, let me go to school with you." I wanted to see what he did after school and what time he woke up. For an eight year old, it's kind of fun. I remember what it was like when [I was] eight years old, wanting to watch cartoons and play Game Boys and go out with your friends and things like that. I really got into it — the same way he got into being filmed doing these mundane things that he finds exciting, I found it really exciting, as well, because I got to hang out with him and revisit my own past.
P.O.V.:
What doesn't Daniel know about life in Baghdad?
Jason:
Daniel doesn't really know anything about life in Baghdad — when you wake up in the morning, what you would have for breakfast, what kind of school environment you would be in, who your friends would be, and what you'd do when you'd get home — just basic things that a child would run through, but they're starkly different in these two countries. I'm showing Daniel that, if nothing else, they would be a little bit different if you had lived in Baghdad.
P.O.V.:
What are the differences and similarities between Ahmed and Daniel's lives?
Jason:
I think one difference is what the media tells us about places where America's at war. The American media tends to paint these places in a dark light. So it was important to break down stereotypes, to show that those stereotypes aren't present, especially with children. It's not like children are raised to be militants or anything like that. They just run to school. I found that the school environment in Baghdad was at a higher caliber than over here. That's one of the main differences. But there are so many similarities. Both of these kids run the same way. They both love cartoons. They both love listening to music. They both have a similar days — they wake up in the morning, they go to school, they come back, they play with their friends, and they watch a little bit of TV. What is different is the world around them based on the politics of these different countries and war zones. When Ahmed was talking about how he can't see properly in his house because he can't afford gasoline for the generators, the politics between these countries is affecting him and his daily life.
P.O.V.:
What are the larger issues surrounding this film?
Jason:
The film is about a boy from Iraq and an Iraqi boy in America. But it's also looking at the relationships between these two countries. These two countries are at war, but what do the children have to do with the war at all? Their parents want them to grow up in an environment that's safe and in an environment where they can learn.
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