{"id":2679,"date":"2008-08-19T18:34:29","date_gmt":"2008-08-19T22:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/?p=2679"},"modified":"2009-02-03T17:00:08","modified_gmt":"2009-02-03T21:00:08","slug":"iraqi-exodus-production-diary-i-welcome-to-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/uncategorized\/iraqi-exodus-production-diary-i-welcome-to-syria\/2679\/","title":{"rendered":"Production Diary I: Welcome to Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"

Filmmaker Tania Rahkmanova writes on location in Syria during the filming of Iraqi Exodus.<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"May 31, 2008: If a night at the theater begins with checking your coat in the cloakroom, then a documentary film shoot begins with passing border patrol.
\n
\nAt 10 p.m., I landed in the Damascus airport from Paris. The airport is rather small and our flight from Paris is the only one passing the border control.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though my tourist visa is still valid, I was told by the Syrian Embassy that I needed a special one for my shoot. Before I left France, the Syrian Ministry of Information provided me with a letter to confirm that the “extension” of my already valid passport would be issued when I arrive in Syria.<\/p>\n

I went directly to the officer at the border to show him the letter and my passport. He gives me a hearty grin and stamps my passport, but is perplexed by the letter. In five minutes I am surrounded by immigration officers, who are all looking at my visa and the letter (which is written in English). They don’t seem to understand, nor are they interested that I’m a journalist. Perhaps they don’t see journalists often.<\/p>\n

I can’t do much here, so I take my passport and with great relief, I enter into Syria.<\/p>\n

I was often told that Syrian security system and military were trained by the Russians. I don’t know. I can hardly imagine a Russian military smiling to a foreign journalist bidding him, “Welcome to Russia.” If I tried to argue with the Russian security at the border I would be escorted into their office, searched and questioned and then probably let into the country. Here in Damascus the rules are strict but people are very nice and welcoming.<\/p>\n

The next day at the Information Ministry they reassured me that my visa is not a problem, I can make my film as long as I have permission to film and one of their employees accompanies me during the shoot.<\/p>\n

Tania Rahkmanova has made dozens of documentary films on historical and political themes. <\/em>Iraqi Exodus is her second WIDE ANGLE film — the first was the award-winning <\/em>Greetings from Grozny. She holds a Ph.D. in applied statistics and has worked as a print and documentary journalist.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Filmmaker Tania Rahkmanova writes on location in Syria during the filming of Iraqi Exodus. May 31, 2008: If a night at the theater begins with checking your coat in the cloakroom, then a documentary film shoot begins with passing border patrol. At 10 p.m., I landed in the Damascus airport from Paris. The airport is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[205,656,820,326,821],"class_list":["post-2679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-18-with-a-bullet","tag-iraqi-exodus","tag-production-diary","tag-syria","tag-tania-rahkmanova"],"yoast_head":"\nIraqi Exodus ~ Production Diary I: Welcome to Syria | Wide Angle | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/uncategorized\/iraqi-exodus-production-diary-i-welcome-to-syria\/2679\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Iraqi Exodus ~ Production Diary I: Welcome to Syria | Wide Angle | PBS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Filmmaker Tania Rahkmanova writes on location in Syria during the filming of Iraqi Exodus. 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