French filmmaker reveals 'Uncle Saddam'(coming to Cinemax)

CNN ^ | Friday, November 22, 2002 | CNN transcript of Paula Zahn interview

[weegee]

CNN) -- A French filmmaker finagled his way into Iraq claiming he was working on a project about the country's architecture. Two months after his arrival, with Iraqi power brokers feeling comfortable with his presence, Joel Soler began shooting his actual project, a documentary about Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein.

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I saw this film a couple of years ago at the Worldfest Houston Film Festival. There was a death threat against the director so he cancelled his appearance.

This interview with Zahn does not begin to demonstrate how evil Saddam comes across in this documentary.

The director was granted access because the Iraqis thought that it was going to be a complimentary film about Saddam Hussein but it turned into a hachet piece.

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Here's the official website for this film:

UNCLE SADDAM - A documentary film

[EggsAckley]

Saddam prefers to be greeted with a kiss in the armpit.

Speaking of dieting, you just spoiled my appetite. Thanks! <{;o)

[Boomer Geezer]

re: Losing appetite! I'm already on Atkins, was sitting here consuming my mid-day meal, and I saw this. YUCK!

At first I thought this was a clever hacking of the CNN site; I remember a few years back, someone put up a CNN site which was a clever forgery. Tell me this ain't for real and that it is a paradoy, or hacking, or something.

[Catphish]

There's a great documentary film in the same vein as this one that deals with Hitler, Mao, Stalin, etc and the "banality of evil".

It's called "Human Remains" -http://www.jayrosenblattfilms.com/human.html and is shown on the Independent Film Channel now and then.

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

Speaking of dieting, you just spoiled my appetite. Thanks! <{;o)

What, you don't like to be greeted that way? Must be a regional thing. ;)

[weegee]

The documentary was designed to highlight the eccentric nature of Mr. Hussein. Whether or not Saddam wants people to kiss his pits (and I believe that there was video of this), it's funny to taunt him and provoke him to deny it.

There was also footage of an execution by pistol (I don't know if Cinemax will air this unedited, sister network HBO ran a shorter edit of Waco: The Rules Of Engagement). I think that the triggerman in that scene was Saddam but it is not clear.

There is also a description of how Saddam treated his own family and relatives.

This interview does not do this film justice. It should have started with the basic premise of how he came to have such access, what he hoped to accomplish, and some examples of Saddam's nature. Why aren't there any questions about what he thinks of President Bush's drive to remove Saddam from power?

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Model of Saddam's Grand Mosque

Monumental ego: a model of Saddam's planned mosque. It will be the world's largest. Currently under construction. Total estimated cost exceeds One Billion dollars. The model itself fills a large meeting room at an estimated cost of $500,000.00. French architect, Jacques Barriere, has been commissioned to design the structure, which will cover an area near Baghdad the size of 12 football pitches. It will be surrounded by a moat in which the crowning touch will be an island formed in the shape of Saddam's thumb, with the ground contoured exactly to match the leader's fingerprint. "It is so that when God looks down on this mosque he will see Saddam too," said Soler.

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Now who was it that asked, "Who cut the cheese?"

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BTTT (should be airing soon).