Let the boy Andraos be a Filmmaker
Donation protected
If I can be a filmmaker, he deserves a chance too.
Androas, a 12-year old Assyrian boy, lived 2 years in an Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp in Erbil, Iraq. When his family fled ISIS from the Nineveh Plains in 2014, they left everything behind except the clothes on their backs.
Andraos dreams of being a filmmaker.
I want him to follow his dream even though his life has been a nightmare. This is why I’m raising this fund.
Here is the plan in brief:
1. Buy him a basic camera kit.
2. Get enough money for his elimentary school and for the local art institute . This money is for schools supplies, transportation, and other school costs.
3. I will personally mentor Andraos with filmmaking anytime he wishes.
My name is Sargon Saadi, I’m a filmmaker living in Los Angeles. I was born in Syria, but I was fortunate enough to be able to study what I love and get a Bachelor degree in film and cinematography in 2011 from Columbia College Chicago. The last 3 year I’ve been making documentaries to raise awareness on the plight of the indigenous minorities, and especially the Assyrians in Iraq and Syria after ISIS invasions.
I connected with this boy and if you read the story, I hope that you too will connect with him.
This is the story:
In 2014 I flew to Iraq with 2 friends to make a documentary called “The Last Plight ” to cover ISIS atrocities on Assyrian and Yazidi minorities. At the last day of filming as I was getting the last shot of the camp, a boy pops his head in the camera. He just stands there.
I was confused. I didn’t know what the boy wanted. “What’s your name?” I asked. “Andraos” he shyly replies. “Where did you come from?” I asked him again, “Qaraqosh” he replies with his eyes still fixated on the camera. Qaraqosh was the main city in the Nineveh Plains where majority of Assyrians lived.
“So what are you doing here?” I asked him trying to strike a conversation, but he ignored the question as if it was never asked.
He just reached to the camera and started playing with the lens, changing focus, and pressing knobs.
He then told me how he liked cameras and wanted to be a filmmaker. Right away I felt the urge to help him. Who am I to have the privilege to follow my passion, and not him!?
I handed him the camera to play with. He seemed so curious and joyful at the same time. I took this photo of him.
“Stop it, kid! Don’t do that.” shouted a man sitting on the side of the street trying to behave the boy. The kid handed it to me right away even though I told him to keep it little longer.
1 year later, in 2015, I flew back to Iraq to film another documentary called "Silence After The Storm ".
This time there were more organized camps that were fitted with temperoray homes called “Caravans”. As I was walking through the main IDP camp in Erbil, a boy approaches and pops his head in the camera again. It was the same boy, Andraos.
Andraos along with his 5 siblings and thousands other children like them are stripped from their chance of education.
Andraos wants to be a filmmaker, and I want to make sure I provide him the means to be one.
It's 2016 now. It’s been a year. Through help of a friend I am able to get contact with his parents. I will withdraw this fund and send him all the funds through Western Union in Iraq directly.
I thank you in advance.
Best,
Tawdi
Androas, a 12-year old Assyrian boy, lived 2 years in an Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp in Erbil, Iraq. When his family fled ISIS from the Nineveh Plains in 2014, they left everything behind except the clothes on their backs.
Andraos dreams of being a filmmaker.
I want him to follow his dream even though his life has been a nightmare. This is why I’m raising this fund.
Here is the plan in brief:
1. Buy him a basic camera kit.
2. Get enough money for his elimentary school and for the local art institute . This money is for schools supplies, transportation, and other school costs.
3. I will personally mentor Andraos with filmmaking anytime he wishes.
My name is Sargon Saadi, I’m a filmmaker living in Los Angeles. I was born in Syria, but I was fortunate enough to be able to study what I love and get a Bachelor degree in film and cinematography in 2011 from Columbia College Chicago. The last 3 year I’ve been making documentaries to raise awareness on the plight of the indigenous minorities, and especially the Assyrians in Iraq and Syria after ISIS invasions.
I connected with this boy and if you read the story, I hope that you too will connect with him.
This is the story:
In 2014 I flew to Iraq with 2 friends to make a documentary called “The Last Plight ” to cover ISIS atrocities on Assyrian and Yazidi minorities. At the last day of filming as I was getting the last shot of the camp, a boy pops his head in the camera. He just stands there.
I was confused. I didn’t know what the boy wanted. “What’s your name?” I asked. “Andraos” he shyly replies. “Where did you come from?” I asked him again, “Qaraqosh” he replies with his eyes still fixated on the camera. Qaraqosh was the main city in the Nineveh Plains where majority of Assyrians lived.
“So what are you doing here?” I asked him trying to strike a conversation, but he ignored the question as if it was never asked.
He just reached to the camera and started playing with the lens, changing focus, and pressing knobs.
He then told me how he liked cameras and wanted to be a filmmaker. Right away I felt the urge to help him. Who am I to have the privilege to follow my passion, and not him!?
I handed him the camera to play with. He seemed so curious and joyful at the same time. I took this photo of him.
“Stop it, kid! Don’t do that.” shouted a man sitting on the side of the street trying to behave the boy. The kid handed it to me right away even though I told him to keep it little longer.
1 year later, in 2015, I flew back to Iraq to film another documentary called "Silence After The Storm ".
This time there were more organized camps that were fitted with temperoray homes called “Caravans”. As I was walking through the main IDP camp in Erbil, a boy approaches and pops his head in the camera again. It was the same boy, Andraos.
Andraos along with his 5 siblings and thousands other children like them are stripped from their chance of education.
Andraos wants to be a filmmaker, and I want to make sure I provide him the means to be one.
It's 2016 now. It’s been a year. Through help of a friend I am able to get contact with his parents. I will withdraw this fund and send him all the funds through Western Union in Iraq directly.
I thank you in advance.
Best,
Tawdi
Organizer
Sargon Saadi
Organizer
