Singing in Baghdad -- the DVD

Singing in Baghdad the DVD

Copyright © 2005

by Cameron Powers

Published by

GL Design, Boulder, CO, USA

UPC Barcode: 543325000329

The cover photo for this DVD was taken in Baghdad in the spring of 2003.

While the U.S. government pursued its military mission, Cameron Powers and Kristina Sophia were pursuing their musical mission.

Cameron and Kristina made four journeys through Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, the West Bank and Lebanon during the period from 2002 through 2005.

They learned popular music from all these Arab-world countries and began singing in the streets to make people-to-people connections.

Their journey from Jordan into Iraq and then to Baghdad is a remarkable adventure. Was it the music which enabled them to cross the border?

How did it feel to sing popular Arabic music for 60,000 people in the Cairo stadium and be the only non-Arab performers?

How were they received in a huge Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, Syria?

It is their firm belief that it is only after singing and dancing with people that real communication opens up. Too many misunderstandings and too much fear result with reliance upon words alone, especially when language barriers compound the problem.

Cameron and Kristina drove more than 40,000 miles through more than half the American states to bring the live performance of "Singing in Baghdad" to thousands of U.S. citizens and were consistently encouraged to never stop carrying this message of peace.

Now "Singing in Baghdad" is available on this DVD as well as in book form.

For suggestions about showing "Singing in Baghdad" to group audiences, please contact

Cameron or Kristina: cameron@rmi.net or kristinasophia@yahoo.com.

This DVD has Three Chapters:

Part 1: The Arab World: Singing in Baghdad

Part 2: Peru, Mexico, Greece and Turkey -- Evolution of Musical Missions of Peace

Part 3: Middle Eastern Tribal History and Natural Language Boundaries

Singing in Baghdad is here!!!! Amazing scenes of joy and wonder. Some of my favorite parts are your account of getting through the border into Iraq, the message to Bush, the beautiful Syrian girl studying American poetry, and above all the incredible song at the very end. If this was sung by Kristina, she has reached a level attained by very few. It was like Calvados, a distillation of the entire Arabic empire. All the tidbits meshed well with the musical interludes or vice versa. It's one of those DVD's you have to see over and over again because you know you missed stuff the first time through. Thanks for sending it. When my Lebanese friend sees it, he will weep at all the luxuries he left behind in Beirut.

Hey guys! Great job! Ken Burns has nothing on you! I really enjoyed the 'snap shot' effect that all the casual settings created -- makes it seem like you were really there, which of course you were. I found the discussion of personal space interesting, too -- and we noticed that when you zoomed in on many of your subjects, you *really* zoomed in -- I think that mirrors the feeling. I have been looking folks more in the face since I saw that part. The music sounds really good -- both of your voices! I also enjoyed the long Lebanese piece over the credits at the beginning. We've only watched the first segment so far. Congratulations!