THE WARLORD & THE PENGUIN.
The Untold Story of Dehqan Baiyat (2003) (2003)
User Rating: 7/10 (17,264 votes) Directors: Jan Stephen Samara Khaja Jan Stephen Samara Khaja Writers: Jan Stephen (narrator) Nikolai Wood Jan Stephen (narrator) Nikolai Wood Interviews: Dehqan Baiyat Gul Agha Baiyat General Rashid "The Wrestler" Dostum Lt. Corp. Al Stuart Matthias Weems Brigadier Jon Chafe Dehqan Baiyat Gul Agha Baiyat General Rashid "The Wrestler" Dostum Lt. Corp. Al Stuart Matthias Weems Brigadier Jon Chafe [MORE].
Runtime: 180 minutes 180 minutes Language: English / Dari / Pashto with subtitles English / Dari / Pashto with subtitles Company: League Pictures, London League Pictures, London Country: United Kingdom United Kingdom Certification: Mature / Unrated Mature / Unrated Genre: Politics / Culture / History Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 1.85:1 Sound Mix: Dolby SR Dolby SR Filming locations: Afghanistan, Pakistan, New York, London, Guantanamo Afghanistan, Pakistan, New York, London, Guantanamo Release date: 9 October 2002 (UK) on BBC1 9 October 2002 (UK) on BBC1 14 March 2003 (US/Worldwide) Awards: Academy Award Best Documentary 2004 Sundance Film Festival 2003 International Documentary Association 2003 BAFTA 2004 Genie 2004 Golden Gate Award 2004 Academy Award Best Documentary 2004 Sundance Film Festival 2003 International Documentary Association 2003 BAFTA 2004 Genie 2004 Golden Gate Award 2004 [MORE].
Synopsis: Warlord. Icon. Patient Zero? The life and death of Dehqan Baiyat. Warlord. Icon. Patient Zero? The life and death of Dehqan Baiyat.
Full Summary: (SPOILERS) Dehqan Baiyat was a New York film student turned machine gun-toting, motorcycleriding Afghan warlord who became notorious in the late '90s, not for his opium trafficking or his brutal tactics in fighting both the Taliban and NATO troops but for the penguin always at his side. (SPOILERS) Dehqan Baiyat was a New York film student turned machine gun-toting, motorcycleriding Afghan warlord who became notorious in the late '90s, not for his opium trafficking or his brutal tactics in fighting both the Taliban and NATO troops but for the penguin always at his side.
After rumours began circulating among British troops of a warlord accompanied incongruously by an Antarctic bird in a flak jacket, investigative journalist Jan Stephen tracked Baiyat down to the opium fields of the Helmand province and spent two years with him in desert and mountain hideouts, trying to uncover the mystery of the man and the bird.
This documentary tracks the life and death of Dehqan Baiyat. Descended from an Iranian clan that once fought against Genghis Khan, he became known, incorrectly, as Patient Zero for what was then called the Zoo Plague and, later, AAF or Acquired Aposymbiotic Familiarism.
Baiyat was filmed on several occasions at public
gatherings feeding his penguin strips of meat he claimed was the flesh of his enemies. It was said that he could torture a man without touching him. The rumours intensified: it was claimed to be black magic, genetic modification, Hollywood special effects. Or all of the above.
After the assassination of his penguin in a Taliban ambush, his very public death by the "black cloud" (or Siah Siah Chal Chal in Persian) was televised internationally. It was the first time the event had been captured on camera, and it caused widespread panic, leading to the establishment of quarantine camps in many countries and executions in others. in Persian) was televised internationally. It was the first time the event had been captured on camera, and it caused widespread panic, leading to the establishment of quarantine camps in many countries and executions in others.
Unfairly compared to Gaetan Dugas, the Canadian flight attendant alleged to have been at the centre of the spread of HIV in the US, Baiyat was, in reality, simply the most high-profile case in an epidemic that had nothing to do with disease.
Initially suspected to be the eccentric quirk of a charismatic and self-indulgent sociopath, other theories postulated that the outbreak of the animal phenomenon in Afghanistan was a result of the fallout of Pakistan's nuclear tests in the neighbouring Chagai Hills in 1998.
Now, it's believed that cases of the animalled may date back to as early as the mid-'80s, based on anthropological reports coming out of New Guinea, Mali and the Philippines. The earliest recorded case, uncovered in retrospect, was that of notorious Australian thug Kevin Warren, who was gunned down by police during an aborted bank heist in Brisbane with his 'pet' wallaby in 1986. Coming out of the animalled closet twelve years later, Baiyat was not so much the start of it all, as the poster boy.
But who was Baiyat really?
The film interrogates not only the mythos that sprang up around Baiyat in the turmoil and chaos of Taliban-led Afghanistan, but also everything we understand about the animalled and the ontological Shift that happened around him.
Featuring interviews with embedded journalists, mujahidin leaders, British troops, Taliban fighters and the Baiyat family, the film is an unflinching portrait of a man at the public centre of the Shift.
QUOTES:.
"Why did I come back from film school in America? [Laughs] Because my father asked me to. Because this is my country. Because here I am a rock star. I have 18,000 men under my command. People respect me. Whole villages come to pay tribute. Because here I can fuck or kill whoever I like." Dehqan Baiyat Dehqan Baiyat
"Think of it as my mascot. Let's say you have your lucky rabbit's foot. I have my Penguin. You keep your rabbit's foot safe in your pocket. I keep my Penguin safe in customised body armour."
Dehqan Baiyat
"This romantic idea you have of some, I don't know, playboy magician warlord is all wrong. He's a drug dealer, a rapist, a killer and a spoilt little shit with his own private army and a bunch of tribal hocus-pocus pulled out of his arse." Lt. Corp. Al Stuart Lt. Corp. Al Stuart
VIEWER REVIEWS: (1218 total)
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20 March 2010 Username: JodieStar1991 JodieStar1991 10/10 10/10 AWESPOmE!
gr8 movie!!! IT made me hot for zoo s3x!!!! Found gr8 site for free zoo p0rn!!!! Check it out!!!! See for yuporself!!!!!!!!!!!! http://zoo.Ur78KG
[3 Comments]
[12 out of 16 people found the following review helpful]
14 February 2010 Username: Rebecca Wilson Rebecca Wilson 7/10 7/10 An unflinching perspective on a troubled (& troubling) icon The third in Jan Stephen's Conflict Quartet (Israel / Liberia / Afghanistan / Burma) is perhaps the most harrowing for its no-holds-barred close-up of a man reviled, adored and mostly misunderstood.
Baiyat's role in determining public reaction to what the media called the Shift cannot be over-emphasised. Where some saw a romantic figure, a film school drop-out turned freedom fighter, others saw a symbol of the unknowable. For a time, before the animalled hit the tipping-point, Baiyat became the embodiment of the question of human morality.
But was the Penguin his Jiminy Cricket or the devil on his shoulder?
It's an issue the film skirts, or rather Baiyat skirts in the film, turning cagey whenever the topic turns to the bird, leaving this this viewer wishing the filmmakers had... [ viewer wishing the filmmakers had... [MORE]
[9 Comments]
[126 out of 527 people found the following review helpful]
28 December 2009 Username: Patriot777 Patriot777 0/10 0/10 Give me a break Get it together, people, apos aren't human. It's right there in the name. Zoos. Animalled. Aposymbiots. Whatever PC term is flavour of the week. As in not human. As in short for "apocalypse". This is part of the stealth war on good citizens disguised as apo rights.
It's in Deuteronomy: Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction. Also Exodus: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
Do I need to spell it out for you? Familiars. Hell's Undertow. Destruction of the detestable. God is merciful, but only to actual, genuine, REAL LIFE human beings. Apos are criminals They're scum. They're not even animals. They're just things and will get what is... [MORE] [MORE]
[1031 Comments]
[720 out of 936 people found the following review helpful]
23 December 2009 Username: TuxBoy TuxBoy 10/10 10/10 Cannibal penguin FTW! That is all. That is all.
[118 Comments]
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Recommendations If you enjoyed this, Get Real thinks you might also like: If you enjoyed this, Get Real thinks you might also like:
The Shift (2001) Des Anges au Bestiaire (1998) (1998) Zoologika: Perspectives from Chinese prisonsto Chicago's ganglands (2007) Great White Totem (2003) Traffic (2006) Warlord of Kayan (1989) Steering by the Golden Compass: Pullman'sfantasy in the context of the ontological shift(2005) Claws Out: The Rise of the Animalled RightsMovement (2008) "Can I just say, wow! I am so so surprised you called!" surprised you called!"