Well, its my ninth day in Northern Iraq, and I am just getting around to my first blog…

All has been going well on the CAMP UNITY shoot - although my days have been ridiculously full, and I am not even sure where to begin. Each day has ended with me collapsing on the bed, unable to keep my eyes open, exhausted from a long long day.

I am extremely impressed with Kurdistan - a region full of amazing people, history, and natural beauty. Filming for the documentary has already taken the CAMP UNITY team to a diverse assortment of locations - from the conflicted city of Kirkuk, to the awesome mountain ranges on the border of Iran, to a rural eggplant/green chili farm, to the 6000 year old citadel in Erbil (one of the world’s oldest, continuously inhabited cities). And of course to the American Voices Unity Academy, which needlessly to say is an incredible event to be taking part in.

At the moment we are in the city of Suleimanya, and day 4 of the Unity Academy program here is coming to an end. The academy is progressing quite well, and the students and teachers are all working to get ready for the big show next week - next tuesday this city is in for quite an exciting evening!  Observing the exchanges between the students and teachers, both parties eager to learn from the other, has been totally inspirational from a filmmaking perspective.

It’s been yet another long day, and its time for me to head to bed to try and catch at least 6 hours of sleep. Make sure to check out the video blog we are posting - and there are more of those to come over the next 3.5 weeks that the CAMP UNITY shoot will continue…