The Pirate Tapes | |
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Directed by | Andrew Moniz Rock Baijnauth |
Production companies | Palmira PDC, Telestro, Filmic Entertainment |
Distributed by | HBO Documentary Films (US) |
Release date |
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Running time | 72 minutes |
Countries | Canada Somalia |
Language | English |
The Pirate Tapes is a documentary filmed by Somali-Canadian Mohamed Ashareh in Somalia and edited and produced by Palmira PDC in Canada. [1] The film follows Ashareh, as he infiltrates a Somali pirate operation, giving a first person view of how they recruit and organize. The documentary premiered at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in 2011. [2] It was picked up for distribution by HBO Documentary Films. [3]
Ashareh lives undercover with pirates in Somalia for months during 2009, filming their activities with a small camera hanging around his neck. [2] [4] Some of the filming was done by a second cameraman. Ashareh was frequently in danger, and at one point they were both arrested and spent time in a Somali jail. [5]
The film has been heavily criticized for shortcomings attributed to Ashereh's lack of journalistic and filming experience. [4] [6] There has also been a dispute between Ashareh and Palmira PDC over the rights to the footage filmed by Ashereh. [1] Andrew Moniz of Palmira PDC maintains the contracts "clearly" state Palmira would own the footage. [7]
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