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Episode details

World Service,19 Sep 2016,49 mins

Making a Movie for Saddam Hussein

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Lateif Jorephani, a British-Iraqi film producer talks about his work on the troubled epic Clash of Loyalties. Commissioned by Saddam Hussein in the early 1980s - not long after he came to power - the film was intended to be a big budget, Hollywood style retelling of the origins of modern Iraq. It starred the infamous Oliver Reed and hundreds of cast and crew were transported to Baghdad. However, just weeks after filming began, war broke out between Iraq and Iran. Lateif recalls what went on behind the scenes. Debbie Banks runs the tigers and wildlife crime division of the Environmental Investigations Agency. For years she has been working, often undercover, to curb the trade in tiger skins and body parts that can be found in countries like India, China and Vietnam. Ruth Wariner is an American woman who escaped from a polygamist Mormon colony in Mexico. She was born into a breakaway sect which had been founded by her father - what followed was an incredibly difficult childhood and a dramatic escape. (Photo: poster for the film Clash of Loyalties. Credit: Jorephani Productions)

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