Micah Garen

Micah Garen is an American documentary filmmaker and journalist whose work has focused on conflict zones in the Middle EastMark Thompson, March 26, 2012, Time magazine
Call me Eshaan
Accessed July 11, 2014, "...Air Force Lieut. Colonel John Darin Loftis ... Thankfully, documentary filmmaker Micah Garen was able to capture some video of Loftis,..." and Afghanistan. He is notable for surviving a kidnapping ordeal in Iraq in 2004. He wrote a book about the kidnapping incident which included his confinement as well as the efforts of friends and relatives to secure his release; according to a report in ''Kirkus Reviews'', the book was "extraordinarily compelling" and "gripping."Oct. 30, 2005, Kirkus Reviews
AMERICAN HOSTAGE: A Memoir of a Journalist Kidnapped in Iraq and the Remarkable Battle to Win His Release
Accessed July 11, 2014, "...Gripping account of journalist Garen's kidnapping ... The authors do an admirable job of leading the reader through the chaos ... their story remains extraordinarily compelling...." In addition, Garen is a prize-winning photographer.Jeff Curto, February 26, 2012, Camera Position
Camera Position 96 : Three Prizewinners
Accessed July 11, 2014, "...three “prizewinner” photographs for the Gallery Photographica exhibition and competition. Photographs by Micah Garen, ..." He has written for ''Vanity Fair'',Micah Garen, July 26, 2010, Vanity Fair
Marja’s Hearts and Minds
Accessed July 11, 2014 ''Newsweek'',Micah Green, September 21, 2010, Newsweek
Marja: The New Afghan Battleground
Accessed July 11, 2014 The New York Times and other publications. Micah Garen and Marie-Helene Carleton have directed four documentaries for Al Jazeera's Correspondent series, including
Identity and Exile: an American's struggle with Zionism
' featuring photojournalist Matthew Cassel. The film was awarded the top ''Golden Nymph'' prize at the ''Monte Carlo Television Festival'' in 2014.17 June 2014, Media Update
Al Jazeera English honoured at Monte Carlo Television Festival
Accessed July 11, 2014, "...Filmmakers Marie-Helen Carleton and Micah Garen (Four Corner Media) joined Cassel at the ceremony...." Garen has made a number of short documentaries, including one describing the lives of Egyptian women during the political upheavals in 2011ETHAN G. LOEWI, October 25, 2011, The Harvard Crimson
Documentary Highlights Concerns with Egyptian Military Leadership
Accessed July 11, 2014, "...chance to hear from ... journalist Micah Garen, one of the film’s directors ... stories of four middle-class Egyptian women during the dramatic political upheaval ..." one on an American airman killed in Afghanistan and one on refugees fleeing Turkey to Greece by boat. With Marie-Hélène Carleton, Garen is working on a feature documentary from Iraq entitled ''The Road to Nasiriyah'' which was selected for Film Independent's inaugural documentary lab in 2011.
Garen founde
ScreeningRoom
in 2015, an online community for filmmakers with tools including collaborative feedback on cuts, festival submissions and film grants.

Kidnapping ordeal

Garen spent months in Iraq documenting the "systematic dismantling" of the nation's cultural and archaeological legacy, according to one report.Adnan R. Khan, July 11, 2014, Macleans magazine
Understanding_Iraq’s_real_tragedy:_The_nation_is_suffering_a_crisis_of_identity_so_fundamental_that_recovering_from_it_will_be_more_daunting_than_defeating_ISIS
.html" ;"title="defeating ISIS">Understanding Iraq’s real tragedy: The nation is suffering a crisis of identity so fundamental that recovering from it will be more daunting than defeating ISIS
">defeating ISIS">Understanding Iraq’s real tragedy: The nation is suffering a crisis of identity so fundamental that recovering from it will be more daunting than defeating ISIS
Accessed July 11, 2014, "...Micah Garen, an American filmmaker who spent years attempting to document the systematic dismantling of Iraq’s cultural legacy...2004, after months of work on a film ... he was kidnapped by Shia insurgents in Nassiriya...."Rory Stewart, 2006 Harcourt Books
The Prince of the Marshes: And Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq
Accessed July 11, 2014, (see page 375) "...Micah Garen ... making a documentary about archaeological looting..." On August 13, 2004, while he was in a market taking photographs with a regular camera, Garen and his Iraqi translator, Amir Doshi, were kidnapping, kidnapped by Shia extremists and they were held hostage in Nasiriya in southern Iraq.CNN International, August 23, 2004
Kidnappers free journalist in Iraq: Shiite leaders prepare for handover of shrine in Najaf
Accessed July 11, 2014, "...Garen, 36, was kidnapped August 13 along with his Iraqi translator, Amir Doshe, ..." On August 19, a video aired on al-Jazeera in which Garen appeared sitting on the floor in front of masked insurgents with weapons making demands for his release. The kidnapping story drew international media attention. During the captivity, there was a strong behind-the-scenes effort to encourage Iraqi authority figures to secure his release, partially by his partner, Marie-Helene Carleton, Garen's sister Eva Garen, as well as people within Yale University, where Garen's father is a professor.AMY KAPLAN, September 23, 2004, Yale Daily News
Prof’s son freed by Iraqi captors
Accessed July 11, 2014, "... professor Alan Garen’s son Micah hostage in Iraq this summer, Yale stepped in to support the Garen family and aid efforts to free Micah Garen...." His captors eventually turned Garen and his translator over to representatives of Moqtada al-Sadr in Nasiriya, unharmed, on August 22, 2004. He said he was very thankful to the cleric and his aides for their efforts at getting him released.22 August 2004, BBC News
Kidnapped reporter freed in Iraq
Accessed July 11, 2014, ".. journalist, who is the founder of US company Four Corners Media, told al-Jazeera TV he was "very thankful" to the cleric and his aides for helping to secure his release....." After being released, he said he wanted to stay in Iraq to continue with his documentary project.JANIE HOAP, August 22, 2004, CBS News
Freed Journalist Wants To Stay
Accessed July 11, 2014, "...Hours after being freed by kidnappers ... U.S. journalist Micah Garen said he hoped to stay in Iraq to continue working on a documentary project ..."

A week before his kidnapping, Garen and Doshi investigated Italian army reports of a car bomb that had been shot at in Nasiriyah and exploded during fighting between the Medhi Army and the Italian military. They found that the reported car bomb was not a car bomb, but an ambulance with five civilians who had been killed, including a pregnant woman who was being taken to a hospital north of the city. Garen and Doshi conducted interviews with the ambulance driver who survived and the hospital that dispatched the ambulance, as well as filmed the bodies in the morgue, and the remains of the ambulance on the bridge. They gave parts of their footage to an Italian TV channel staying on the Italian base in Nasiriyah, as the TV station was unable to travel into Nasiriyah and investigate themselves. Italian television aired the story and it cause a huge uproar, as it was the first time the Italian military had been accused of wrongdoing in Iraq. General Dalzini denied the Italian military had shot an ambulance. Immediately following, Garen and Doshi were interrogated for many hours by the Italian military. Garen left the Italian military base, where he had been staying, for Baghdad. Two years after the incident, three soldiers were indicted for shooting at the ambulance, the first time Italian soldiers had been indicted for a crime during the Iraq war.

Publications

* Micah Garen and Marie-Hélène Carlton, ''American Hostage: A Memoir of a Journalist Kidnapped in Iraq and the Remarkable Battle to Win His Release.'' New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005. (hardback). New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007. (paperback).
* "The Looting of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad: The Lost Legacy of Ancient Mesopotamia" Harry N. Abrams, 2005.

Filmography

Death in the Family

Light on the SeaCall Me EhsaanFahrenheit 911 (filmed Christmas Eve raid scene)

Awards

* Winner of the Golden Nymph for Best News Documentary at the 2014 Festival de Television de Monte Carlo
* Finalist New York Festivals History and Society for Al Jazeera Correspondent Film ''Off the Rails: A Journey through Japan''
* 2009 Webby Honoree ''Deep Divide''
* 2014 Webby Honoree The Daily Struggle of Lebanon's One Million Syrian Refugees
* First Place Gallery Photographica competition 2012

References

Guardian Photographs of the Week
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/mar/23/the-20-photographs-of-the-week

External links

Four Corners MediaScreeningRoom
*
Vanity Fair contributor

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garen, Micah
Cornell University alumni
Living people
American documentary filmmakers
1968 births