sprawling onto his back, narrowly avoiding concussing himself on the wall as he goes down.
"Plenty of time," I say, pouring some bottled water into a tin cup, because the landlord has shut off the water again. I tilt it into his mouth and he gulps it down. I tuck him in and position a wastebin next to his side of the bed for ease of puking, then peel off my filthy socks and climb in next to him.
"Y'r feet are fr'zin," he complains.
"At least they're not stolen."
It's at that moment that the generator splutters and gasps and runs out of gas, plunging us into darkness, and saving me from getting back up to turn off the light.
8.
Get Real: The Online Documentary Database
THE WARLORD & THE PENGUIN
The Untold Story of Dehqan Baiyat (2003)
User Rating: 7/10 (17,264 votes)
Directors: Jan Stephen Samara Khaja
Writers: 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
[MORE]
Runtime: 180 minutes
Language: English / Dari / Pashto with subtitles
Company: League Pictures, London
Country: United Kingdom
Certification: Mature / Unrated
Genre: Politics / Culture / History
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Sound Mix: Dolby SR
Filming locations: Afghanistan, Pakistan, New York, London, Guantánamo
Release date: 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
[MORE]
Synopsis: 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.
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 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.
Unfairly compared to Gaëtan 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
"Plenty of time," I say, pouring some bottled water into a tin cup, because the landlord has shut off the water again. I tilt it into his mouth and he gulps it down. I tuck him in and position a wastebin next to his side of the bed for ease of puking, then peel off my filthy socks and climb in next to him.
"Y'r feet are fr'zin," he complains.
"At least they're not stolen."
It's at that moment that the generator splutters and gasps and runs out of gas, plunging us into darkness, and saving me from getting back up to turn off the light.
8.
Get Real: The Online Documentary Database
THE WARLORD & THE PENGUIN
The Untold Story of Dehqan Baiyat (2003)
User Rating: 7/10 (17,264 votes)
Directors: Jan Stephen Samara Khaja
Writers: 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
[MORE]
Runtime: 180 minutes
Language: English / Dari / Pashto with subtitles
Company: League Pictures, London
Country: United Kingdom
Certification: Mature / Unrated
Genre: Politics / Culture / History
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Sound Mix: Dolby SR
Filming locations: Afghanistan, Pakistan, New York, London, Guantánamo
Release date: 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
[MORE]
Synopsis: 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.
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 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.
Unfairly compared to Gaëtan 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
Similar Books
