Posted by: p_rock May 10, 2020
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“Just a sec, time out,” Carr interrupted. “Before you ever went there, we’ve had reporters there reporting on genocide after genocide,” he fumed. “Just because you put on a fucking safari helmet and looked at some poop doesn’t give you the right to insult what we do. So, continue.”
“I’m just saying that I’m not a journalist. I’m not there to report…” Smith replied.
“Yeah, obviously,” Carr shot back.
That exchange didn’t make it into Carr’s final 2010 article. Instead, he wrote a glowing profile of Smith, praising his videographic work as “pretty rugged, pretty wonderful,” especially his work on North Korea.
Only later did it emerge that Carr’s daughter, Erin Lee Carr, was hired by VICE after the scene was shot, but before the Times documentary came out. In interviews with TheDC, multiple VICE insiders suggested that Smith was trying to curry favor with Carr and the Times. The younger Carr did not respond to a request for comment.
Smith presents himself as having mastered multiple media, chief among them online video, but he got his start generally in what he calls the “holy grail of film” with his 2007 movie, “Heavy Metal in Baghdad.”
“We made [the movie about Baghdad’s only heavy metal band] for an online piece 20 minutes long,” he said to Charlie Rose. “Our editor said ‘Hey, this is a feature film’ and we said ‘OK cut it,’ and he cut it and it cost us $25,000. And it went on to win critic’s choice at Toronto Film Festival. It won best doc at Berlin Film Festival. Went on to be in 84 film festivals and we made a lot of money out of it.”
He’s repeated variations of that story to comedian Joe Rogan and Adweek, but some light research reveals “Heavy Metal in Baghdad” — while screened at both festivals — never won either of those awards.
“We don’t have a special category for ‘Best Documentary,’” although selected documentaries are shown there, explained Christine Maslok of the Berlin Film Festival.
The Critic’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival also doesn’t exist, according to a representative from the group.
Nor was the movie screened at 84 film festivals, as Smith has claimed, according to IMDB or to those who worked on the movie.
Smith’s most famous work concerns the hermit kingdom — a 2008 film called “The Vice Guide to North Korea.” VICE has done three documentaries about North Korea. Smith stars in two of them.
Smith has often stated that he had to bribe his way into the country. He even told Charlie Rose that North Korea is the “holy grail of journalism because you can’t get in.”
Not so, says Andray Abrahamian, a North Korea expert who has been there ten or eleven times and runs Choson Exchange, a Singaporean organization dedicated to educating North Koreans.
In the film, Smith “continually emphasizes how he bribed his way in. To me it sounds very much like paying a visa fee,” said Abrahamian, who wrote a lengthy article debunking many of the claims Smith makes in the first North Korea film.
Abrahamian also challenged Smith’s account of the country’s Mass Games athletic spectacle, which Smith describes as “the most insane thing you’ve ever seen in your life.” Abrahamian wrote of Smith’s deskription:
“I’m just saying that I’m not a journalist. I’m not there to report…” Smith replied.
“Yeah, obviously,” Carr shot back.
That exchange didn’t make it into Carr’s final 2010 article. Instead, he wrote a glowing profile of Smith, praising his videographic work as “pretty rugged, pretty wonderful,” especially his work on North Korea.
Only later did it emerge that Carr’s daughter, Erin Lee Carr, was hired by VICE after the scene was shot, but before the Times documentary came out. In interviews with TheDC, multiple VICE insiders suggested that Smith was trying to curry favor with Carr and the Times. The younger Carr did not respond to a request for comment.
Smith presents himself as having mastered multiple media, chief among them online video, but he got his start generally in what he calls the “holy grail of film” with his 2007 movie, “Heavy Metal in Baghdad.”
“We made [the movie about Baghdad’s only heavy metal band] for an online piece 20 minutes long,” he said to Charlie Rose. “Our editor said ‘Hey, this is a feature film’ and we said ‘OK cut it,’ and he cut it and it cost us $25,000. And it went on to win critic’s choice at Toronto Film Festival. It won best doc at Berlin Film Festival. Went on to be in 84 film festivals and we made a lot of money out of it.”
He’s repeated variations of that story to comedian Joe Rogan and Adweek, but some light research reveals “Heavy Metal in Baghdad” — while screened at both festivals — never won either of those awards.
“We don’t have a special category for ‘Best Documentary,’” although selected documentaries are shown there, explained Christine Maslok of the Berlin Film Festival.
The Critic’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival also doesn’t exist, according to a representative from the group.
Nor was the movie screened at 84 film festivals, as Smith has claimed, according to IMDB or to those who worked on the movie.
Smith’s most famous work concerns the hermit kingdom — a 2008 film called “The Vice Guide to North Korea.” VICE has done three documentaries about North Korea. Smith stars in two of them.
Smith has often stated that he had to bribe his way into the country. He even told Charlie Rose that North Korea is the “holy grail of journalism because you can’t get in.”
Not so, says Andray Abrahamian, a North Korea expert who has been there ten or eleven times and runs Choson Exchange, a Singaporean organization dedicated to educating North Koreans.
In the film, Smith “continually emphasizes how he bribed his way in. To me it sounds very much like paying a visa fee,” said Abrahamian, who wrote a lengthy article debunking many of the claims Smith makes in the first North Korea film.
Abrahamian also challenged Smith’s account of the country’s Mass Games athletic spectacle, which Smith describes as “the most insane thing you’ve ever seen in your life.” Abrahamian wrote of Smith’s deskription: