Born Free (music video)

The music video for English recording artist M.I.A.s Born Free was directed by Romain Gavras. The video, which depicts a genocide against red haired people, was filmed in California and directed by Romain Gavras as a nineminute short film without the prior knowledge of M.I.A.s record labels. Several incidents relating to the extrajudicial killing of Tamil males by the Sri Lankan Army filmed on mobile phones in Sri Lanka, some of which had been broadcast by news outlets worldwide, inspired M.I.A.s treatment for the filmvideo. The videos portrayal of military force, violence and brutality met with a positive critical reception but much controversy worldwide, including a ban from YouTube in the US and UK, with some critics hailing its representation of oppression and political turmoil and others criticizing the explicit material in the video. The way the film was shot and the themes it covered drew comparisons to previous works by the artist, and other writerdirectors films such as The Hurt Locker and Punishment Park. It earned a nomination for Best Dance Video at the 2010 UK Music Video Awards.

The film is over nine minutes long and depicts a SWAT team driving up to a building and staging a raid, during which they ignore a man sitting in a room smoking a crack pipe, beat a couple engaged in coitus, and then force a young redhaired man violently into a detainee transport vehicle. Other redheads are rounded up. Some of the SWAT team members wear American flags on their uniforms. During the video, a mural is seen depicting armed redheaded men and the slogan Our day will come, the historic motto of the Irish Republican Army Tiocfaidh r l. Keffiyawearing redhaired young people throw rocks and glass bottles at the armored vehicles transporting the detainees, in an apparent reference to the iconic images of the Second Palestinian Intifada. The detainees are then driven out to the desert, treated brutally, and forced to run across a live minefield. During the course of events, a young redheaded boy is shot through the head, and another is blown to pieces after stepping on a live mine while the soldiers continue to chase, beat, and shoot the captives.The Born Free film includes graphic violence and language, as well as nudity. Ian Hamrick, the 12yearold redhaired actor whose character is shot in the head in the film, described the video as showing violence to end violence. He felt a potency in the video absent from far more graphic video game media such as Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto. Giving more details on his role in an interview to the Los Angeles Times, Hamrick said M.I.A. complimented his work on set, stating She wanted to make sure I was OK, that I knew what was happening and why she killed my character. I said I did, that she really accomplished her goal of getting people to talk about something they dont usually see. ........

Source: Wikipedia