Return from Cairo

Lauren and I returned to Doha last night from another grueling week in Garbage City.
This trip was quite different than all the ones before, for many reasons.
1- I had a new camera. Not quite the "upgrade" to the XH-A1 that I had hoped. The XH-A1S (without getting too into "camera geek" jargon) is a step backwards from the previous model with a fairly lame focus ring, poor component placement, and no lock option. So yeah, wish I had bought the older one.
2 - We didn't have Carrie with us. It was hard to stay motivated and get up early in the morning to go shoot without her. Plus she is sorta the glue for the project. Not to mention, the families really missed her.
3- We had an apartment instead of the dreaded (yet loved) Carlton Hotel. Which was really a blessing because we could sleep comfortably without getting eaten alive by bugs, we could cook our own food (you have no idea how MASSIVE of an improvement that is until you eat food at the Carlton), and there was plenty of room to move around without being confined to one small bedroom the whole time.
4- The ease by which most of the interviews worked in the previous 2 trips was not there this time. We found ourselves interviewing people that we instantly knew would not make the cut, but had to go through the motions anyway as a sort of courtesy to the person for taking the time out to sit with us. Also, we suffered from cancellations, lack of interest from the people we wanted, and the usual, impossible to track people down.

BUT....
All in all..... we had a very successful trip.
We spent loads of time with Mourad's family (the poorest family) and even shared a delicious meal with them.
Maybe most importantly, we were able to link up with Al Masry Al Youm (I wouldn't say ANTI-government newspaper, but certainly not PRO-government newspaper).
We had been trying desperately to reach them since our first trip to Cairo for one main reason:
They owned the only REAL footage from the disgraceful pig cull that devastated the Zabaleen a year ago.
Here is a clip they posted on youtube:
*IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO ANIMAL CRUELTY (OR EVEN HAVE A HEART), THIS WILL BE DIFFICULT TO WATCH

We went in to attempt an acquisition for their 40+ minutes of footage of the gruesome event and left with 80 seconds of the most brutal, inhumane scenes known to man....
but here's the kicker:
Not only did it cost us $750 (!!!!!) but we signed a contract for usage of the footage that becomes void in one year. In other words: The film has to be done in one year.
A DEADLINE.
So.... by May 27th 2011, our film with be done.
I repeat, BY MAY 27TH 2011, OUR FILM WILL BE DONE!!!!!!
I always feel better about things when there is a deadline. Even if it does mean that I will HAVE TO travel back to Cairo at least 3 more times in the next year.

Here's to filmmaking.
Here's to the Zabaleen.