Mutanabi documentary film ...

Today I went to Al-mutanabi street; Baghdad stronghold of books or to be more accurate of (Iraq). We decided to go in the most crowded day which is Friday and to make a quick survey for this market from the demand and supply point what are the most distinguished books there, and what are the most demanded by the attender of this great street. first thing to do is analyzing the books that are available in this market. First thing that one who is wandering this street will notice that most books are old and damaged. and the market lacks new references of books. Possibly because most of the sellers are not fully familiar with the new references found online. and books commerce is no longer profiting as other things out there such as stationary selling and its accessories. "Al-mutanabi is the street of culture, most of educated people of Iraq attend this street. no matter what the circumstances are, Iraqi individual is fond of reading, so this street is always crowded with educated people. After wandering in this street and collecting information, we conclude that most books, or probably 80% are Arabic, and the rest of books are foreigners, the majority of them are English. " there is a demand for English books" but they are limited in the number due to their expensive prices, so the reader would prefer downloading the book from the internet. As for the dates of writing these books, we noticed that 70% of the books were written before 2003. and not few of them were written in the 70s of the 20th century the rest were written after 2003. this means that modern technology affected the readers' demands for books. " internet has played an effective role in the book market" saying says that (A good book on your shelf is a friend that turns its back on you and remains a friend). to be more accurate, and according to my own view Books have scientific materials, plus they are consider to be a masterpiece in one's private library. but if you asked me whether or not the internet has an effect on book market, I will answer you honestly that it did. this is why we struggle in selling books now comparing to the times when there where no internet. Types of available books vary between political, religious, and variable books. According to book-shops owners, scientific text books are the ones that most demanded. "Today culture and awareness of Iraqi society is not similar to that of previous times" "since that there is a religious domination over it's culture". "it is normal that different people will choose certain types of books that frankly speaking are related to the extreme religious aspect". "the educational book is limited". "and sometimes we feel that some books represent an exotic aspect for the cultures of Iraqis" "or that some book will fit to a certain temporary and superficial phase" "so the book will achieve a good numbers in selling'. " In general Iraqis read everything' " I didn't notice that there is a specific tendency towards certain type". "the reader reads on all levels and aspects' " Iraqi youth reads everything whether art, literature,politics, or culture in general, stories, novels. " I didn't notice any tendency to a specific type of reading". "on the contrary, reading choices of Iraqi youth are multiple". As for the attenders of this street. they are divided into people who are there just for spending amusing time and wandering the street and to buy stationary and visit printing houses. and those who go to this street to buy books. The first thing to notice there is that most of the people who go to this street are of males. that are about 90%, in return only 10% of females. more than 60% of the attenders are of younger people comparing to older ones. "attenders of Al-mutanabi street are of different classes" " such as youth, professors, doctors and all classes" " but currently most of the attenders are of youth" " their demands are for academic and scientific books". " intellectual individual in Iraq always seeks to enrich ans develop his culture'. "therefore, Al-mutanabi attenders are increasing" " In addition to that, it became an easy matter to obtain a book these days" " whether the printed book or the read one". During our time there, we had the chance to attend the occasion of releasing the first edition of a book titled "corruption history in Iraq" For Musa Faraj This has gave us a hint on how much youth are interested in this book The attenders of youth were no more than 10%, and this is considered to be a negative indicator" " every phase has it's own particularity" "for instance, the 70s generation of Iraqis used to read the international literature" "Things changed". "students currently look for the scientific textbooks in Al-mutanabi street" "but this doesn't mean that they are isolated from the history" "there is in fact communication between this generation and our generation" "cultural depth is very limited" "some cultural and humanitarian departments were closed in colleges" " I don't feel that there is much difference" " on the contrary, there are ideologies similar to that of Al-Ba'ath that represent certain agenda for politicians in Iraq" "the quality and quantity of culture is increasing" "educated people are also increasing" "This is what we notice from the movement of people of both males ans females" "this is an excellent indicator for the development of the country" In spite of the variable types of books that are available in the street" Al-mutanabi stays a platform for all Iraqi and Arab intellectuals specially after it's resurrection due to the increased number of youth attenders who used to be less in number Because the value of any place is not about the history or time, but about the people who are in that place "A good numbers of Iraqi young people still look for what is new and follow the international cultural movement" The return of youth to Al-mutanabi street is good evidence for the return of culture and book appreciation, no matter when or where these books are being sold. "in spite of every thing that happened recently and the explosions of Al-mutanabi street", "this will not prevent youth from doing what the love and continue their hobbies" "am not talking about any class of youth but the educated ones of course who constantly attend this street" "for instance, I knew a group of people who kept attending the book shops that explosions happened near by"..