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The people at Vice Films are desperate to raise funds for a group of young Iraqis who were featured in the recent documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad. The movie, which premiered at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival tells the story of Acrassicauda, Iraq’s only metal band.

The chaos in their home country has forced the band members to flee to Syria. However, on October 10th, 2007, the band members’ visas will expire. The Syrian government has made it clear that they will not renew them, and are threatening to send all Iraqi refugees back to the volatile country. In a recent statement Vice said, “We don’t need to stress just how dangerous this will be for them. It could very likely be a death sentence, and the time in which we can help them is quickly running out.”

Vice has set up an emergency fund for these young men, and are asking for donations to assist Acrassicauda in leaving Syria for a safer haven. The band has no bank accounts, so Vice has setup a Paypal account on their behalf. Vice stresses, “No donation is too small. By giving as little as ten dollars, you can be a part of keeping the heavy metal dreams of four young Iraqi men alive.” The war has now all but destroyed their dream of living in peace, growing their hair long, banging their heads, and shredding as loud as they want.

The goal is to raise $20,000 USD for the band. These monies will allow the band to purchase flights and to have survival funds when they arrive to their new country. In an effort to protect them, Vice cannot divulge where they are going until they arrive there safely.

Go here for more information…

Posted on Friday, September 21st, 2007 at 9:45 am by Jessica and is filed under Music & Videos.

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