BattleGround: 21 Days on the Empire's Edge (2004)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Stephen Marshall

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

In late 2003, two filmmakers from the Sundance award-winning Guerrilla News Network spent three weeks...

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Sgt. Robert Hollis	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rana al Aiouby	...	Herself
Farhan al Bayati	...	Himself
Hesham Barbary	...	Himself
Raed Jarrar	...	Himself
Col. Fred Rudesheim	...	Himself
Lt. Col. Nate Sassaman	...	Himself
May Ying Welsh	...	Herself

Directed by
Stephen Marshall

Produced by
Lisa Kawamoto Hsu	....	producer
Jeff Hull	....	executive producer
Ian Inaba	....	executive producer
Bob Jason	....	executive producer
Robert Kravitz	....	executive producer
Anthony Lappé	....	producer
Joshua Shore	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Soulsavers

Cinematography by
Stephen Marshall

Film Editing by
Leo Cullen
Stephen Marshall

Sound Department
Shannon Mills	....	sound editor
Shannon Mills	....	sound re-recording mixer
Christopher Scarabosio	....	sound editor
Robert Shoup	....	sound editor

Production Companies

• Artists / Media Cooperation
• Guerrilla News Network

Other Companies

• Cinetic Media  sales

Runtime:

USA:82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Filming Locations:

Iraq

Company:

Artists / Media Cooperation

Quotes:

Rana al Aiouby: I will not ask an American to help me to stand up. I can stand up by myself. Why shall I ask the Americans? If they want to help someone, they can help themselves. They can build their country or they can help the poor people who live in the United States. Why do they come here to help me?
Hesham Barbary: What I'm saying is that America is here for its benefit and partially for the Iraqi's benefit.
Rana al Aiouby: So the Americans came here to help the Iraqi people? They didn't come to help the Iraqis. Everybody knows why they came here. Just like - because their economic system collapsed, or fell down, so they have to help themselves. Even if they make a disaster for the others.
[...]

Excellent look at IRAQ

Since the mainstream media won't report on IRAQ this documentary takes a piercing look at the impact of the war and occupation on the people of IRAQ and the US soldiers who are there.

One stunning vignette in the film points to the little discussed fact that the US used nuclear weapons in IRAQ. Not one big bomb, but 120 tons of depleted uranium used on the tips of armor piercing shells. Nonetheless, the countryside is littered with radioactive residue from these shells with a long term health impact for Iraqis and US soldiers.

What a sobering film that all Americans should see. You can't help but walk away with a sense of the humanity and family bonds of Iraqis.