Virginia Film Festival 2007 - Second Video

The war in Iraq -- specifically the battle for Haditha -- was the subject of the last film I saw on day two of this year's Virginia Film Festival, appropriately entitled The Battle for Haditha, a cinema-verite style feature directed by British documentarian Nick Broomfield. Although in full color, the film brings to mind the pathbreaking 1960s film of the same genre, The Battle of Algiers. (Broomfield told me after the screening that that earlier film was on his mind when he produced his latest work.)

The film uses mostly non-professional actors, including Iraqi refugees in Jordan and veterans of the U.S. Marine Corps who served in Iraq.

After the film was screened, the University of Virginia's Michael Smith moderated a discussion with Broomfield and the audience (which was surprisingly sparse given the subject matter but perhaps not so surprisingly, given the late hour).

Here, in two video clips, is that discussion.

(Part 1)

(Part 2)