Friday, September 26, 2008

How we fight

"How we fight: Conscripts, mercenaries, terrorists and peacekeepers" is a five program series of documentaries, some experimental some more conventional, on the topic of soldiering, and the names we give it. The event is arranged by Kino 21 y curated by Irina Leimbacher. And all shows take place at Artists' Television Access, 992 Valencia, San Francisco, California.

The program presents international works that explore soldiering and depict the experience of war from the point of view of those on the ground. From Argentina, Russia, Iraq, Germany, France, Holland and the U.S., several of these films are US premieres. The series begins with an assembly of DIY videos from soldiers and militia currently in Iraq and continues through depictions of Russian conscripts in Chechnya, Kurdish PKK rebels in the mountains of Iraq, American veterans returned from Vietnam, and mercenaries and peacekeepers stationed across the globe, from Bosnia to Rwanda, from the Middle East to the USA.

First program was Thursday, September 25th, at 8pm, with the film "Iraqi short films", by Mauro Andrizzi. It's a feature length compilation of short videos shot in the midst of war, whether by US or British soldiers, Iraqi militia members, or corporate workers. These are not films per se. They are a mix of slices of life recorded on video (many shot while firing on the enemy or being fired upon), pithy propaganda pieces, and soldiers visions of war as music video.

Subsequent shows:

Thursday, October 9, 2008. "Conscripts interviews with My Lai veterans" by Joseph Strick(USA, 1971, 22 minutes); "Clean Thursday" by Aleksandr Rastorguev (Russia, 2002, 45 minutes)

Thursday, October 30, 2008. "Terrorists notes of a kurdish rebel", by Stefano Savona (France, 2005, 78 minutes); "November" by Hito Steyerl (Germany, 2004, 24 minutes).

Sunday, November 9, 2008. "Peacekeepers crazy", by Hedy Honigmann (Holland, 1999, 97 minutes).

Sunday November 23, 2008. "Mercenaries Warheads" (pending confirmation), by Romuald Karmaker (Germany, 1992, 182 minutes).

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