The War Tapes

Those who attended either in person or virtually the first Milbloggers Convention in DC two weeks ago, had a chance to hear about a wondeful documentary, The War Tapes, produced & directed by Deb Scranton, who also attended the convention.

It premiered at Tribeca Film Festival to rave reviews and WON Best International Documentary Feature!

This award honors the filmmakers AND the soldiers with cameras, and in my opinion, honors all our troops who serve now and have served in Iraq, and to those who paid the ultimate price!

Please head over to The War Tapes blog and offer your congratulations to everyone involved in this project!

The best war journalism puts its audience in close proximity to combat. It's hard to imagine getting closer than The War Tapes does.

Shot by soldiers on consumer-grade digital video cameras, the documentary offers an immersive, sobering and often shocking slice of life (and death) in Iraq. It premieres this week at the Tribeca Film Festival and opens in select cities this summer.

Director Deborah Scranton described War Tapes as the result of a "virtual embed." She gave cameras to 10 Iraq-bound soldiers, and then used e-mail and instant messaging to provide them with advice on technique and technical issues.

Read more from this piece, by Jason Silverman, for WIRED News.

"I have lost all faith in the media," says the National Guardsman narrating "The War Tapes," the first war documentary to be filmed entirely by soldiers. A portion of the as-yet-unreleased film about the Iraq war was screened for a UC Berkeley audience last night (March 13) as part of a forum titled "Iraq: Reports from the Frontlines," introduced by San Francisco Chronicle Editor Phil Bronstein. That soldier's sentiment was the backdrop for the discussion that followed among five influential journalists who have reported extensively on the Iraq war — and judging by occasional bitterness-tinged heckling, more than a few audience members shared the soldier's viewpoint.

Read: Top Iraq war correspondents discuss risking their lives to tell a truth that few want to hear — or believe.

Related:
Is The Media Telling The Truth About Iraq?
Michael Yon's Frontline Forum
Voices From The FrontLines
War Like You Never Imagined It