BLOOD OF MY BROTHER

DC Premiere

The war in Iraq has caused the death of more than 34,000 Iraqi civilians and insurgents. Each is more than a number in a body count. They are brothers, mothers, sons, fathers, sisters and daughters.

BLOOD OF MY BROTHER tells the story of one Iraqi Shi'ite family whose eldest son, Ra'ad, was killed by an American patrol guard. To his family he was brother, son, breadwinner, friend, and confidante. To his comrades, he is a martyr for having defended the sacred Shi'ite Golden Mosque in Kadhimiya from Sunni destruction-an effort that proved futile.

Ra'ad's younger brother, Ibrahim, finds himself reluctantly elevated to the position of head of household. His feelings of grief and rage must be supplanted by his new responsibilities to his family.

Achieving extraordinary access to Iraqi life, this film captures the real toll of the violence and death that is a daily reality for the Iraqi people. This is a rare exploration of the war from an Iraqi perspective, showing the faces of the insurgents as they slip through the streets and quiet interiors of Najaf and Sadr City, and the grit of this bitter conflict. The film elucidates the nature of the insurgency and the Sunni versus Shi'ite conflict-a huge impediment to the future democracy and peace in Iraq.

While our news media focus on the financial cost of war and the American public's changing perspectives on it, BLOOD OF MY BROTHER reminds us of the human cost, giving a face to the statistics and asking, at what price democracy and freedom?

-Son Tran

DIRECTOR BIO
Andrew Berends spent six months working in Iraq and shot hundreds of hours of footage for his films, THE BLOOD OF MY BROTHER and WHEN ADNAN COMES HOME. His most recent documentary film, URK, was nominated for the Pare Lorentz Award by the International Documentary Association. Berends, also a photographer, has recently focused on projects in Haiti concerning sexual violence against girls. He has documented the conditions of underprivileged Brooklyn youth in housing projects and on public assistance in New York City.

Print Source:
Marc Hughes, Lifesize Entertainment
194 Elmwood Drive
Parsippany, NJ 07054
973.884.4884
mhughes@lifesizeentertainment.com

PRECEDED BY...MAN UP
Arturo Cabanas
USA, 2005, 6 MINUTES

When does a boy become a man? This harrowing short reveals a father and son at odds over what is considered best for a child.

Print Source:
Arturo Cabanas
liedirector@hotmail.com

6/15 at 7:00 PM
6/16 at 11:00 AM

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