Steve James reveals his "War Tapes"

“These are guys who think about what they’re doing, they think about it and they struggle with it. They’re not idiots. Like us, they think about it, but they have to fight the war at the same time.”

Clutching a mic with his legs crossed, Steve James ("Hoop Dreams") sits in the front of Block Cinema’s theatre, fielding questions from students about his latest project, “The War Tapes" (http://thewartapes.com). Winner of best international documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival, the film is being praised for its bold take on the war in Iraq. The film reverses the standards of documentary filmmaking by giving the soldiers cameras to shoot their lives in a “diary format” for most of the film.

“The War Tapes” began when the New Hampshire National Guard offered director Deborah Scranton a chance to become embedded with its unit. A single mother, Scranton declined the offer but decided to give soldiers cameras so they could film their experiences.

Of the twelve men who volunteered to take cameras, five became heavily dedicated to the project, according to James, and Scranton communicated with the soldiers using Instant Messaging. James, who produced the film, said they ended up with 1,000 hours of footage, and they had the challenge of cutting it down to 94 minutes of film.

“We did try to be true to this experience,” James said, explaining that the only discontinuity in time involves a period when the soldiers went on leave.

Throughout the 94 minutes, the camera follows the diary of Sgt. Stephen Pink, 24, who joined the National Guard during his second year at Plymouth State; specialist Mike Moriarty, a 35-year-old father of a 4-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter who joined after 9/11; Sgt. Zack Bazzi, a Lebanese American who joined to see the world and spent time in Bosnia and Kosovo; Sgt. Duncan Domey, 32, who joined the guard in 2003 after leaving active duty; and Specialist Brandon Wilkins, who joined the Army after high school. Some footage also follows their families around as the soldiers are away from home.

With Sony mini-disc DVD cameras, these soldiers captured intensely personal footage that can be rather funny (“If we end up in a survival situation, you have permission to eat me”) or poignant (“This is the most helpless feeling you’ve ever had”; “It’s unfortunate for Iraqi civilians, but it’s going to be our safety before theirs”; “If I play the odds, one of us will be dead before the tour is over. It’s something I don’t like to think about.”
“Can we build a wall around the country and just leave?”).

“What we’re trying to do is say this film speaks to a wide-range of people...we’ve been amazed at how broad the appeal is,” James said.


“The War Tapes” premieres in Chicago July 7 at the Music Box Theatre.