Alternative Film Guide

E! reports that David O. Russell’s anti-war documentary Soldiers Pay has been picked up by the independent distributor Cinema Libre Studio. O’Russell, the director of the critically acclaimed Three Kings and of the upcoming I Heart Huckabees, had wanted Warner Bros. to distribute his 35-minute film in conjunction with the studio’s rerelease of Three Kings. The documentary would then be included as an extra in the Three Kings’s upcoming special-edition DVD.

But Warners, like Disney earlier this year, balked at the idea of releasing during an election year a vociferous political commentary on the Iraqi war. In fact, a Warners representative referred to the project a "personal political statement" that might, if distributed by the studio, violate U.S. election laws. (Russell’s documentary will not be found on the Three Kings DVD, either, for Warners doesn’t want its DVD release to be "a polemic about war.")

As a result, Soldiers Pay will soon be playing in selected cities (it’s already been released in the Bay Area) as the shorter end of a double-bill with the Robert Greenwald documentary Uncovered: The War on Iraq. The "political doc double bill make a powerful duo," says a statement from Cinema Libre, "complimenting [sic] each other with strong arguments about the consequences of war and the lies that were told to get there."

Initially, Soldiers Pay was to focus on the stories of the Iraqi extras who worked on Three Kings. As filming progressed, Russell expanded the scope of the documentary to include a depiction of the effects of war on soldiers, refugees, and the local citizenry.

"I am excited to participate in this double bill that serves the audience," says Greenwald, whose previous effort, Outfoxed, took to task the Fox News Channel’s so-called "fair and balanced" reporting. Greenwald adds, "Both films take you inside the government[,] speaking out about distortion of information, and David Russell’s powerful personal story [explains] the toll war takes on those who have to fight it."

The Uncovered / Soldiers Pay DVD release is due in stores in October.

 

 

 

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