Blog post

Bad Voodoo's War: A note from the director
Posted by IAVA Staff on April 8 2008

Dear Friends, I've gotten an outpouring of responses to BAD VOODOO'S WAR from many of you. Thank you. I have lived with this film very close to my heart for the better part of a year, and sharing it with you is infinitely gratifying. The mission of this film was to amplify the soldiers' voices and be true to their experiences, to tell their story from the inside out, rather than the outside in... we hoped to help bridge the disconnect and break through to a clearer place of empathy between the American public and those who are deployed and serving in our name. FRONTLINE & ITVS really broke the mold by embarking on this project without a set script. Most Iraq-based films do not get out of the starting gate now. We want to make another, and another….as long as there are boots on the ground. Along those lines, PBS & ITVS is watching and listening for your response to determine if this was a success. So, if the personal perspectives and reflections of Toby, JP and Jason hit a nerve, I invite you to use your own voice to support them by logging onto the Frontline: BAD VOODOO'S WAR website and posting your thoughts, even one sentence – anything. We are hoping that if enough people write in, Frontline might consider commissioning us to do another film along the same lines with a different group of guys in the near future. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/badvoodoo/ Here is an example of one of the recent comments posted on the website: "I want to be honest. Speaking for myself, as what I like to think is a very aware American, I've felt burnt out after years of following the War, reading the books, watching the debates, following the bloggers, staying on the politics, hearing about the contractors, the mistakes, the good, the bad and all the crazy surrounding a six plus year and hazily defined "War on Terror". Tonight I caught your show by accident. And I am ashamed. How dare I feel exhausted? Maybe you were reaching out to touch a wholly distracted or vaguely apathetic audience but I want you to know that you found your way to one quietly depleted bystander. And you lit the fire again. Stay safe. Stay strong. And stay in touch with all of us. We really do care." We need more ground level narratives from the soldiers' and Marines' themselves in our national dialogue and media. Your support (and comments) can make a tangible difference in that happening. Please go write one for us at the Frontline website! Thanks so much! my love to you all, Deborah PS: For those of you who have not yet seen BAD VOODOO'S WAR, it is now streaming online. The website will also be updated every week with new video clips, photos and blog entries every week until the Bad Voodoo Platoon comes home. We encourage you to keep track of them. Some Recent Reviews/Blogs/Articles: The Wall St Journal Leslie Griffith—Huff Post, SF Gate, SF Chronicle *make sure to read last four paragraphs -- it is a remarkable essay Noah Schactman – Danger Room Blackfive *says he'd follow Toby into hell carrying a gasoline can...(an expression that is now gaining momentum amongst many of the women viewers I might add) The Weekly Standard Washington Post live chat with me The New York Times

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