“The War Tapes,” the Iraq War documentary produced and edited by Steve James (“Hoop Dreams”), will have its world premiere April 30 at the Tribeca Film Festival.
James, who also directed “Stevie” and “Reel Paradise,” has just finished a final cut of the film, according to publicist Jeff Hill of International House of Publicity. Hill said “The War Tapes” will have four additional screenings after the premiere at Tribeca, which runs April 25-May 7.
Director Deborah Scranton supplied cameras to members of the New Hampshire National Guard’s 172nd Unit. The soldiers filmed their deployment in Iraq and ultimately their return to New Hampshire to make the difficult transition back into civilian life.
Guard officials approached Scranton with an offer of complete access to a guard unit, based on the merits of her PBS documentary “Stories From Silence: Witness To War,” a portrait of WWII veterans from Goshen, where Scranton is a ninth generation New Hampshire resident.
Scranton decided to base the bulk of the film on soldiers’ own footage. She trained interested guardsmen prior to their deployment and supplied mini-DV cameras to 11 different platoons. Scranton traveled to Iraq twice to conduct interviews and shoot additional footage.
Robert May (“The Fog of War,” “Stevie,” “The Station Agent”) is also producing, through his SenArt Films. Chuck Lacy is executive producer.
SenArt is self-releasing “The War Tapes” with October Films co-founder and former United Artists topper Bingham Ray as a consultant, Hill said. They plan a June release in New York, Los Angeles, and additional markets possibly including Chicago and Washington, D.C.
See www.thewartapes.com.
