News Flash: Newly updated version
available now
105 interviews, with soldiers and
Marines en route to and returning from the war in Iraq, plus interviews
with military families, make up this moving documentary by longtime
activist-artists Sally Marr and Peter Dudar.
Arlington West is a 74 minute film presenting
a "temporary cemetery" in the sand, erected every Sunday by the Veterans
For Peace in Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Oceanside and other locations.
A flag draped coffin, and over 3,800 wooden crosses, affectionately placed on
the beach, invites the public to honor the unacknowledged fallen U.S. soldiers
and laments the cost of the war.
Visitors write the name of the dead on slips of paper lining the ever growing list of casualties and place it on a cross with fresh flowers.
This country-wide presentation is a respite to express sentiments, a rememberance in silence or painful grief; for all to take time to
honor the Soldiers, Marines, and Military Families who are paying the highest price
for war. Children offer their intuitive wisdom. Veterans, survivors
of the horrors of war, share their poignant experiences and the new recruits en route to combat speak of their enthusiasm, dedication and faith in their upcoming missions.
Returning from the Middle East conflict, many of the military, distressed, disillusioned, damaged, and having lost friends "in country" share reflections, as well as their fellow soldiers who are eager to return to war zones.
The military families arrive with photos, dog-tags, and mementos to adorn the
crosses as they honor, weep and pray. Intimately documented on film by Peter
Dudar and Sally Marr.
|
