SDH Captioned
Study Guide
Grades 9-12, College, Adult
Directed by Gary Weimberg and Catherine Ryan
Produced by Luna Productions
DVD Purchase $250, Rent $85
US Release Date: 2008
Copyright Date: 2007
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-799-X
Subjects
American Studies
Anthropology
Citizenship and Civics
Conflict Resolution
Counseling
Ethics
Global Issues
History
Humanities
International Studies
Iraq
Mental Health
Military
Philosophy
Political Science
Psychology
Religion
Social Psychology
Sociology
Soldiers
War and Peace
Awards and Festivals
Nominee, Outstanding Individual Achievement In A Craft: Editing, 30th Annual Emmy Awards for News & Documentary
National PBS Broadcast on "POV"
Best Documentary, Rhode Island International Film Festival
Best Documentary, Salem Film Festival
Best Documentary, Foyle Film Festival, Northern Ireland
Best Conflict & Resolution Documentary, Hamptons International Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
United Nations Asocation Film Festival, Stanford
Atlanta Film Festival
Denver Film Festival
Maine International Film Festival
Mill Valley Film Festival
Ashland Independent Film Festival
Nantucket Film Festival
Atlantic Film Festival
Cucalorus Film Festival
Global Peace Film Festival
Bellingham Human Rights Film Festival
Hollywood Film Festival
New Hampshire Film Festival
San Diego Film Festival
Mendocino Film Festival
River Run Film Festival
Everett Women's Film Festival
Western Psychological Association Film Festival
American Psychological Association Film Festival
To kill or not to kill? For some the war is within.
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"Never presumes to tell you what to think. It simply makes it impossible for you not to." John Brummett, The Morning News |
From West Point grads to drill sergeants, from Abu Ghraib interrogators to low ranking reservist-mechanics, soldiers in the U.S. Army today reveal their deepest moral concerns about killing in war. Their message: every soldier wrestles with his conscience over killing. Although most decide to kill, some refuse.
SOLDIERS OF CONSCIENCE reveals that far more soldiers decide not to kill than we might expect. Made with official permission from the U.S. Army and filmed in high definition video, SOLDIERS OF CONSCIENCE includes never-before-seen footage of basic training and the war in Iraq, with an original soundtrack from an Academy Award winner and composer. It is a realistic yet optimistic look at war, peace, and the power of the human conscience.
WARNING: This film shows images from war.
Note: There is also an 87-minute version of this film. Please be sure to specify the longer version if you want to order it rather than the 54-minute version. The long version costs $295 to buy and $95 to rent.
Reviews
"Soldiers of Conscience and Secrecy offer critical, historically aware discourses on the ethical quandaries raised by contemporary conflict...The films lend considerable credence to their arguments...While both are unquestionably products of a previous era of presidential politics, they refrain from giving the problems they identify the too easily adopted epithet `Bush.' In doing so, they highlight the fact that contemporary manifestations of American power are no neoconservative aberration. Indeed, it seems certain that in the context of a re-branded but effectively unchanged `war in terror,' questions of soldierly conscience and state secrecy will remain pertinent well into the future."
Nicholas Witham, University of Nottingham, Journal of American Studies
"SOLDIERS OF CONSCIENCE thoughtfully explores the moral dilemmas encountered by U.S. Army soldiers who served in the current Iraq War. Skillfully interspersing scenes of the war as experienced by U.S. soldiers and the Iraqi people with the compelling testimonies of soldiers who became conscientious objectors, and other soldiers who opposed that choice, the film challenges viewers to search their own consciences. SOLDIERS OF CONSCIENCE deserves a wide audience. It should stimulate excellent classroom discussions."
Dr. Michael Burton, Professor, Department of Sociology, Loyola College in Maryland
"The award winning documentary, SOLDIERS OF CONSCIENCE takes on the core human contradiction to never kill against the duty to kill as a combat soldier who has volunteered for service. Approved by the U.S. Army, this documentary provides rare footage of how the military turns civilians into killers through reflexive fire training while giving voice to combat soldiers who reconnect with their humanity by claiming conscientious objection when serving in Iraq. The powerful narratives of four soldiers who have faced the hell of war and turned against it, Camilo Mejia, Joshua Casteel, Aidan Delgado and Kevin Benderman, tear viewers away from feeling absolved of a war being fought by volunteers to confront why we are not standing with them to end it. It is a testament to the filmmakers that one of the most significant anti-war documentaries of the post-9/11 era has the approval of the U.S. Army."
Michael Musheno, Professor of Criminal Justice Studies, San Francisco State University,
Distinguished Affiliated Scholar, Center for the Study of Law and Society, University of California at Berkeley, Co-author, Deployed: How Reservists Bear the Burden of Iraq
"A captivating look inside the U.S. Army...Soldiers of Conscience offers up important data and commentary on U.S. military society. The film thus provides a valuable entrée into what Catherine Lutz has called 'ethnographies of empire,' anthropological research concentrating on the people living in and around U.S. military bases and designed to reveal the human face and vulnerabilities of American imperialism."
Rebecca Forgash, Metropolitan State College of Denver, Anthropology Review Database
"Gary Weimberg and his team have assembled and filmed an admirable selection of real SOLDIERS OF CONSCIENCE who have engaged in close combat. Some of them have become Conscientious Objectors within the terms of military regulations. Others are called by their sense of duty to return to the danger, horror and exhilaration of battle. Never have I seen both perspectives presented so clearly and movingly, side by side."
COL (Ret) Jim Stokes, MD, Army psychiatrist and developer of the Combat Stress Control doctrine
"The core moral teachings of Christianity have long been known - and almost as long ignored. SOLDIERS OF CONSCIENCE startles us - Christians and others alike - out of our moral slumbers by showing us brave men who dared to think for themselves about the morality of war. Their courage in facing genuine moral problems will give rise to continued ethical and moral reflection on the pressing issue of our time. Highly recommended."
Rev. Dr. Derek R. Nelson, Assistant Professor of Religion, Thiel College
"A uniquely powerful film in exploring conscientious decision-making about war both from the perspective of soldiers dedicated to fighting and those who have refused."
Rev. William 'Scotty' McLennan, Unitarian Universalist Minister, Dean for Religious Life, Stanford University
"SOLDIERS OF CONSCIENCE is to our generation what Paths of Glory, Full Metal Jacket, and Platoon was to theirs. It packs a dramatic punch while challenging the conscience of America."
Professor Arthur Blaustein, University of California - Berkeley, Author, The American Promise
"I showed a brief excerpt from the film in a recent treatment group session with OIF/OEF combat veterans at the SFVAMC. The content was carefully selected to exclude graphic or startling images that could be triggering for veterans who have served in a war zone. The clip generated an excellent group discussion about killing, guilt, and shame among the veterans in the room and helped them to reach a deep level of sharing and reflection about their personal experiences. The clip and resulting group discussion also helped veterans to better understand that they were not alone."
Shira Maguen, Ph.D., Assistant Clinical Professor, UCSF Medical School, Staff Psychologist, San Francisco VA Medical Center
"A great movie in terms of impact, quality of production, [and] usefulness in theological education."
Deryck Durston, Associate Director, Association for Clinical Pastoral Education
"You have produced a wonderful learning tool. Thank you. It is such a relief to know there are people who continue to bring multiple perspectives to bare on such complex and important issues."
Shan Oglesby, Social Studies Teacher, Kamiak High School
"The film was powerful and thought-provoking. As an educator, I especially appreciated the straight talk from all the people filmed. I imagine using the film as a way to proceed into a discussion of the morality of killing [and] nonviolence."
Monica Fisk, Masters of Education Candidate, Antioch University
"A balanced and mature acknowledgement that some people will follow the dictates of their own consciences over the commands of a temporary 'superior.' Recommended."
Video Librarian
"I found myself humbled and moved by the film...A candid, eloquent and truly provocative discussion amongst soldiers from all sides of the story...Transcends the noisy bluster of political rhetoric and gives a clear, uncensored voice to the young men and women who are charged with protecting our nation."
Matt Glaser, The Zong
"Has an eloquence and passion that will open hearts as well as eyes."
Paula Nechak, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"A thoughtful, challenging, and remarkably wide-ranging examination of the nature of war and its alternatives."
John Hartl, The Seattle Times
"Brutal and completely captivating, SOLDIERS OF CONSCIENCE is a fine example of modern documentary filmmaking done right. Both sides of the issue are given time and attention, and no clear-cut judgments are made by the filmmakers. Though it undoubtedly takes a more anti-war stance during many segments, we're treated to an even-handed meditation on the cold reality of modern warfare and the people it directly affects...Firmly Recommended."
DVDtalk.com
"Wonderful...deeply personal...reminds us that the burdens soldiers and Marines carry in the desert heat are far more complex and long lasting than we can possibly know."
Bob Kerr, The Providence Journal
"Thought-provoking...An unbiased look at soldiers who sincerely believe that the killing of war is at times morally justifiable, juxtaposed with those whose consciences have forced them to set down their weapons and answer to a higher calling."
Andrew Gorby, Center on Conscience and War
"The movie takes its own calm, even-handed approach...Directors Gary Weimberg and Catherine Ryan don't pull any punches...A film that stirs things up."
Robert Horton, The Everett Herald
"Never presumes to tell you what to think. It simply makes it impossible for you not to."
John Brummett, The Morning News
"Tears at the heart."
Beth Ashley, Marin Independent Journal
"Thoughtful."
Jan Stuart, Newsday
"Thoughtful...Fascinating...Tight and balanced storytelling."
Moira Macdonald, The Seattle Times
"Gripping and real...Through the eyes of soldiers."
Bryan Fung, Northwest Asian Weekly
"This chilling documentary explores how we condition our children to bypass their morals."
Lindy West, The Stranger
"Doesn't just preach to the choir...It has the virtue of including voices from across the ideological spectrum."
Frank Paiva, Seattle Weekly
"Illuminating...[one of] my five movies to look for during the Atlanta Film Festival."
Felicia Feaster, Creative Loafing
"Must-see."
Bob Longino, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Speaks volumes about the psychological toll taking another life enacts."
Charles Judson, CinemaATL Magazine
"The film's focus makes Soldiers of Conscience accessible to pacifists and warriors alike. The soldiers' candid and deeply personal reflections remind us that in war human beings make choices they must live with the rest of their lives...The candor of these soldiers evokes questions that haunt us. What are we asking of those ordered to kill on our behalf?"
National Catholic Reporter
"Soldiers of Conscience is a compelling indictment of the successful campaign by the U.S. military to defeat our universal human instinct not to kill. Using intimate footage of basic training and mind-numbing images of the continuing Iraq War, the film puts into horrifying perspective how the Pentagon teaches recruits to obey orders and kill without consulting conscience. These revelations are tempered by interviews with soldiers who say no to such demands and exit military service, but as the film ends a lingering and unsettling question remains: Why do those opposed to war number so few?"
Peter Laufer, Journalist, Author, Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq
"Soldiers of Conscience doesn't berate one view and glorify the other, but instead looks honestly at the moral conscience at play in each, allowing the soldiers' experiences to paint the complex pictures. This film asks us to try something new by thinking something new -- by listening to voices that have walked a difficult road."
Kaitlin Barker, Sojourners
"The film is a thought-provoking look at the central purpose of war that invites viewers to reflect not only on their own perspective but also on the other side of the coin."
Chuck Vinch, Army Times
"Weimberg and Ryan have created one of the rare breed of documentaries that have a point of view, but don't try to manipulate viewers into sharing it."
Martin Stillion, Christianity Today
"It's a modest, unpretentious film, and more affecting for it. Conveying not just the grimly harrowing circumstances of modern combat but also a real sense of the bright, mature, and morally serious minds that terrible crucible has forged."
San Francisco Magazine
"This thoughtful and disquieting film...explores the fundamental contradiction between the killing required by war and the remorse required by humanity."
Glenn Garvin, The Miami Herald
"Although most Americans would prefer not to think about Iraq, Soldiers of Conscience is required viewing for anyone living with this war...Serving in the military is an honorable profession, and Soldiers of Conscience explores the difficult area where honor, duty, morality and choice intersect and then collide."
Wyatt Montaner, BeyondChron.org
"This film is an important new tool in efforts to promote peace and understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims and Arabs and non-Arabs in the United States and abroad."
Fatema Haji-Taki, Islamic Insights.com
"Soldiers of Conscience explores the moral dilemmas of eight U.S. soldiers who struggle daily with the question of whether killing is ever justified."
The Washington Post
"A thoughtful look at war and its aftermath."
Kevin McDonough, United Feature Syndicate
"A thoughtful documentary on fighting men who have second thoughts about killing."
Roger Catlin, The Hartford Courant
"[Soldiers of Conscience] lets a handful of soldiers do just about all of the talking, and their personal accounts respective to their diverse backgrounds and beliefs put some powerful faces to the otherwise familiar talking points."
Billy O'Keefe, San Luis Obispo
"Soldiers of Conscience doesn't take sides, it is not an anti-war or a pro-war film; instead, it truly surveys and attempts to understand the complexities of a moral conundrum...The film, possibly unintentionally, engenders a newfound respect for the soldiers that experience hell daily on the front lines, while simultaneously questioning the fundamental idea of war."
Jessica Mosby, The Women's International Perspective
"EXCELLENT...a MUST SEE for all conscientious people."
Catholic Peace Fellowship
"Soldiers of Conscience is a film that will challenge your beliefs. I'm still confident in mine, but I know other military folks who were disturbed by the questions the film raised in their own consciences...If you get the opportunity to see the film, I recommend it. It is unbiased (rare for the genre) and very interesting."
MAJ Peter Kilner, USMA West Point, soldier-ethicist.blogspot.com
"Brought me to tears or near tears and I believe that it really hits the emotional nerve that it was intended to hit. Its relevancy in the current context of war is enormous."
Oskar Castro, National Youth and Militarism Program, American Friends Service Committee