Here you go, folks… I told you it was going to be worth the wait!
Frontline witness to brutality
4 Mar 11 @ 04:30am by Candice Holznagel
NEVER-BEFORE seen footage from the hands of al-Qaeda insurgents will bring the brutal truth of war to the big screen in a cinema film being produced by Brisbane journalist Michael Ware.
Ware, who spent his childhood days in Caloundra, is somewhat of a celebrity in the US after almost 10 years abroad bringing the reality of the Afghan and Iraq wars to the western world.
Kings Beach, where his family holidayed regularly, is a stark comparison to the life Ware went on to live.
As a Time magazine reporter and then with news organisation CNN, Ware reported from both within the US Army and as a man living among the insurgents.
His experiences, including being kidnapped and held at gunpoint, were gut-wrenching.
“Straight after my kidnapping by al-Qaeda I didn’t leave my bedroom for three days,’’ Ware told ABC’s Australian Story last year.
“Every time I got into a car of any description, going anywhere… I immediately wanted to throw up.
“At the same time, I was under threat from Al Qaeda, they were specifically targeting me for something I’d published.
“We knew that there was a team coming to kill me.’‘
It was Ware’s “stomach churning’’ experience in the battle of Fallujah which “cleansed’’ him of the horrors of the kidnapping.
He was aboard the first US vehicles to enter Fallujah in 2004 and stood beside the soldiers in a darkened house, facing heavy fire from insurgents.
According to Ware’s parents, Gail and Len, who now reside in Caloundra, it was these experiences which took a toll on their son.
“It’s wonderful him being home, it’s just sad the reason that’s brought him home post-traumatic stress,’’ Mrs Ware told the Journal.
“I think he’s progressing well.
“I said to him that he should have come home earlier but he said the damage can be done in one year or the 10 years he was there.
“It’s a living nightmare.
“I don’t know if he will ever be the same person again.’‘
Mrs Ware is proud of her son, who has won numerous awards for his journalistic skills.
“No one else was doing what he did,’’ she said.
“He landed in Afghanistan and didn’t know a soul.
“What do you do, turn right, turn left or go ahead?
`He can just blend. Michael lived their lifestyle.’‘
Earlier this week, Ware was attending meeting after meeting to progress his film project.
He hoped the film, based on the war in Iraq, would be launched through the world-renowned Sundance Film Festival but either way it will hit the big screen next year.
“It’s based on the years I shot video, using things like the al-Qaeda videos the world has never seen,’’ Ware said.
“It’s the first time in history that we know of that a Congressional Medal of Honour has been caught on film.
“It’s the war documentary.
“It just happens to be set in Iraq.
“This really is a film that looks at the true nature of us.
“It’s one war seen through the viewfinder of one man.
“It will confront the psyche of 300 million Americans.’‘
Speaking in his passionate and zealous manner, Ware said the development of the film had turned into a form of therapy.
“I think at heart I am and will always be a journalist.
“I’m exploring a new form of it.’‘
[One correction -- it should have read that a nominee for the Congressional Medal of Honour was caught on film.]
As a screenwriter, I am BEYOND thrilled that Michael is moving into the world of documentaries and film. He’s perfect for it.
He’s going to be like Sebastian Junger, someone who is a reporter, author, filmmaker, and overall talented guy.
Michael, I wish you the best success with your film. I will be one of the first in line to see it.
And if you really want to make hearts pitter pat on this blog, have a special screening for your fans here. Something tells me we’ll all find a way to attend it.
It’s a good thing I’m already sitting down, because my legs would have gone from under me… You weren’t kidding, this is HUGE! It’s so wonderful that he was able to create his own form of therapy, one that will not only help him to deal with these events but also (hopefully) give the world a better understanding of them.
I can’t wait to see Michael’s film it will be incredible! I wish him all the best to get the funding and get the film finished. Let’s hope it will be shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012.
It will be amazing to see the unedited version of the war in Iraq, through Mick’s eyes and ears. He is an incredible journalist and his reports and analysis were always one step ahead of others and conventional wisdom.
Here is hoping for a plethora of funding and a 2012 showing at the Sundance Film Festival.
I just can’t wait for the new insite. It’s wonderful that we have journalist like Michael to give people who are so far removed from the situation insite to what is going on.
I will cross any ocean to come to a screening of this film! Of course, if we could also see it in France, that would be awesome. Michael Ware’s work must be seen by everyone !
Michael, I look forward to seeing your upcoming film. I have a great admiration for the risks you took to show the world what war is really like – for your courage and your capacity not to hold back, to tell the truth. There are always two sides to a story and you covered both sides in a honest manner. You didn’t report the party line the mainstream media was feeding Americans. You reported the events as they were unfolding – as seen through your camera lens panning in every direction. I trust your film will show the ugliness of America’s war in Iraq as well as the brutality of its so called enemies. It was the USA that launched the attack on a sovereign nation without international consent. It was the sitting US President that lied and misled Americans. I hope your film will show the culpability of Mr. Bush for the death of thousands of American soldiers and countless Iraqis. On the big screen TVs, Americans saw the “shock and awe” as a celebration of a sort while thousands were being incinerated by its bombing sorties. Is America any safer today I ask? Was this war really necessary? Who benefited from this ugly adventure?
I hope your film will show that it is the USA that gave the strength to Al Qaeda by its misguided foreign policy. It is the USA that goes out looking for a fight. It is America that is the bully on the block. USA must confront its failed policy of interference that has caused its reputation to steadily sink. It is this failed policy that is destroying the very fabric this great nation was built on. It is the enemy within that America must deal with if it is to regain its lost glory.
Michael I wish you a great success in your new venture and speedy recovery. You are a true reporter and no one will take that away from you.
I can not wait to see the film. I am so happy for you Michael and wishing you the best.
All the best for a very insightful film. Thankful for being so giving in your journalism. Wishing you well always.
WOW!! Good for Michael. I had a funny feeling he had a documentary up his sleeve… I always thought he would excel at one.
Here’s hoping he gets all the funding he needs, and that the doc gets lots and lots of exposure. Fingers crossed that it will get into Sundance.