Battle for Haditha

Battle for Haditha is a 2007 drama film directed by British director Nick Broomfield based on the Haditha killings. Dramatising real events using a documentary style, Battle for Haditha is Broomfield's follow up to Ghosts. The film was aired on Channel 4 in the UK on 17 March 2008.

This article is about the 2007 drama film about the Haditha massacre. For the massacre itself, see Haditha massacre. For the 2005 Haditha battle, see Battle of Haditha.

Battle for Haditha
Film poster
Directed byNick Broomfield
Written byNick Broomfield
Marc Hoeferlin
Anna Telford
Produced byNick Broomfield
StarringElliot Ruiz
Yasmine Hanani
Hadiitha García Puga
CinematographyMark Wolf
Edited byStuart Gazzard
Ash Jenkins
Music byNick Laird-Clowes
Distributed byHanWay Films
Release dates
  • September 2007 (2007-09) (Toronto International Film Festival)[1]
  • February 4, 2008 (2008-02-04) (United Kingdom)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguagesEnglish
Arabic
Box office$245,521

Plot

The film is inspired by the Haditha killings incident that occurred three months after the Battle of Haditha in the Iraq War. On 19 November 2005 in Haditha, a city in the western Iraqi province of Al Anbar, 24 unarmed Iraqi men, women, and children were killed by a group of United States Marines following an incident where an I.E.D killed one Marine and seriously wounded two others. Since the release of the film, the US military controversially[2][3] dropped all charges to all Marines involved.[4] The names of the Marines have been changed in the film, while the Iraqi civilians retain their real names.[5]

Production

Shot in Jerash, Jordan, the film uses former US Military personnel and Iraqi refugees to play many of the roles.[6] However, the film was shot in an unconventional way – it was shot sequentially enabling the cast to build their characters as the story progressed. It also used real locations, and a very small documentary style film crew. This greatly added to the feeling of reality. Actors, while working from a detailed script, and the final form of the film reflects that structure, were also able to improvise and add to the dialogue, making it their own.

Cast

The film features:

  • Elliot Ruiz as Cpl Ramirez, a Marine who loses his composure after watching a friend die
  • Andrew McLaren as Captain Sampson, the tough company commander in Charge of Cpl Ramirez
  • Jase Willette as PFC Cuthbert, the young Marine whose death sets off the chain of events
  • Yasmine Hanani as Hiba, a young Iraqi woman stuck in the middle of the chaos
  • Eric Mehalacopoulos as the no-nonsense Sgt Ross
  • Nathan Delacruz a former United States Marine plays Cpl Marcus with his infamous comical one liners
  • Falah Flayla as a former Iraqi Army officer turned insurgent
  • Thomas Hennessy Jr. as a Navy corpsman assigned to Kilo company

Film festivals

Battle for Haditha was presented at the Toronto Film Festival on 11 September 2007.[7] Director Nick Broomfield won the Silver Shell award for Best Director at the San Sebastian Film Festival on 29 September 2007.[8] It was also presented at the London Film Festival on 30 October 2007.[9]

Critical reception

Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 65 out of 100, based on 12 reviews.[10]

See also

References
  1. "Movies about Iraq war plentiful at Toronto film festival". 12 September 2007.
  2. "Iraq says to take legal action for Haditha victims". Reuters. 26 January 2012. Archived from the original on 8 October 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  3. Walker, Mark (20 April 2007). "Immunity grants may signal problems with Haditha prosecution". North County Times. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  4. MILITARY: Haditha Marine acquitted
  5. "Time Out London interview with Nick Bloomfield". Archived from the original on 1 December 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2007.
  6. Koehler, Robert (17 September 2007). "Variety review of Battle for Haditha". Retrieved 18 November 2007.
  7. "Toronto International Film Festival schedule". Archived from the original on 26 October 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2007.
  8. "San Sebastian Film Festival official awards". Archived from the original on 5 October 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2007.
  9. "London Film Festival schedule" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2007.
  10. "Battle for Haditha (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
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