S4.E7 ∙ I'll Never Stop Dressing Like a Monster

Montage film about the political and military events from the summer of 1940 until 1941.

Offering a singular take on the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq, 'A Letter to the Prime Minister' follows Jo Wilding on her remarkable journey of the last few years, in solidarity with the people of Iraq. Narrated as a letter to Tony Blair and using original diary extracts, from her challenging of the legality of the devastating economic sanctions imposed on the country, through to her activities in Baghdad before and during the 2003 Invasion, the film traces the non-violent resistance to US/UK policy in the region. Wilding serves as witness to the destruction of the lives of ordinary people during the bombing campaign and their subsequent neglect by Occupation forces and the interim authorities but she also acts, forming the Boomchucka Circus to work with school children and refugees. In April 2004, that help extended to traveling into Falluja, when even Al Jazeera had pulled out, to stand alongside the civilians trapped and targeted by US forces. Exclusive footage from the besieged city of Falluja creates a moving picture of the terrible impact UK & US foreign policy has had on ordinary Iraqi people, while the film itself stands as a powerful act of remembrance and questions an unjust and damaging Occupation.

In the imagination of many people, the concepts of "devotion" and "faithfulness" are enshrined in one common image of a "true faithful friend": a dog. They are less and less associated with humans, but our true story of the war is about devotion that restores faith in people. The protagonist of the film - Buddy the shepherd - had a lot to go through. It has changed three fighting mates and true friends - all three of them have died heroically in the battles. What is it? A terrible fatal coincidence? Or maybe it's just a cynical regular phenomenon in war? Frontline shepherd Buddy is a guide through the story of her brothers-in-arms - first volunteer fighters. In the film, its paw prints lead the viewer through unexpected paths of different human destinies, forever joint with common pain and irrevocably mine-studded by war.

This is his first film, Basil investigates how Israelis and Palestinians are coping with attack and counterattack, anger and revenge. He shows the 'normal' life people experience during the constant violence in the occupied territories. Basil talks to father of teenage girl suicide bomber Basil speaks to an Israeli-American family that lost a daughter in a suicide bombing, while he also meets the father of a young bomber, as well as a family that almost lost a child to an explosion. Behind this violence he finds compassion and humour - whether through hardened Israelis and Palestinians, Israeli Army checkpoint soldiers, even his own family. In an area often thought beyond reason, there is some rationality in discussing that revenge does not necessarily have to be the answer.

Bringing King to China is the bittersweet story of Caitrin, a young American teacher in Beijing, whose failed protests against the Iraq war drive her to produce a play in China about Martin Luther King, Jr. Early in the film she mistakenly learns that her father (the filmmaker) has been killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq. Vowing to show the world 'the positive face of America", she sets out to raise $200,000, hires the most prestigious theater troupe in China, and stages a play in Chinese with African American gospel singers. But her efforts to translate Dr. King's vision of global peace to a Chinese audience turn rocky in the face of cultural obstacles and soured relationships. In the end, the protagonist produces a popular play but is forced to re-define her success, as she learns that language proficiency alone does not guarantee that two cultures will understand each other. Caitrin finally repairs a strained friendship with her beloved Beijing assistant, while confronting her father on camera with the charge he is suffering from post-traumatic stress from his coverage of the war in Iraq. Bringing King to China is a daughter-father story that plays out against the bridge she tries to build between the U.S. and China. As it turns out, Caitrin's bridge is full of unexpected "potholes." In the journey to find independence, Caitrin comes to realize that genuine cross-cultural dialogue entails a gritty struggle to find common ground.

Interviews with key military woman guerrilla leaders, and young girls and old women who took part baring arms or making artisanal bombs, against the regime of General Somoza.