“Beyond Babylon,” was inspired by neighborhood anti-Iraq war protests in
Hollywood, CA on the same spot where D.W. Griffith filmed the destruction of
Babylon for his silent epic “Intolerance.” The documentary short weaves
past and present to examine the true cost of war, from 536 B.C to World War
One to the beach memorials of Arlington West where white crosses stand
as a silent testament to the lives lost in the current war in Iraq.
The film utilizes editing techniques D. W. Griffith pioneered as well as 21st
century split video screens to pose questions about the current war in Iraq.
Is it worth it? What are the costs? Can we live with them? Are we ready to
pay the price?
Our friends and neighbors, protesting the war, give us their answers. July
4th, on a sunlit California beach, surrounded by crosses, a father whose
son died in Iraq emotionally relates the cost of this war.
“Beyond Babylon” was filmed over two years, from the onset of anti-war
protests in October, 2002 to Veteran’s Day, November 2004, Arlington West.
By that time, over a thousand U.S. men and women had died, many
thousands wounded and disabled, with innumerable Iraqis among the
dead.
This film honors those who have died in Iraq and those who are still fighting
and dying today. War shatters families, leaving behind a wound that never
heals. It’s not just the soldiers and their families who have gone to war—
we all have.
courtesy of
Bison Archive
