TRAVERSE CITY -- Filmmakers whose movies captured life and war in Iraq shared their insights with a Traverse City audience.
An eight-member panel of documentary filmmakers gathered Thursday during the Traverse City Film Festival to sound off on the topic "Who Are These Terrorists, and Why Do They Make Movies?" But a packed audience at the City Opera House gleaned more than just a look into the mind of Middle East terrorists.
Daniel Evans said his film "War, Love, God & Madness" offers a glimpse of Iraq from an Iraqi point of view.
"In the United Kingdom we get terrorist alerts, and you begin to generalize that every Muslim is a terrorist. Generalizations get you in a mindset that blocks you from seeing the real person you're in front of," the English filmmaker said.
Laura Winter agreed. Her film "Baghdad High" follows four Iraqi teens through a year in high school. It has been shown to American soldiers to illustrate that all Iraqi teen boys are not terrorists, and their lives aren't much different from American teens.
"The film is being used as a tool to tell soldiers that this is not a video game. Iraqis are real people, too," she said.
Terrorism isn't always that far from home, said festival founder Michael Moore.
"Essentially we are not the unique country we think," Moore said. "We are engaged in a struggle for our freedom from those who want to control us."
The panel also discussed how news headlines can also be used to influence the views of Americans. One example was the late filmmaker Dalton Trumbo, whose experience as one of the "Hollywood Ten" blacklisted him from working in Hollywood during the McCarthy Era around a half-century ago.
"I think it was a terrible time for the country," said Christopher Trumbo, son of the late filmmaker. "Teachers were suspect and loyalty oaths required. It was not a protective measure, it was measures of control."
Evans said it's important not be sidetracked by those who want to control other's views.
"It is fear -- terrorism," Evans said. "They don't want us to know we have the power think for ourselves."
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