Body of War
Encyclopedia
Body of War, directed by Ellen Spiro
Ellen Spiro
Ellen Spiro is an American documentary filmmaker. Spiro is known for making humorous social issue films for national and international television broadcasts and theatrical release....

 and Phil Donahue
Phil Donahue
Phillip John "Phil" Donahue is an American media personality, writer, and film producer best known as the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, also known as Donahue, was the first to use a talk show format. The show had a 26-year run on U.S...

, is a 2007 documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 following Tomas Young, an Iraq War veteran paralyzed from a bullet to the spine, on a physical and emotional journey as he adapts to his new body and begins to question the decision to go to war in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

.

As Tomas's journey unfolds, the film cuts back and forth to Congressional proceedings in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

  Footage includes passionate speeches by Senator Robert Byrd
Robert Byrd
Robert Carlyle Byrd was a United States Senator from West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959 and as a U.S. Senator from 1959 to 2010...

 as well as a running tally of how each U.S. Senate member
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 voted on the resolution to authorize President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 to war in Iraq.

The National Board of Review named Body of War Best Documentary of 2007. Previous winners include An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times.Premiering at the...

, March of the Penguins
March of the Penguins
March of the Penguins is a 2005 French nature documentary film. It was directed and co-written by Luc Jacquet, and co-produced by Bonne Pioche and the National Geographic Society. The film depicts the yearly journey of the emperor penguins of Antarctica...

, Born Into Brothels
Born into Brothels
Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids is a 2004 American documentary film about the children of prostitutes in Sonagachi, Kolkata's red light district...

, The Fog of War
The Fog of War
The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara is a 2003 American documentary film about the life and times of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara as well as illustrating his observations of the nature of modern warfare...

 and Bowling for Columbine
Bowling for Columbine
Bowling for Columbine is a 2002 documentary film written, directed, produced, and narrated by Michael Moore. The film explores what Michael Moore suggests are the causes for the Columbine High School massacre and other acts of violence with guns...

.

Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro appeared on Bill Moyers Journal for a one hour special about Body of War.

Honors and awards

  • Shortlisted for an Oscar nomination from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
    Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
    The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...

    .

  • Best Documentary (National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
    National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
    The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr.'s revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908. The mayor believed that the new medium...

    )

  • People's Choice Award (runner-up) at the Toronto International Film Festival
    Toronto International Film Festival
    The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...

    .

  • Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Hamptons International Film Festival
    Hamptons International Film Festival
    Hamptons International Film Festival was founded to provide a forum for independent filmmakers from around the world to express their vision. The Festival is traditionally held for five days in mid-October in theatre venues from Montauk to Southampton and attracts roughly 15,000 visitors annually...

    .

Critical reception

  • "Superb documentary ... almost unbearably moving." —Time magazine

  • "Identification with a single protagonist gives "Body" something to set it apart from other antiwar documentaries."
    Hollywood Reporter

  • "A powerful indictment of the tactical politics that led to the invasion and a heartbreaking account of one man's living with the aftermath."—Los Angeles Times

  • "Architecturally sound, emotionally ravaging...a ferocious film."—Washington Post

  • "A compassionate and impassioned portrait...not merely an antiwar document, but a complex profile in courage of a paraplegic and patriot." —Philadelphia Inquirer

  • "Among the more heartbreaking images this war has produced."—Boston Globe


  • "One of the most affecting and certainly the most intimate of the cinematic arguments against the war in Iraq yet made."—Austin Chronicle


  • "Unforgettably intimate, Un-missable. Young is a fascinating, charismatic character, the camera loves him - as will audiences." — Toronto Star

  • "Beautiful, heartbreaking and powerful...has to be seen." — KansasCity.com


  • "Seeing Body of War is about as close as you can get to beginning to feel what the wounded vets and their families feel."—Veterans Today'

Media coverage


Soundtrack

Body of War: Songs that Inspired an Iraq War Veteran
Body of War: Songs that Inspired an Iraq War Veteran
"Body of War: Songs that Inspired an Iraq War Veteran" is an album produced for the documentary Body of War. It was created to help make profits towards Young's organization, aside from complementing the film...

, a double-CD compilation of songs curated by Iraq war veteran Tomas Young, was released by Sire Records on March 18, 2008 — two days before the fifth anniversary of the United States’ invasion of Iraq.

Young personally selected each of the tracks that appear on Body of War: Songs that Inspired an Iraq War Veteran, including Eddie Vedder's previously unreleased, live version of "No More," which was written specifically for the Body of War documentary and performed with Ben Harper at Lollapalooza 2007 in Chicago's Grant Park. The double-CD set also features incisive songs from John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

, Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...

, Bright Eyes, Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

, Lupe Fiasco
Lupe Fiasco
Wasalu Muhammad Jaco , better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco , is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, Lupe is the CEO of 1st and 15th Entertainment. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his critically acclaimed debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food...

 and Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer–songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, playwright, record producer, poet, and political activist...

.

This music, Young says, serves as his personal ‘soundtrack for Iraq.’ “The compilation record was an idea that grew out of my love of music and my reliance on it before, during, and after the war,” he says. “The songs I selected for the record were tracks that inspired, motivated, and at times, literally saved me over the past few years.”

“Tomas has taught me a great deal, and our friendship has become one of depth and sincerity,” Vedder adds. “It has been a mind-expanding experience. I see how he relies on the strength of the songs to help him through each day. It is a true living example of the power of music.”

The Body of War music site (www.bodyofwarmusic.com) enables visitors to order the Body Of War double CD set or buy the iTunes version of the album, view the video for “No More” by Ellen Spiro and special bonus footage with Tomas Young and Eddie Vedder, as well as link to sites and a forum where users can take action based on their feelings about the Iraq war.

All proceeds from Body of War: Songs That Inspired an Iraq War Veteran, which features original cover art designed and donated by acclaimed political artist Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey
Frank Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary graphic designer, and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene. He first became known for his "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign, in which he appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. His...

, go to benefit the non-profit organization Iraq Veterans Against the War
Iraq Veterans Against the War
Iraq Veterans Against the War is an advocacy group of active-duty United States military personnel, Iraq War veterans, Afghanistan War veterans, and other veterans who have served since the September 11, 2001 attacks who are opposed to the U.S. occupation of Iraq...

 (IVAW), as chosen by Young. Founded in 2004 by Iraq war veterans, IVAW’s goal is to give voice to the large number of active-duty service people and veterans who are against the war, but are under various pressures to remain silent. In September, Sire Records donated $100,000 to IVAW in the name of Young, who is a spokesperson for the organization.

Disc one

  1. Brendan James
    Brendan James
    Brendan James is an American singer-songwriter originally from Derry, New Hampshire, who started in New York City but is currently residing in California...

     – "Hero's Song"
  2. Lupe Fiasco
    Lupe Fiasco
    Wasalu Muhammad Jaco , better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco , is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, Lupe is the CEO of 1st and 15th Entertainment. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his critically acclaimed debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food...

     – "American Terrorist" (Fiasco, Prolyfic, Armando Corea) – 4:40
  3. Michael Franti & Spearhead
    Michael Franti
    Michael Franti is an American poet, musician, and composer. He is the creator and lead vocalist of Michael Franti & Spearhead, a band that blends hip hop with a variety of other styles including funk, reggae, jazz, folk, and rock...

     – "Light Up Ya Lighter" (Franti, Itiene) – 4:57
  4. Rage Against the Machine
    Rage Against the Machine
    Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...

     – "Guerrilla Radio
    Guerrilla Radio
    "Guerrilla Radio" is the second track from the 1999 album The Battle of Los Angeles by the band Rage Against the Machine. The band won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for this song. It has remained one of their signature tracks...

    " – 3:26
  5. Public Enemy – "Son of a Bush" – 5:52
  6. Serj Tankian
    Serj Tankian
    Serj Tankian is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer–songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, playwright, record producer, poet, and political activist...

     – "Empty Walls
    Empty Walls
    "Empty Walls" is a song by musician Serj Tankian. The song was released as the first official single and first track off of Tankian's debut solo album Elect the Dead. The song has been described as a "traditionally pummeling rocker"....

    " (Tankian) – 3:49
  7. Bad Religion
    Bad Religion
    Bad Religion is a punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles in 1979. Their current line-up consists of Greg Graffin , Brett Gurewitz , Jay Bentley , Greg Hetson , Brian Baker and Brooks Wackerman . Gurewitz is also the founder of the label Epitaph Records, which has released almost all of the...

     – "Let Them Eat War" (Brian Baker
    Brian Baker (musician)
    Brian Baker is an American punk rock musician. He is best known as one of the founding members of the hardcore punk band Minor Threat, and as a guitarist in Bad Religion since 1994 alongside Greg Hetson...

    , Jay Bentley
    Jay Bentley
    Jay Dee Bentley is the bassist and co-founding member of the punk rock group Bad Religion. He has played with the band through its whole existence with a small break between 1983 and 1985.-Bad Religion:...

    , Sage Francis
    Sage Francis
    Paul "Sage" Francis is a hip-hop artist from Providence, Rhode Island.-Biography:Born Paul Francis in Miami, Florida, Sage Francis is a rapper/writer/performer from Providence, Rhode Island. He is the founder and CEO of the independent hip-hop record label Strange Famous Records...

    , Brett Gurewitz
    Brett Gurewitz
    Brett W. Gurewitz , nicknamed Mr. Brett, is the guitarist and a songwriter of Bad Religion. He is also the owner of the music label Epitaph Records and sister-labels ANTI-, Burning Heart Records, Fat Possum Records, and Hellcat Records...

    , Brooks Wackerman
    Brooks Wackerman
    Brooks Wackerman is the current drummer for the American punk band Bad Religion and the younger brother of Chad Wackerman, formerly a member of Frank Zappa's band.-Career:...

    ) – 2:57
  8. Against Me!
    Against Me!
    Against Me! is an American punk rock band formed in 1997 in Naples, Florida and relocated to Gainesville, Florida in 1999. Their first full-length album, released on No Idea Records in 2002, was Against Me! Is Reinventing Axl Rose. They have released music on Misanthrope Records, Crasshole Records,...

     – "White People for Peace
    White People for Peace
    "White People for Peace: is a 7" single by punk band Against Me! released in 2007, containing two new songs: the title track, and "Full Sesh". In the United States, it was pressed on both black and red vinyl, with a reported 4,500 and 500 copies pressed respectively...

    " (Tom Gabel
    Tom Gabel
    Thomas James "Tom" Gabel is the lead vocalist, songwriter, and a guitarist for Gainesville, Florida punk rock band Against Me!, as well as a solo artist. He was born on Fort Benning, Georgia a US Army post, where his father was stationed. At age 17, he dropped out of high school and formed Against...

    ) – 3:33
  9. The Bouncing Souls
    The Bouncing Souls
    The Bouncing Souls are a punk rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 1987. By the time of their acknowledgment by the national punk rock scene, they had reignited a "pogo" element to New Jersey punk rock by playing fast light-hearted songs, a model followed by various other local...

     – "Letter from Iraq" (The Bouncing Souls, Garett Reppenhagen) – 2:57
  10. Dilated Peoples
    Dilated Peoples
    Dilated Peoples is an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California. The group achieved notability in the underground hip hop community, although they have had little mainstream success in the US, with the exception of the song "This Way," a 2004 collaboration with Kanye West and Xzibit...

     – "War" (Questlove)
  11. Rx Bandits
    Rx Bandits
    RX Bandits is a four-piece band based in Seal Beach, California. The band formed in 1995 in Orange County, California. They have appeared on the Vans Warped Tour, at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and at The Bamboozle.-Early years :Originally known as...

     – "Overcome (The Recapitulation)" – 3:46
  12. No Use for a Name
    No Use for a Name
    No Use for a Name is a punk rock band from San Jose, California, United States formed in 1987 by Chris Dodge , Steve Papoutsis , Rory Koff and John Meyers...

     – "Fields of Agony" – 2:24
  13. Talib Kweli
    Talib Kweli
    Talib Kweli Greene , better known as Talib Kweli, is an American hip-hop artist and poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker" ; his in Swahili means "true"...

     & Cornel West
    Cornel West
    Cornel Ronald West is an American philosopher, author, critic, actor, civil rights activist and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America....

     – "Bushonomics"
  14. Immortal Technique
    Immortal Technique
    Felipe Andres Coronel , better known by the stage name Immortal Technique, is an American rapper of Afro-Peruvian descent as well as an urban activist. He was born in Lima, Peru and raised in Harlem, New York. Most of his lyrics focus on controversial issues in global politics...

     – "The 4th Branch" – 5:20
  15. System of a Down
    System of a Down
    System of a Down, also known by the acronym SOAD and often shortened to System, is a rock band from Southern California. The band was formed in 1994. It consists of Serj Tankian , Daron Malakian , Shavo Odadjian and John Dolmayan...

     – "B.Y.O.B." (Daron Malakian
    Daron Malakian
    Daron Vartan Malakian is an Armenian-American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist, songwriter, and occasional vocalist of the heavy metal band System of a Down and as the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and songwriter of the alternative...

    , Casey Chaos
    Casey Chaos
    Casey Chaos is the frontman and guitarist of punk rock band Amen. After numerous line-up changes he is the only remaining founding member of the band. He is known for his energetic stage performance...

    , Serj Tankian
    Serj Tankian
    Serj Tankian is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer–songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, playwright, record producer, poet, and political activist...

    ) – 4:17
  16. Eddie Vedder
    Eddie Vedder
    Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...

     & Ben Harper
    Ben Harper
    Benjamin Chase "Ben" Harper is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances and activism. Harper's fan base spans several continents...

     – "No More" [Live]

Disc two

  1. Bruce Springsteen
    Bruce Springsteen
    Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...

     – "Devils & Dust
    Devils & Dust (song)
    "Devils & Dust" is the title track on Bruce Springsteen's thirteenth studio album Devils & Dust, and was released as a single in 2005. Concerning the Iraq War, the song gained critical praise, a Grammy Award for Song of the Year nomination.-History:...

    " (Springsteen) – 4:58
  2. Pearl Jam
    Pearl Jam
    Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...

     – "Masters of War
    Masters of War
    "Masters of War" is a song by Bob Dylan, written over the winter of 1962-63 and released on the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in the spring of 1963. The song's melody was adapted from the traditional "Nottamun Town"...

    " [Live] (Bob Dylan
    Bob Dylan
    Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

    )
  3. Bright Eyes – "When the President Talks to God
    When the President Talks to God
    "When the President Talks to God" is a protest song by Bright Eyes, with a very pointed political message directed towards George W. Bush and his policies...

    " (Conor Oberst
    Conor Oberst
    Conor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, Norman Bailer , Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and Monsters of Folk.-Musical career:Oberst began...

    ) – 2:46
  4. John Lennon
    John Lennon
    John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

     – "Gimme Some Truth
    Gimme Some Truth
    "Gimme Some Truth" is a protest song written and performed by John Lennon from his 1971 album Imagine.Like several songs on the album, such as the title track "Imagine", "Gimme Some Truth" has blatant political references emerging from the time it was written, during the latter years of the Vietnam...

    " (Lennon) – 3:16
  5. Neil Young
    Neil Young
    Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

     – "The Restless Consumer"
  6. The Nightwatchman
    The Nightwatchman
    The Nightwatchman is the alter-ego and solo act of Rage Against the Machine, Street Sweeper Social Club and former Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello...

     – "Battle Hymns"
  7. Kimya Dawson
    Kimya Dawson
    Kimya Dawson is an American singer-songwriter, best known as a solo performer and as one half of The Moldy Peaches. In Swahili, "Kimya" means "silence" or "silent".-Career:...

     – "Anthrax"
  8. Blow Up Hollywood
    Blow Up Hollywood
    Blow Up Hollywood is an underground American rock band. Their eclectic sound, built over a decade of recording, incorporates many different styles, diverse as progressive rock, post-rock, experimental, pop, classical, jazz and ambient soundscapes...

     – "WMD"
  9. David Ford
    David Ford (musician)
    David James Ford is a British singer-songwriter, currently living in Eastbourne, East Sussex. He first achieved prominence with the indie rock group Easyworld, who released an independent mini-album, ...Better Ways to Self Destruct and two full-length albums on Jive Records before disbanding in...

     – "State of the Union" (Ford)
  10. Tori Amos
    Tori Amos
    Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...

     – "Yo George" (Amos) – 1:25
  11. Laura Cantrell
    Laura Cantrell
    Laura Cantrell is a country singer-songwriter and DJ from Nashville, Tennessee. She used to present a weekly country and old-time music radio show on WFMU in New Jersey called The Radio Thrift Shop...

     – "Love Vigilantes"
  12. Ben Harper
    Ben Harper
    Benjamin Chase "Ben" Harper is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances and activism. Harper's fan base spans several continents...

     – "Black Rain" (Ben Harper/Jason Yates)
  13. Roger Waters
    Roger Waters
    George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...

     – "To Kill the Child"
  14. Tom Waits
    Tom Waits
    Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...

     – "Day After Tomorrow" (Kathleen Brennan
    Kathleen Brennan
    Kathleen Brennan is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and artist. She was born in Johnsburg, Illinois, as noted by her husband and musical collaborator Tom Waits, in the song of the same name. Brennan and Waits met in 1980 during the filming of the Francis Ford Coppola film One from...

    , Waits)

External links

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