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The Prisoner or How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair

In September 2003, Iraqi photojournalist Yunis Khatayer Abbas, was arrested along with his three brothers, in his home in Baghdad. For the US soldiers who conducted the raid, it was all in a day’s work. For Yunis, it was the beginning of an ordeal that changed his life. Eventually Yunis was informed that he and his brothers were arrested for planning the assassination of British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Thinking it was a joke, Yunis assumed he would be released soon. But it was nine months later, and a stint at Abu Ghraib prison before he was released. Directors and Producers, Michael Tucker and Petra Epperline, makers of the acclaimed documentary, Gunner Palace, have made a new documentary about Yunis’ experience. It’s called “The Prisoner: Or How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair.” According to Newsweek, this “extraordinary documentary” gives you “a fine, nuanced and ultimately very disturbing sense of the durable and deeply ingrained anger among the Iraqis.”

Visit the film’s official website here: www.theprisoner.us.

Semper Fi

In March 2004, Uprising aired an exclusive first interview with a US Marine who returned from Iraq for medical reasons and decided he couldn’t go back. First, as a gay man, he was unable to lie any longer about his sexual orientation. And second, he had seen enough about the lies the war was based on and our treatment of Iraqis, that he couldn’t fight any more. On March 29th 2004, Jeff read out a letter for Uprising listeners addressed to his superior officers stating his reasons for not returning. Now, more than 3 years later, Jeff’s story is told in a new documentary called Semper Fi: One Marine’s Journey, which airs on Show time on June 25th at 8:30 pm. Jeff Key is originally from Alabama, was raised in a fundamentalist Christian household, and joined the Marines at the age of 34. He is also a playwright and actor, and after returning from Iraq, he performed across the country in his award winning, critically acclaimed one-man show called Eyes of Babylon, clips of which are featured in the documentary Semper Fi. Jeff is also an active member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Visit the film’s official website here: www.semperfithemovie.com.

Iraq for Sale

Last year award winning independent film maker, Robert Greenwald released his film, “Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers,” focused on the politics of corporate profiteering off the war in Iraq. In March 2004, four civilians hired by Blackwater Security Consulting in Fallujah, Iraq were killed and their bodies mutilated. In Iraq for Sale, the family members of those killed are interviewed revealing the disturbing truth about the privatization of war and its consequences.

For more information, visit www.iraqforsale.org.

Special thanks to Brave New Films for donating copies of Iraq for Sale to KPFK’s Funddrive.

Special thanks to Red Envelope Entertainment and Netflix for donating tickets to the screening of Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars to KPFK. The screening is on Tuesday June 26th at 7:30 pm, at the Fine Arts Theatre, 8556 Wilshire Blvd in Beverly Hills 90211 followed by a special performance by the Refugee All Stars and discussion with filmmakers Banker White and Zach Niles. Other confirmed attendees thus far: Wyclef Jean, Aerosmith, and Ice Cube. Seats are limited.

Thank you Gifts:

For a $175 pledge, get both above DVDs together with Iraq for Sale (DVD).