Screening: Bad Voodoo’s War

An eye-opening film that virtually embeds with California based National Guard soldiers of Bad Voodoo Platoon in Iraq to tell their personal war stories in “Bad Voodoo’s War.” From private  reflections to real-time footage of IED attacks on the ground, renowned war documentary director Deborah Scranton (The War Tapes) gives cameras to the soldiers of the Bad Voodoo Platoon, and intimately reveals the grind of their war.

Says Scranton, “What compels me is telling a story from the inside out, versus the outside in – to crawl inside their world with them to see what it looks like, feels like and smells like. It’s a really profound thing, to give the soldiers the chance to press record.”

Through their daily experiences, acting Platoon Leader Sergeant First Class Toby Nunn, a father of three originally from British Columbia, and Specialist Jason Shaw, a 23-year old from Texas give us a first-hand look at the effects of the revolving-door policy of redeployment to Iraq and the changing role of the Army on the ground.

Grappling to balance surviving in Iraq with their obligations at home, both men struggle in an emotional tug-of-war between the world of soldiers they inhabit and their relationships at home, that suffer in their absence.

As a convoy security platoon, Bad Voodoo’s missions involve traversing the most dangerous regions of Iraq with heavy loads of supplies, making them among the most vulnerable targets for the Iraqi insurgency. Out in the field, they often do not know whom they can trust. The constant second-guessing, combined with the fatal monotony of the desert highway, keeps the soldiers in a noxious state of anxiety. This is Bad Voodoo’s War.

Written, Produced Directed by: Deborah Scranton
Length: 56 mins
A PBS FRONTLINE production