Silent America

Not in our name is the rallying cry for thousands of Americans who continue to oppose the war in Iraq. After a difficult beginning, the peace movement grows every day. The film Not In Our Name charts the struggle of these concerned citizens to make their voices heard.

Now, their voices are at last being heard. A radical and opportune appeal for citizens to act.

This tight and well-researched documentary provides a stimulating encounter with the very diverse representatives of Americas anti-war movement, who, for three years, have been protesting the Bush administrations policies, as well as the obsequiousness of the media and the attacks on civil rights orchestrated by neo-conservative forces and their Patriot Act. Whether they be from artistic, intellectual or political circles, parents of troops in Iraq, deserters or veterans, devout or secular activists, these voices that America didnt want to hear are gradually breaking through the silence and indifference of the majority of the middle-classes.

They speak out to demand the immediate withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, in the name of the over 4,000 who have died and 30,000 wounded, while pointing out that there is no official count of Iraqi casualties. From the East Coast to California, and in Canada where some deserters have recently obtained political asylum, Philippe Borrel interviewed around fifteen activists, celebrities and unknowns alike.

He spoke to actor Tim Robbins, journalists Peter Arnett and Amy Goodman, who hosts the pioneering Democracy Now! program, Professor Howard Zinn, Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a young soldier killed in Iraq, Democrat Congressman Dennis Kucinich, slammer Saul Williams, Larry Siverson, father of three soldiers, Patrick Resta, a young Iraq veteran, deserter Darell Anderson, young Baptist pastor Jamie Washam and the St. Patricks Four, early anti-war activists who were charged with conspiracy against the state and acquitted. With archive footage of increasingly large anti-war protest marches, their total commitment, in the name of the ideas and values that made America, can finally be heard.

This film is a journey through the anti-war movement in America. It does not set out to judge the rights and wrongs of the war in Iraq. It explores the state of opposition to the war in America today. Our starting point is the simple fact that the war has divided America, perhaps irrevocably. Can a democracy function on the basis of "you're either with us or against us"?

After 9/11, a climate of fear settled over America. Not just fear of terrorist attacks, but fear to speak out to the nation or within one's community, fear to engage in informed discussion, fear to have an opinion that opposes or contradicts administration policies and the mass media's representation of the facts. There are courageous people at every level of American society who are attempting to turn the tide, to ensure that a democratic tradition stretching back 250 years is not washed away by a wave of patriotic fervor. People like Cindy Sherman, whose son was killed in action in Iraq and who set up camp outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. People like Peter Arnett, who was fired from NBC for giving an interview to Iraqi TV. People like Darell Anderson, decorated with the purple heart during his tour of duty in Iraq and now seeking political asylum in Canada. People like Tim Robbins

"Not In Our Name" takes the temperature of American democracy, which has suffered many blows but is not yet out for the count .