(L-R) Will Thompson, Cynthia Ross, Dr. Teri Bengiveno, Jason Barr, and Nick Delatorre bring expertise to discussion of the documentary film "Iraq for Sale."Photo by Alton Richardson
As President of the Journalism Club in the 2006 fall semester at Las Positas College I organized several activities, including a tour of the San Francisco Chronicle and award-winning activities on the campus. My favorite events were the documentary film screenings of Iraq for Sale, which takes a hard look at the use of contractors to facilitate the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and When I Came Home, the portrayal of an Iraq War veteran struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and homelessness.
Having served in the U.S. Army Reserves after high school I feel a particular sense of duty toward our soldiers and veterans, which perhaps explains why these events were so important to me. I invested quite a bit of effort putting it all together, from contacting the filmmakers for promotional material, to securing the facilities and refreshments, to participating in an expert panel discussion immediately following the screenings.
For Iraq for Sale I invited participation of several companies mentioned in the film (Blackwater, Bechtel, CACI, etc.) and I read aloud statements of those who responded. I also represented the media perspective throughout the discussion. The panel included Dr. Teri Bengevino, a history professor, Cynthia Ross, a psychologist, Nick Delatorre, an Iraq war veteran, and my friend Will Thompson, who armed with his laptop found online answers to tough questions in real time.
This video features comments of faculty and students who came to the event:
Iraq for Sale - Screening Review from Jason Barr on Vimeo.
The event turned out so well we decided to do it again - this time we would use microphones for the panel experts to better capture audio for the video recording.
Having served in the U.S. Army Reserves after high school I feel a particular sense of duty toward our soldiers and veterans, which perhaps explains why these events were so important to me. I invested quite a bit of effort putting it all together, from contacting the filmmakers for promotional material, to securing the facilities and refreshments, to participating in an expert panel discussion immediately following the screenings.
For Iraq for Sale I invited participation of several companies mentioned in the film (Blackwater, Bechtel, CACI, etc.) and I read aloud statements of those who responded. I also represented the media perspective throughout the discussion. The panel included Dr. Teri Bengevino, a history professor, Cynthia Ross, a psychologist, Nick Delatorre, an Iraq war veteran, and my friend Will Thompson, who armed with his laptop found online answers to tough questions in real time.
This video features comments of faculty and students who came to the event:
Iraq for Sale - Screening Review from Jason Barr on Vimeo.
The event turned out so well we decided to do it again - this time we would use microphones for the panel experts to better capture audio for the video recording.
We held the When I Came Home screening on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the Iraq War, and the discussion panel included Denver Mills of the Concord Veterans Administration, Political Science professor Paul Torres, Todd Stephan, a Veterans Education Benefits Specialist on campus, student and Army veteran Sarah Katz, and Dale Gunder, a homeless Vietnam veteran.
To see clips of the panel discussions, please CLICK HERE.
Many thanks to Melissa Korber, the director of the Las Positas College Mass Communications department, and to all the students of the Journalism Club.
To see clips of the panel discussions, please CLICK HERE.
Many thanks to Melissa Korber, the director of the Las Positas College Mass Communications department, and to all the students of the Journalism Club.
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