GI Jesus Electronic Press Kit

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The Company News Productions Store Contact The Company News Productions Store Contact Copyright 2006 Cineville "G. I. Jesus" A Film by Carl Colpaert Premiering in CineVegas, Sunday June 11th, 6pm Afterparty at the Palms, Crib Suite, 9pm Starring Joe Arquette Mark Cameron Wystrach Patricia Mota Maurizio Farhad Telana Lynum Synopsis A Mexican national, Jesus Feliciano, returning to California from Iraq where he had soldiered in exchange for grant of US citizenship, suffers trauma related to his battle experience and imagines his family life threatened. Written and Directed by Carl Colpaert Executive Producers Steven Earles Matthew Devlen Gregory Scherick Production Design Shirley Leong Director of Photography Fred Goodich Produced by Lee Caplin Co-Producers Kim Dillinger Davis Gina Carollo Kimberly Green Edward Oleschak Original Designs Ash Rana

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G.I. Jesus (3.5 stars) Director: Carl Colpaert. Stars: Joe Arquette, Patricia Mota, Maurizio Farhad. G.I. Jesus is what a movie at a film festival should be—creative, original and challenging.It's the story of Jesus Feliciano (Joe Arquette), a Mexican who enlisted in the U.S. Army and has served in Iraq as a means of obtaining legal citizenship in the United States for himself, his wife (Patricia Mota), and his daughter (Telana Lynum). When he returns to California from the war, Jesus is haunted by post-traumatic stress, which forces him to face his past and future. A movie like G.I. Jesus runs the danger of slipping into broad, easy proselytizing. It could lose its way, but it doesn't. Some of Jesus's hallucinations have more clutter than clarity, and on occasion the film seems on the verge of faltering, but director/cowriter Carl Colpaert knows where he is going. At times Jesus is wracked by uncertainty; Colpaert is not. Colpaert has a deft human touch. He is an able filmmaker who knows what film can do, how it can mix time and space. He has some jolting montages; mixing in actual war footage gives authenticity to fantasy. His cast serves him well. Arquette is vulnerable and convincing as the disturbed soldier, the Mexican Everyman. Mota is first-rate as the loving and fearful wife. Maurizio Farhad humanizes the otherworldly spirit, Mohammed. And Lynum steals scenes as the young daughter, Marina, who is the voice of sweet reason. Little Miss Lynum is a charmer. There are some scenes that don't work. The argument between Jesus and Claudia in the car is pat and toneless. Some of the symbols are a little forced—a game of musical chairs that may be a metaphor for countries is unconvincing. But the conclusion—Jesus's moment of truth, his decision and its relevance—is stirring. That emphasizes the quality that is the greatest strength of G.I. Jesus—its heart. Tony Macklin

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G.I. Jesus A Cineville presentation of a Picture Entertainment production. Produced by Lee Caplin. Executive producers, Steven Earles, Matthew Devlen, Gregory Scherick. Co-producers, Kim Dillinger Davis, Gina Carollo, Edward Oleschak. Directed by Carl Colpaert. Written by Colpaert, Deborah Setele, Deon Wilks.  With: Joe Arquette, Patricia Mota, Mark Wystrach, Maurizio Farhad, Telana Lynum. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By JUSTIN CHANG ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The exploitation of immigrant soldiers in the U.S. military and the personal and psychological costs of the Iraq war are only a few of the targets under attack in "G.I. Jesus," an ambitious, topical satire that takes a harrowing and humorous look at a Mexican national's brief furlough from the frontlines. This unruly hodgepodge of actual combat footage and "Manchurian Candidate"-style surrealism is a bold, often clumsy, but always intriguing piece of work. Having enlisted in the Marines in exchange for U.S. citizenship, handsome, hotheaded young Cpl. Jesus Feliciano (Joe Arquette) returns home from Iraq to his wife Claudia (Patricia Mota) and daughter (Telana Lynum), who live in a trailer in the hills above Los Angeles. In the month or so before his inevitable redeployment, Jesus begins to experience telltale signs of postwar trauma -- a series of dreams, hallucinations and bouts of paranoia in which helmer Carl Colpaert (who wrote the screenplay with Deborah Setele and Deon Wilks) gets in his far-from-subtle digs at the American military. Jesus is visited by a mysterious Iraqi (Maurizio Farhad) only he can see, and the visitor's belligerent attacks on the armed forces and their indiscriminate killing overseas -- which echo the similar discussions in David O. Russell's "Three Kings" -- leave Jesus racked with guilt. Considerable time is spent on an absurdist dream sequence that suggests a covert military-CIA conspiracy, interrupted by surreal, playful distractions, such as a game of musical chairs. Colpaert also takes appropriate -- if obvious -- aim at the military's recruitment of children and glorification of war, and even manages to knock President Bush and Donald Rumsfeld without uttering a word against them. With its deliberately flat, stilted acting, this somewhat overextended sequence finds the pic at its most baldly and bluntly satirical. Fred Goodrich's crisp digital lensing, which gives the film a docu-style look (enhanced by brief but effective incorporation of actual combat footage from Iraq), lends a hyperreal quality, suggesting a perilously thin line between the truth and one's worst nightmares. Barely coherent and structurally all over the map, "G.I. Jesus" nevertheless stays afloat with admirable energy and audacity, and its empathy with those impoverished immigrants who voluntarily fight for their citizenship gives it a sobering undertow. Story's concerns shift in the second half to the more personal toll of the war on Jesus' family. Tech package is rough, in keeping with the pic's aesthetic. "California Dreamin' " is used repeatedly on the soundtrack, to alternately ironic and wistful effect.   Camera (color, HD), Fred Goodrich; editors, Wayne Kennedy, Nick Nehez; music, Carlos Durango; production designer, Shirley Leong; art director, Michael Muldoon; sound, Steve Blazewick; supervising sound editor/mixer, David Bartlett; line producers, Matthew Mishory, Benjamin Doran; casting, Sunday Boling, Meg Morman. Reviewed at CineVegas Film Festival, Las Vegas, June 11, 2006. Running time: 90 MIN.

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Coming Home Carl Colpaert's G.I. Jesus is the first truly exceptional Cinevegas film I've seen so far. Compared to the pickings over the last two days, this psychological domestic drama almost feels miraculous. The reception may be more muted out in the real world...who knows? But it's certainly good enough to play at the Telluride or Toronto Film Festivals, and with some minor refinements it could even end up being distributed. (l. to r.) G.I. Jesus costar Joe Arquette, director-writer Carl Colpaert, costars Telana Lynum and Patricia Mota following Sunday night's screening -- 8:05 pm. This is a partly real, partly hallucinatory homecoming story that feels connected to a guilt current that seems to be popping up left and right these days among Iraqi War veterans. At times G.I. Jesus plays like a kind of Coming Home for the 20-something veterans of that conflict. You know the drill: war veteran comes home, feels alienated and haunted, doesn't relate, picks up evidence of marital infidelity, freaks out. But G.I. Jesus is trippier and more complex than that. 1/ 4

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G.I. Jesus doesn't unfold from a perspective of a conservative career officer like Bruce Dern's Cpt. Bob Hyde, the Coming Home character who was heavily invested in the rightness of U.S. handling of the Vietnam War. It stems, rather, from the head of an obviously intelligent young Mexican-American Marine Corporal named Jesus Feliciano (Joe Arquette) who's haunted by his actions during his time in Iraq. G.I. Jesus is basically about ghosts from that conflict hovering around Jesus, and a growing feeling of betrayal and apartness between himself and his "Dominican princess" wife Claudia (Patricia Mota), whose materialistic ambitions seem, from his perspective, to be creating a gulf between them. The signatures at work here are "honest," "unforced," "thoughtful." G.I. Jesus has been shot on live video stock (so that it would blend with some real Iraqi war tapes provided by the BBC), which I found exciting, and it's been extremely well cut by Wayne Kennedy and Nick Nehez, and nicely scored by Carlos Durango. But there's a dreamscape element running through the film (as it's largely happening in Jesus's head), and because of a decision by director-writer Colpaert to jettison a certain narrative line at the two-thirds mark, the ending, for me, doesn't quite bring it all home. I'm always a little bit thrown by movies that inject fantasy into a reality that's been carefully constructed. Maybe there's more to it than I realized and I need to see it again. 2/ 4

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The key thing, it seems, is that Jesus's Iraq memories haven't been erased at the finale (far from it) and the hauntings continue. I'm not entirely sure if all the story strands have been fully dealt with by the finish, but it's at least a debatable call, and there's no dismissing the things in G.I. Jesus that succeed. The film is an unquestioned triumph in the matter of Arquette (a very young Latino who's costarring in Andrew Davis's forthcoming The Guardian) and Mota's performances. I believed every word and gesture from these two; everything they say and feel seems genuine. Probably because the investment seems so complete. Jesus and Claudia have a young daughter, Marina (played by a 9 year-old firecracker named Telana Lynum), a home in a trailer park, and a texture to their characters -- sexual attraction, emotional ties, credible backstory. G.I. Jesus is certainly probing and complex, and the politics behind it are obviously of a leftist humanitarian bent. There's a shot at one point of a painting meant to evoke the glories of the Bush policy in Iraq. I, for one, found it extremely spooky. The program notes call G.I. Jesus "an ethereal journey of one man's struggle...to let go of the pain and agony suffered in combat in order to get on with his life." That's not bad, but check out the trailer on the Cineville site for a better taste of it. Colpaert is the founder of Cineville, and has executive produced several above-average films, including Swimming with Sharks, The Whole Wide World, Hurlyburly, One-Eyed King and The Velocity of Gary. Born in Europe (Belgium, I think) and an American Film Institute grad, Colpaert began as an editor working for legendary producer Roger Corman. 3/ 4

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G.I. Jesus costar Joe Arquette. (The only decent shot I could find of the equally dynamic Patricia Mota is on the IMDB, and they don't allow you to copy and paste.) I've never heard of anything Colpaert has directed before this, but now that I'm stoked I'd like to see The Affair, which he directed and released in '04. I mentioned "minor refinements" at the beginning of this piece. Just cosmetic stuff, mainly. There's a white Fu Manchu moustache worn in the film by a uniformed American Colonel that I didn't believe for a second. (Conservative Oliver North types wear only Clark Gable-type moustaches.) Another wrinkle is a young Marine recruitment officer whose hair is too long in the back. Maybe these style choices can be rectified digitally. I took some pictures of the cast and crew at the Brenden Theatre #5 last night, and I was going to hit the after-party. But I made the mistake of going back to the room to start writing this and took a break on the bed for a second. That was it...out like a light. 4/ 4

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May 9, 2006 For Immediate Release: 8th ANNUAL CINEVEGAS ANNOUNCES FESTIVAL WINNERS G.I. Jesus Receives Grand Jury Prize; Park Receives Audience Award; 5 Up 2 Down Receives Special Award for Cinematography; The Favor and The 4th Dimension Receive Honorable Mentions Las Vegas, NV (June 17, 2006) - Proving its motto as "The World's Most Dangerous Film Festival," the 2006 CineVegas Film Festival spotlighted sex, adultery, drugs and dangerous social circles during its run at the Palms Casino Resort and Brenden Theatres from June 9-17, 2006. In addition to screening 59 films and several shorts, the fest honored several entertainment icons (Helen Mirren, Taylor Hackford, Laurence Fishburne, Christina Ricci and Sylvester Stallone), screened a dozen highly anticipated world and U.S. premieres, and showcased homegrown Nevada fare. Commenting on the Festival's success, President Robin Greenspun said, "This year's Festival has seen both a rise in attendance and enthusiasm. Not only has the acceptance increased in the local community, but nationally as demonstrated by a remarkable line-up of honorees and the national media attention garnered." Festival Director of Programming Trevor Groth said, "We are extremely excited about the response to this year's films, especially the world premieres which generated an incredible response from audiences and film industry attendees. Our Festival award winners also resonated artistically and inspired insightful dialogue amongst festival goers." AWARDS This year's jury was presided by acclaimed film director Mark Pellington and noted film critics Jean Oppenheimer and FX Feeney. The Grand Jury Award went to the film G.I. Jesus, directed by Carl Colapert and starring Joe Arquette, Patricia Mota, Maurizio Farhad, Mark Cameron, Telana Lynum. The film recounts the story of a Mexican national, Jesus Feliciano, returning to California from Iraq where he had soldiered in exchange for grant of US citizenship, who suffers trauma related to his battle experience and imagines his family life threatened. The jury presented honorable mentions to the films The Favor directed and written by Eva Aridjis and The 4th Dimension written and directed by Tom Mattera and Dave Mazzoni. (continue to next page) CineVegas Closing Release Page 1 of 2

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Park received The Audience Award. Directed and written by Kurt Voelker, the film orchestrates a tempest of change in the lives of a group of Los Angelenos on a seemingly quiet and sunny day in a secluded park. The film stars Billy Baldwin, Ricki Lake and Cheri Oteri. The Special Award for Cinematography went to 5 Up 2 Down. Directed by Steven Kessler, 5 Up 2 Down is a film about the eternity of the human spirit, set in the clubs, galleries and lofts of New York City as seen through the eyes of two close friends, Hunter and Santo. Struggling with drug addiction and running from reality, the two friends embark on a five-day drug binge and embrace a spiritual journey started 140 years earlier. The title 5 Up 2 Down refers to the week in which the film takes place. Hunter, a painter, and Santo stay up partying for five days and then collapse two days just before Hunter's first one-man gallery show. During this binge Santo is overwhelmed by visions of a past life that he can't shake. Unable to tell whether it's the drugs or something more, Santo continues along his self-destructive path with Hunter at his side. Before long, time catches up with Santo and Hunter and their own actions, in this life and in another, will soon determine their destiny. The Shorts Jury selected the following exceptional shorts for recognition: Holidays with Heather, Voicemail, Transaction, One Rat Short, Bugcrush, The Pretty Boy Project, and K-7 (winner). Jury members included Jason Feinberg, FOX 5; David Schmoeller, Assistant Professor of Film at UNLV; and Teller from Penn & Teller. Since its inception in 1998, the CineVegas has established itself as one of the hottest and fastest growing film festivals in the world, being mentioned in a TIME Magazine cover story as well as listed as one of the top 5 small fests to visit by Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper. The 8th annual festival will be held June 9-17, 2006 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas highlighting the most exciting offerings from up and coming filmmakers and visionary veterans. CineVegas combines the glamour and energy of world premiere films and the intensity of in-depth celebrity tributes. Among its milestones, CineVegas has hosted the world premieres of such films as George A. Romero's Land of the Dead, The Devil's Rejects, Spun, The Talent Given Us and Bubba Ho-tep, as well as screenings of other great films such as Napoleon Dynamite, Riding Giants, The Aristocrats, Me, You and Everyone We Know and Gus Van Sant's Last Days. Robin Greenspun serves as the festival's President and Dennis Hopper serves as the Chairman of the Creative Advisory Board, which has honored such film greats as Jack Nicholson, Nicolas Cage, Ann-Margaret, Sean Penn, Dustin Hoffman, Holly Hunter, Christopher Walken and David Lynch. For more information please call (702) 992-7979 or visit www.cinevegas.com <http://www.cinevegas.com/> . 8th ANNUAL CINEVEGAS ANNOUNCES FESTIVAL WINNERS Continued… CineVegas Closing Release Page 2 of 2

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 Jury, made up of critics F.X. Feeney and Jean Oppenheimer and director Mark PellingtonMark Pellington, spread the wealth around with honorable mentions to Tom Mattera and Dave Mazzoni's hypnoticHypnotic psychological puzzle "The 4th Dimension" and Eva Aridjis' drama "The Favor," about a single man's misfortunes with his newly adopted son. A special cinematography prize was given to lenser Till N. Neumann for his work on Gotham druggie-art world pic "5 Up 2 Down." Festgoers went against the drama-heavy trend of prizewinners, giving the aud award to Kurt Voelker's ensemble comedy "Park," set in the Los Angeles hills. Screenings, held at a multiplexmultiplex inside the hipster Palms Hotel, were typically packed, with several SROSRO. Final attendance figures were not available Sunday. Besides being the only fest of its kind held adjacent to a casino, 8-year-old event is notable for programming (headed by Sundance programmer Trevor Groth) with a taste for experimental and unconventional cinema. This was potently demonstrated with world preems of John Maringouin's disturbing "Running Stumbled" and local preems of Randy Walker and Jennifer Shainin's stunning debut "Apart From That"; Jim Finn's fascinating curio "Interkosmos"; visually gorgeous Sundance carryover "Wild Tigers I Have Known" (which filmmaker Cam Archer has reworked since its Park City debut); Abel Ferrara's widely heralded "Mary"; and Jan Svankmajer's blend of Poe and Sade, "Lunacy." Honorees, lauded for career or work to date (puckishly dubbed "half-life") included thesps Helen Mirren, Laurence FishburneLaurence Fishburne, Christina RicciChristina Ricci, helmer Taylor HackfordTaylor Hackford and Sylvester StalloneSylvester Stallone, celebrating 30th anni of "Rocky." Carl Colpaert's 'G.I. Jesus' won the grand jury prize at the eighth annual CineVegas fest.See winners  Posted: Sun., Jun. 18, 2006, 1:56pm PT   Jury taps Iraq drama 'Jesus' CineVegas aud praises 'Park'   By ROBERT KOEHLER ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Folding its annual hand at the festival gaming table on Saturday with Stateside preempreem of Steve Coogan starrer "Lies and Alibis," CineVegas announced jury and audaud award winners that reflected the nine-day event's focus on new and offbeat Yank premieres. "G.I. Jesus," vet Belgian-born helmer Carl Colpaert's drama about the traumas endured by a soldier returning from the Iraq war, nabbed the grand jury prize.

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 Posted: Sun., Jun. 18, 2006, 1:56pm PT   Jury taps Iraq drama 'Jesus' CineVegas aud praises 'Park'   By ROBERT KOEHLER ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Continued.. And the winners are... GRAND JURY PRIZE "G.I. Jesus" -- directed by Carl Colpaert (U.S.) HONORABLE MENTION "The 4th Dimension" -- Tom Mattera/Dave Mazzoni (U.S.) "The Favor" (Eva Aridjis, U.S.-Mexico) SPECIAL AWARD CINEMATOGRAPHY Till N. Neumann -- "5 Up 2 Down" AUDIENCE AWARD "Park" (Kurt Voelker, U.S.) SHORT FILM JURY AWARDS BEST FILM "K-7" -- Christopher Leone (U.S.) SPECIAL RECOGNITION "Bugcrush" -- Carter Smith (U.S.) "Holidays with Heather" -- Todd BergerTodd Berger (U.S.) "One Rat Short" -- Alex Weil (U.S.) "Pretty Boy Project" -- Karl Reid (U.S.) "Transaction" -- (Jacques Thelemaque (U.S.) "Voicemail" -- Michael Wilde (U.S.)   Date in print: Mon., Jun. 19, 2006, Los Angeles

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GRAND JURY AWARD WINNER - 2006 CINEVEGAS G. I. JESUS REVIEW GRAND JURY AWARD WINNER - 2006 CINEVEGAS “G.I. JESUS” (2006) Starring: Joe Arquette, Patrícia Mota, Maurizio Farhad & Telana Lynum Written & Directed by Carl Colpaert Cineville Polly Staffle Rating: **** “The skillful employer of men will employ the wise man, the brave man, the covetous man, and the stupid man. For the wise man delights in establishing his merit, the brave man likes to show his courage in action, the covetous man is quick at seizing advantages, and the stupid man has no fear of death.” – Sun Tzu, The Art of War “I know of no more disagreeable situation than to be left feeling generally angry without anybody in particular to be angry at.” - Frank Moore Colby, educator/writer When a movie has the ability to make you feel something, it’s doing its job. When the ending credits roll, it doesn’t matter if the film was flawed; if it made you laugh, cry, or scream, or gave you an adrenaline rush then it’s an entertaining work to behold. All good films do these things. But great films go even further than moving us. They give us something to think about. They make us question our beliefs and morals. They expose us to things we might not have known about or never cared to think about. The ultimate power is for the film to make an impact and actually change your perspective on something. That’s what Carl Colpaert’s “G.I. Jesus” did for me. It’s not the best made film screened at CineVegas this year, but it’s definitely the most important. Before watching this film, I had absolutely no respect or sympathy for any of the men and women of our military involved in the Middle East. “Support the troops” is what we’ve been told. It was something I could never get behind. Many Americans have and still do. They display yellow ribbons and flags on their cars. But the way I looked at it was these men and women signed up for it. “They chose to be there,” I thought. “This isn’t Vietnam with a draft and very little information about what is going on in the world. Anyone that joined the military is obviously a loose cannon that has the urge to commit murder.” Now before you write me off as an anti-American, let me explain. From the moment September 11 happened I knew only bad was going to come of it. People were so badly wanting an enemy. They wanted someone to blame. The government and the media sold them on an ever present optical illusion. This was going to be a “war on terrorism” they told us. A picture of good vs. evil was painted. For the record I never bought into it. But many did. When the mass-murdering that we call “war” began I took it pretty hard. It made me embarrassed to be an American. I felt sympathy for the families of Afghanistan and Iraq. It ate at me. As I kept up with the events daily through Anti-War.com. I saw images of children and women, some dead, some barely alive and others who probably wish they were no longer living. The number of deaths shot up way past the number that died in the World Trade Center tragedy. Less than 3,000 died that day. Since then 4,000-8,000 civilians have died in Afghanistan and it has been estimated as many as 100,000 civilians have died in Iraq. These images and statistics were not aired on the nightly news. Regardless, how could I support anyone who participated in such devastation? Of course, that was assuming everyone involved had the same knowledge and understanding of the situation as me. But they don’t. Most went in believing they were doing the right thing just like the soldiers of the Vietnam war. After watching “G.I. Jesus” I now fully understand that. This deeply touching film explores the effects of what soldier Jesus Feliciano saw and did in Iraq. A Mexican national, Jesus joined the army to get his United States citizenship. He felt becoming an American would better himself and his family. This was his chance. The U.S. military told him this was the right thing, so he went and he fought. Jesus is now returning to his home in California. He is a wounded man. He isn’t physically hurt, but he is mentally and emotionally. He is confused, depressed and fearful. He feels guilt and is plagued with anxiety. He has to work through his emotions and finds himself wondering if taking the lives of others is worth becoming a legal American. Page 1 of 2

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GRAND JURY AWARD WINNER - 2006 CINEVEGAS G. I. JESUS REVIEW Shot on HD with actual war footage cut into the movie, “G.I. Jesus” offers a surreal look at the psyche of soldiers caught in the system trying to better themselves and their families, but shameful of what they’ve seen, done and have become in the process. Newcomer Joe Arquette plays the lead Jesus and is absolutely amazing. In fact, he and the core cast are brilliant together with more chemistry than the actors of most films. As Jesus gets back to his family, he can not put the war behind him. He sees visions. He has flashbacks. He has nightmares. Worst of all, he doesn’t trust anyone, including his wife Claudia whom he so dearly loves. He refers to her as his Dominican Princess and has a huge image of her on the hood of his car. Played by Patrícia Mota, who reminded me of Asia Argento, Claudia is sexy, but strong. They have an adorable daughter Marina, played here by Tempe, Arizona’s Telana Lynum. Mota, Arquette and Lynum are so believable in their roles you could swear at times you are watching a hidden camera of a real family that cared for each other. Claudia and Jesus share a number of sweet moments as a couple and as a family with Marina. But Jesus and Claudia also send each other into fits of rage when they discuss the possibility of Jesus having to go back to fight. He doesn’t want to, but he may not have a choice. His hope is he can become a recruiter, but getting people to sign up to do the same thing he has doesn’t sit well with him either. Rounding out the cast was Maurizio Farhad, who essentially plays a hallucination of Jesus. Farhad, who said he sees the film as a soldier’s battle with himself, is good as Mohammed. He represents the evil Jesus committed in Iraq. He can be seen as an actual person Jesus killed there or more of a composite of the many lives taken by American soldiers. Mohammed had a family much like Jesus with a small daughter, who was also killed. Since he doesn’t know Jesus’ name he calls him Joe as in G.I. Joe, which I initially did not catch and had to have it explained. I thought the actor Farhad was accidentally calling Jesus by his real name. Evidentially there was a scene explaining this, but it did not make the final cut. I also didn’t catch the symbolic Biblical reference of Jesus vs. Mohammed either, but now see the beauty of it as well. “G.I. Jesus” was written and directed by Colpaert, who was born in Belgium. I always find it odd when people from other countries understand issues surrounding the United States better than those of us that were born and raised here. But if you stop for a moment and think about it, who better to understand a situation than someone who is looking in as an outsider. I recently called “Dear Wendy,” which was written and directed by Danish filmmakers, the most American film I had seen in a long time. I still stick by that, but this one gives it a run for its money. There are so many good issues touched on here from the molding of children into killing machines with propaganda, to the manipulation of the soldiers, to the money game doctors and insurance play, to immigration, to war, to the damage we do as a country to ourselves and just about ever other country out there. We sell patriotism to our youth like Ronald McDonald sells them Happy Meals. Since post-traumatic stress disorder is incurable, do you think doctors and insurance companies mind? It’s an easy diagnosis and they offer a quick solution in medication that will help for as long as you shell out the money for it. We want to close off the borders and stop letting people come here when our country was founded on immigration. At the same time, we feel we have the right to invade other countries and tell them what to do. Does this make any sense to anyone? It’s essentially exploitation to the worst degree. It’s modern day slavery. “We don’t want you here Jesus, but if you go over there and kill for us, you can live here. And then when your child isn’t even of drinking age, hand them over to us, so we can ship them off to commit murder too.” No, Jesus, that’s not what I want and there are many more of us that actually care as well. I’m glad I saw this film. I hope many get to see it and it doesn’t just disappear. I also hope a fully Spanish version or at least one with subtitles is released in Mexico and available in the United States as well. The young men like Jesus are who really need to see this. But I think everyone can take something away from it. It isn’t nowhere near perfect, but it is such an extremely important film I’ve decided not to discuss any of the flaws I felt the film had. The good of this movie so heavily outweighs the bad, which were mostly because of budget restrictions anyway. The longer this film sits with me the more I actually like it. Thanks to Colpaert, I now realize I have no choice but to support our troops. Make that any troops on both sides of this nonsense. It’s not that I will support what they do or condone anything they may have partook in. My support is that somehow they are able to do the right thing no matter their situation. My support is also for them in hopes they return safely to their families, who also have my support. I also hope somehow, someway we are all able to put the pieces back together when they all get home. Page 2 of 2

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Day 7 Interview With Carl Colpaert and Patricia Mota I actually didn't go to CineVegas on day seven, but decided to catch up on a few things. I wanted to write a more detailed "G.I. Jesus” review and wanted to post up the Q&A I had with the film's director and one of its stars. Before I get to that, I wanted to share the email I got from Maurizio Farhad. LETTER TO THE EDITOR Chad, Hey man, thank you for the kind words in your review of our little G.I. film. I really appreciated it. The pix are great as well. I wish they had turned the lights on for us. LOL. But we're not even "D" list stars yet. Haha! Hey, I noticed you mentioned in your review that I called Jesus by his real name throughout the movie. Well, it's true I called him Joe, but it was actually scripted that way. See my character believes all soldiers are from American pop culture so he refers to him as G.I. JOE. It's just ironic that the actor they chose to play Jesus is also named Joe. In the original cut we had scenes in to explain that fact I mentioned but the final cut leaves it unclear. You obviously have a keen ear and you asked great questions at the Q and A as well. Well I hope I cleared it up and thanks again Chad. Maurizio Farhad (Mohammed of G.I. Jesus) CCF Q&A WITH C&P I shared this email for several reasons. One, I have no problem with fixing a screw up, a mistake or a misunderstanding that I post on the site. My initial short review and all it's "idiotacracy" will remain the same, but my expanded review here, hopefully makes up for it. The other reason I posted his email is I don't usually hear such kind words from any actors and Maurizio made my day. Thanks Maurizio! You could have emailed me and been all, "Hey idiot! Weren't you paying attention?" By the way, "A" list, "B" list, "D" list, "F" list, "Z” list, whatever. I try to treat everyone with the same respect. The Q&A he's referring to was after the film. I will not be posting it up, but here is one I did with Carl Colpaert and Patrícia Mota. They just so happen to be walking around Wednesday in the CV HQ at the same time I was so I grabbed them for a sit down. Here is how that went: CCF: First off, I'd like to talk casting a little bit. I thought you had a fantastic cast. The key players were amazing. Where did you get everybody from and how did the whole process go? CC: I started with Patrícia. I met her first. She flew in for an HBO engagement. I really liked her spontaneity and her energy. Then we casted the male lead and it was the hardest. It took forever to find a guy who could pull it off. He need to have strength and seem like he would be a G.I. and he had to be sympathetic. He needed to be of Mexican decent and speak fluent Spanish. We casted in New York, Texas and Los Angeles. It took like two months or longer to find Joe Arquette. The little girl (Telana Lynum) was easy and the Iraqi soldier (Maurizio Farhad) we found right away. Once we found Joe everything seem to come a lot easier. Joe was the hardest. Page 1 of 4

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Day 7 Interview With Carl Colpaert and Patricia Mota CCF: I thought you, Joe and Telana were really great. Tell me a bit about working with them. PM: It was a fantastic combination. Carl gave me the opportunity of choosing between the five actors up for the part. He said, "Tell me which one you feel more comfortable with." And I said, "I feel more comfortable with Joe." He said, "Ok. Let's see how that works." And it really matched. With Telana, it was amazing because I have a seven year old-daughter and when we were doing the casting she jumped on me and she made me feel back like a mother. It was beautiful. It was such a great cast. CCF: Some of the real emotional scenes with Patrícia and Joe were really solid. Was that scripted, improvised or what exactly? CC: What we did was took a lot of takes. The good thing about HD is we didn't have to worry about burning footage. The core dialogue was scripted and then they made it their own and then they went off the page. I felt like it had a little John Cassavetes’ immediacy to what they were able to portray. Sometimes in a take they would go too far off the page and by having alternate takes we were able to make it a very natural pace. Sometimes in improv it can get tiresome. It's a balancing act. The natural talent those two have and how they understood each other early on was essential. CCF: I loved the angle you took with the Mexican joining the military for his citizenship. Can you talk about that a little? CC: There's such extreme poverty across the border that many times people make desperate choices. The military does offer structure, but for him to improve his lifestyle by killing a similar family to his that's what really screws him up emotionally and I think morally. I met a lot of guys like Jesus in San Diego. After talking to them, you know, after shooting little kids, that's not going to go away. These soldiers are pretty screwed up. Some of them, I don't think will recover from it. You can see that. A lot of them are Latinos doing it for their citizenship. PM: There's a lot of Latinos in general. I have a brother and he is 19 and there is no way I would let him go to Iraq. CC: Some wars are worth fighting for. I mean, world war 2. There are causes, but this one is a hard one to wrap your head around. CCF: This was something that was news to me. The whole offering citizenship for fighting in the war. PM: Yeah and you even have to come back to work here. You're not going to come back and have a house waiting for you. You're going to have nothing and you have to work. You still have to finish school and you have to work well as a cop, a fire fighter or whatever it is you have to do. You have to keep on and on and it's hard for them to handle it with all the psychological factors. Of course, that is the people who get to come back. The ones who die there I'm sure they stay there or maybe they come back in pieces. Or the ones who come back wounded with arms and legs missing or whatever, they come back and something as simple as surfing they can't do anymore. We are just trying to see if we can help get a message to the world with this movie. Why the whole Page 2 of 4

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Day 7 Interview With Carl Colpaert and Patricia Mota thing? We are for the people that go there and the people that are there taking the fight. We're not against nobody and we're not in favor of anybody. We just care about the people. The kids and the mothers and the families. CCF: Were there any particular Vietnam movies that influenced you at all? CC: I've seen them all. I love all 70's cinema. That whole era. The style is more influenced by (Luis) Buñuel. It's very surreal. The style is surrealism. That's what I love as an artist. I love "Apocalypse Now," but I wasn't directly influenced by it. This is a way more complex war. At least Vietnam was a country. With this war, it's like an American boxer being sent out not to fight another boxer, but instead he's fighting a bunch of mosquitoes. Eventually the boxer is going to fall because he's going to take too many bites. It's just an impossible war. There's no real enemy. It's not going to be an Iraqi conflict for much longer. I think it's going to be something else. It's a stressful state of mind, here and in Europe as well. The world is tense. CCF: The whole time when you came up with idea and were all, "I'm going to write this and direct it," were you ever worried about backlash? CC: Yeah. But I don't think the film is anti-American. I don't feel it's anti-U.S. It's just more of a personal journey through this military machine where the individual is doing their job and their job is to kill. If anything Stanley Kubrick would be an influence. Whenever he does a war movie, whether it's "Full Metal Jacket” or "Dr. Strangelove," you kill and that's your job. That's the question. Where does one sign up for that job? How do you motivate yourself for that job? To defend the country, I think I understand that, but this doesn't have anything to do with that. If there is backlash, I don't know where it will come from. CCF: I didn't get that it was anti-American at all. In fact, what I felt the night I saw it was it's one of the most American films I have seen. This country was founded on immigration yet we want to close the borders, but if you sign up to invade someone else's country then you are welcome. There's not a lot of sense to it. What I mean by it being so American is it's truth in dealing with the issues and it's understanding of where our country is and what we say we stand for, while things like this go on. CC: Yeah, we are here and we love it here and the system will change eventually. You know, the thing is in Western Europe the foreign policies are bad as well. The British, the French, the Belgiums, the Americans, we're all the same. We're all manipulative governments. CCF: I've always had the belief that the people involved in the war are there because that's what they signed up for. I never believed in supporting the troops because I don't support what they do. This movie has helped me see otherwise. I think if I thought that myself, I'm sure there are others as well. CC: Yeah, I lot of people are angry and upset. You know, Saddam Hussein was very harmless. He couldn't really do anything. They said, "Well, he was shooting at our planes." What's amazing is how the media almost convinced us all. It's an amazing system. Page 3 of 4

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Day 7 Interview With Carl Colpaert and Patricia Mota CCF: What is you hope audiences are able to take away from the movie? CC: I hope its humanistic and it's a message for peace. I hope they come away with less desire for us to be involved in other countries. That's all. CCF: Well, it's a great film and I hope everyone gets a chance to see it. Thanks for talking with me. CC: Thank you. PM: Thanks. Carl Colpaert's production company Cinneville currently has a sequel to the documentary "Hoop Dreams" in production. Colpaert is executive producer on "Hoop Realities," which picks up with Arthur Agee ten years later. - CCF, June 16 Page 4 of 4