Body of War

New Zealand Premiere

This is a deeply moving, ultimately heart-wrenching story of Tomas Young, a 25 year old war veteran. Raised in Kansas City, Young enlisted two days after the September 11 attack, hoping for a deployment to Afghanistan to fight those who attacked his country. Instead, he was sent to Iraq where within a week of arrival, he was shot and paralyzed.

In this coming home story, we follow Young’s arduous rehab, physical setbacks, his marriage and his political activism as a member of the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). Bright, articulate, and passionate, learning to cope with his disability meant finding his voice to speak out against the Iraq war. To his considerable credit, Young lays his life open. Young possesses more courage and resilience than most. Every day was (and is) a constant physical and emotional struggle.

Talk-show host Phil Donahue met Young and felt compelled to tell his story in this directorial debut. Co-director and cinematographer Ellen Spiro’s camera work delivers an incredible intimacy and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam wrote and performed two powerful songs written for the film.

Woven throughout the narrative are excerpts from the October 2002 United States Senate debate, in which the majority voted to hand over Congress’s war-making powers to the White House. The juxtaposition between their rhetoric and Young’s reality is profound.

Regardless of your political leaning, Body of War is a stark reminder of the human cost of war and reveals plenty about overcoming adversity.