Reality of War Tour: Alive in Baghdad

A Speaker Series titled REALITY OF WAR TOUR : truth and resistance from the front lines begins this Thursday, Jan. 19, 7 pm at the First Universalist Church, 150 N. Clinton Ave. with "ALIVE IN BAGHDAD" founder, filmmaker and journalist Brian Conley screening images and discussing his current work.

The REALITY OF WAR TOUR is a series of events by nationally prominent speakers sharing their first-hand experience and analysis of the US war and occupation in Iraq. Our purpose is to share with the Rochester community the rarely-heard truth from the front lines, stated in the words of ordinary Baghdad citizens, unembedded journalists, acitivist veterans, and war resisters.

The
Photograph above is a close up on eye of man tortured by Iraqi police. Torture
is still continuing in Iraq,
despite ongoing investigations and being outlawed in the new constitution.

LIVE IN BAGHDAD was formed to make the US more aware
of the Iraqi experience, to encourage questions about the similarity of life
between Americans and Iraqis, to depict the strength of resolve it takes to
support one's family against all odds under occupation, and to give a voice to
the voiceless. Operating under a Creative Commons License, the project's media
work is free for distribution and editing, so that others around the world may
use it to tell the Iraqis' stories.

Brian Conley is the founder of the Alive in Baghdad Project. During his first trip to
Iraq, the Alive in Baghdad
Project focused on interviewing Iraqis living in and outside Baghdad.

Previous to
his trip to Iraq, he
contributed to or produced seven films, traveled the United
States, worked internationally in Quebec
City and Guatemala,
and has been shooting video for seven years.

Through his
work with Indymedia he has contributed to several films with international
reach, most notably two films about the FTAA, Trading Freedom and more recently
The Miami Model. However it is his independent work with the Coalition of
Immokalee Workers, the Miami Workers, and other organizations of Communities of
Color that most define his dedication to the documentary trade. By providing a
space for the voiceless, one works for a stronger dialogue and thus a stronger
presence of freedom and democracy in the world.

His most
recent film to be completed is Libertad y Justicia, para Todos: un centavo mas,
about the struggles of migrant workers in south Florida. It is the filmmaker’s hope to
return to Iraq in order to
continue to expand on his body of work from Iraq. As the situation in Iraq continues to evolve, he hopes to continuing
covering Iraq
and providing an in-depth look at the perspective of the occupied.

Visit www.AliveInBaghdad.org

Future events in this series include speakers from Bring Them Home Now, Canada's War
Resisters Support Campaign, and Campus Antiwar Network's War Resisters Speaking
Tour.

Sponsored by: Citizens for United Earth, Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace, Pax
Christi Rochester, International Socialist Organization, Peace Action and
Education Task Force of Metro Justice, Rochester Against War

Contact Rochester Against War at : March12rawc@yahoo.com or call 256-3458

www.RochesterAgainstWar.org