What is moral injury?
Filmmakers Michael Collins & Marty Syjuco on the difference between moral injury and PTSD.
Why did these two Iraq War veterans walk across the country?
Almost Sunrise filmmakers on the link between walking cross-country and healing from war.
What Is Moral Injury?
This clip begins with a definition of moral injury as a "wound to the soul, caused by participation in events that violate one’s deeply held sense of right and wrong."
Just War and Its Relationship with Moral Injury
Tom, Anthony, and their friend Emmett describe their perspectives on the purpose of the Iraq war, and how the government's changing story about it influenced their perception of the actions they took there on their country's behalf.
Treating Moral Injury
Tom attended a "Power Breath" training, where meditation and deep breathing made space for deep reflection.
Diagnosing Moral Injury
Tom and Anthony meet a policeman who shares that police officers have suicide rates similar to vets, and how he has learned to cope with his emotions.
Wolf Walker
Tom and Anthony meet Wolf Walker, a member of a Native American tribe they visit on their journey across the country.
Cameraperson: It's in Public
Cinematographer Johnson is shooting b-roll footage of Sarajevo, Bosnia, including the backs of two young men looking out over the city (but we never see their faces) and footage of a group of people walking by a cemetery.
Cameraperson - Trailer
A boxing match in Brooklyn; life in postwar Bosnia; the daily routine of a Nigerian midwife; an intimate family moment at home: these scenes and others are woven into a tapestry of footage captured over the twenty-five-year career of cinematographer Kirsten Johnson.
Kirsten Johnson on the importance of questioning images
In an age of media saturation, filmmaker Kirsten Johnson encourages us to question images.
Kirsten Johnson on the ethics of documentary filmmaking
Filmmaker Kirsten Johnson explores responsibility and power dynamics in documentary film.
Cameraperson: What's the power of the camera?
Kirsten Johnson discusses how the presence of a camera changes both people and moments.
What are the challenges of being a documentary filmmaker?
Filmmaker Kirsten Johnson explores what it means to document someone else's pain.
Classroom Clip: Lost Children
This clip starts at 19:34 min. with Kang Gye-Yeol bathing her husband and ends at 23:58 min. with a view of the river.
Cameraperson: Government Control
Johnson's driver informs her that journalists need a permit to shoot video of the prison – a permit they don't have. So they plan to say they are making an movie for entertainment, which doesn't need a permit. But their subterfuge raises the suspicion of soldiers and we're left to wonder if the driver is arrested.
Cameraperson: Preserving Dignity
Syrian dissident, Charif Kiwan, speaks to a university audience about the ethics of showing the violated, dead bodies of the victims of war or atrocities. When he asserts that showing graphic images is just about making money, a student challenges him with an example where a powerful image of a dead child turned the tide of public sentiment.
Cameraperson: Ask the Family
Prosecuting attorney, Guy James Gray, describes evidence he prepared in the James Byrd case. Byrd, a Black man in Jasper, TX, was chained to a pick-up truck and dragged to death by two white men. To avoid showing graphic photos in open court, Gray's team prepared a book of photos for the jury. In the clip, Gray describes some of the book's content.
Cameraperson: Competence Required?
Johnson is shooting footage of her mother, who is identified as being in early stages of Alzheimer's. When Johnson asks her mother if it's okay to film, her mother seems lost in another reality and never actually gives an answer. If this was a courtroom, her mother would likely be judged not competent enough to stand trial.
Classroom Clip: Afterlife
This clip starts with Kang collecting clothes and ends with Kang looking at the fire.
Classroom Clip: Stay Strong
This clip starts at 46:25 min. with a view of snowy fields and ends at 50:50 min. with Kang saying, "Stay strong, even if it gets a bit cold."
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