US film "Blood of my Brother" shows Iraqi tragedy

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http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2006-05-04T210825Z_01_N03382693_RTRUKOC_0_UK-LEISURE-IRAQ.xml&archived=False

NEW YORK (Reuters) - As Iraq sinks into sectarian fighting, a documentary by a U.S. director who spent six months in Baghdad in 2004 explores the roots of Iraq's violence and why so many young men there are drawn to take up arms.

"The Blood of My Brother" focuses on one Shi'ite family after the death of the oldest son and breadwinner, Ra'ad, a professional photographer who was shot by a U.S. patrol.

The exact circumstances of his death are unclear but it seems to have occurred while he was working a shift as a volunteer guard outside a Shi'ite mosque. The focus of the movie, however, is the impact on his family, especially his younger brother Ibrahim, aged 19 at the time.

"His brother was supporting the family, now his brother is gone and he has to take over and take care of the family and he's really not old enough to do it. He's understandably angry," director Andrew Berends said in an interview. snip

"When I see a burning tank, it makes me happy. When I see any Americans or Jews, I want revenge, but I can't. I have to take care of the house," Ibrahim says in the film, which shows him watching a Mehdi Army recruiting video.