Photo by Sara Tilmans ©2003

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Director's Statement: [menu]

Filming required three trips to the Balkans; Albania during the war (1999), Kosovo during the occupation (2000), and during the civil war in Macedonia (2001). During that time we lived with the refugees in the camps and return with them home, in order to document their lives during this conflict.

By the end of our expeditions, we had exhausted our funds and available time, as many of us moved on to graduate school and started new projects in Peru, Palestine, and Iraq. So post-production continued as we sought to overcome technical and copyright issues, in addition to attaining additional footage, photos, and music.

Making our first film as students in the middle of an ongoing conflict was quite challenging. Not to mention working with digital video and Final Cut Pro 1.0 during their infancy (1999), long before OS X and the Macintosh G4/G5 came along; still the dark ages of analog video.

Prior to to the post-production phase, we were able to submit a select few "work-in-progress" cuts of our film to festivals for screening.

The final cut of our film represents several years of effort and determination by over a dozen students to overcome the challenges of producing a professional quality film.

- James Saldana

Read the Film Synopsis.

Read an article about the making of the film.

View the DVD cover art.

BIO and Filmography: [menu]

As a student filmmaker I've produced and participated in several independently funded films to include;

Daughters of Abraham
"Best Documentary" Angelus Awards
Filmed: Palestinian West-Bank, Israel - 2003
Remade for HBO Films: To Die In Jerusalem ©2007

Our Road To Kosovo
"Best Documentary Finalist" Angelus Awards
Filmed: Albania and Yugoslavia - 1999-2001

Protective Force
Filmed: Macedonia - 2001
[TV News Broadcast]

Glue Gun
Filmed: Zimbabwe - 1998.

Fight Back!
Produced: USA - 2004

In addition, my interest in the plight of indigenous people and spiritualism drew me to the mountains of Peru 2003 to participate in the making of Despacho. A film about the ancient art of shamanism.

My latest project took me to Baghdad to film the occupation of Iraq, tentatively named Iraqi Drive-By, a series of film shorts.

Contact us to arrange a screening!

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