"A HELL OF A PICTURE." – David Edelstein, New York Magazine

"A searing eye-opener of a docu-style drama"
– Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

"Surprisingly nuanced... For its fierce 90 minutes, BATTLE FOR HADITHA is the first feature
(about the war in Iraq) to rival the power and veracity of the best documentaries."
– David Ansen, Newsweek

"The closest thing this conflict has produced to a 'Paths of Glory' or an 'All Quiet on the Western Front'...a full-tilt, pulse-pounding war movie that resists moralism or easy stereotypes, and depicts the November 2005 'Haditha massacre'...as a prodigiously tragic example of war's universal tendency to dehumanize everyone it touches."
– Andrew O'Hehir, Salon

"Has the virtues of an excellent documentary... (Broomfield) presents a range of the Iraq War experience that has never been effectively shown before. Broomfield’s sophisticated balance of fact and fiction in Battle for Haditha illustrates exactly how the Iraq War will enter popular memory—as legend."
– Armond White, New York Press

“After a long string of films about sensational (and sensationalized) personalities, Brit docu provocateur Nick Broomfield’s recent stride
into narrative filmmaking continues with BATTLE FOR HADITHA ... a dramatic re-creation of the November 2005 Marine massacre of civilians
in Iraq in the cinema tradition of you-are-there pics – stemming back to Peter Watkins as well as Gillo Pontecorvo’s BATTLE OF ALGIERS.”
– Robert Koehler, Variety

"Gripping authenticity... a powerful devastating immediacy."
– Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter

“There will be no better film about the Iraq war … with its emotional immediacy and depth-charged intelligence …
and lines of dialogue that fly up like crackling cinders.”
– The Financial Times (London)

"Nick Bloomfield's powerful story, driven by a furious energy and a documentary versimilitude, shows how one act of violence unleashes a firestorm of retaliation."
– The Times of London

“Broomfield isn’t out to condemn individuals – larger forces shape their actions. It’s a brave and humble piece of filmmaking.”
– The Guardian (London)

Veteran British documentarian Nick Broomfield strides into narrative filmmaking with this gripping dramatization of the events leading to the November 2005 massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians at the hands of U.S. Marines. Using ex-Marines as actors and basing the chain of events on eyewitness testimonies from both Iraqis and Marines, Broomfield tackles his controversial subject in the verité tradition of BATTLE OF ALGIERS, plunging us headfirst into the action as he cuts among the stories of the American soldiers, a group of insurgents, and the Haditha villagers. Many of the actors had seen combat in Iraq, including Elliot Ruiz, a former U.S. Marine Corporal who was badly injured during an insurgent attack in Tikrit, and Eric Mehalacoupoulos, who did two tours of duty. BATTLE FOR HADITHA considers the humanity of the full spectrum of war’s victims: civilians caught in a maelstrom not of their making and young soldiers, themselves traumatized by the chaotic violence synonymous with this seemingly endless conflict.

UK • 2007 • 93 MINUTES • IN ENGLISH & ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • Filmsource Information

Listen to our podcast: Q&A with Nick Broomfield and actor/former U.S. Marine Elliot Ruiz, recorded Wed, May 7 at the 8pm show