From Dec. 14 to Jan. 14, Chan lived in Baghdad filming the people and the culture. He traveled to Iraq as a member of the Iraq Peace Team, a group initiated by Voices in the Wilderness, an independent international campaign that since 1996 has attempted to end the economic sanctions and warfare against the people of Iraq. Members of Voices include teachers, artists and church workers who live in Iraq at different times documenting the lives of Iraqi citizens. The Iraq Peace Team began in Sept. 2002 in an attempt to prevent a U.S. attack on Iraq through the use of non-violent actions. Today
the team remains in Iraq recording the Iraqi citizens' experiences throughout the war and occupation with the goal of increasing awareness of the situation. The piece is a montage of scenes filmed in single channel digital video. Chicago filmmaker Deborah Stratman's 14-min. short ENERGY COUNTRY opens the program.

ENERGY COUNTRY
2003, Deborah Stratman, USA, 14:30 min.

The frenzied detritus of trading floors, smart weaponry and the religious right are woven through the petrochemical landscapes of Southeast Texas. This short video harangue questions land use policy as it serves oil industry, patriotism as it absolves foreign aggression, and fundamentalism as it calcifies thinking.