NFB Collection
Breaking Ranks
200655 min 30 secFilm: Documentary
Direction: Michelle Mason
Production: Trish Dolman (Screen Siren Pictures Inc.)Leah MallenTracey Friesen (National Film Board of Canada)Rina Fraticelli
Script: Michelle MasonSiobhan Flanagan
A Screen Siren Pictures production in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada for Global Television; produced in association with Cypress Park Productions; with the participation of the Canadian Television Fund created by the Government of Canada and the Canadian Cable Industry CTF: Licence Fee Program; with the assistance of the Government of Canada Film or Video Production Tax Credit Program; the Province of British Columbia Film Incentive BC.; in association with Knowledge Network; developed with the participation of British Columbia Film, the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund and with the financial participation of Rogers Telefund.
Breaking Ranks is a moving documentary about the plight of four U.S. soldiers seeking sanctuary in Canada as part of their resistance to the war in Iraq. With intimate access to four American military deserters, their lawyers and families, this film documents their experiences as they try to exercise their consciences amidst profound emotional, ethical and international consequences.
If deported, they face the venom of mainstream American opinion and one to five years in prison. If Canada instead follows the legacy established by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau during the Vietnam War, when Canada welcomed tens of thousands of war resisters, there may well be an unprecedented crisis in U.S.-Canadian relations.
The emotional core of Breaking Ranks is formed by candid interviews with the four young men as they take on their journeys from the moment of recruitment to the momentous decision to desert. Filmed over the course of the refugee process, this provocative film explores the meaning of duty as these young soldiers share their personal stories of moral awakening and the burden that it brings.
Availability
Subject categories
- War, Conflict and Peace > Canadian-American RelationsWar and Youth
- Politics and Government > International Relations
Credits
- writer
- Michelle Mason
- director
- Michelle Mason
- producer
- Trish Dolman
- Leah Mallen
- Tracey Friesen
- editor
- Mandy Leith
- composer
- Peter Allen
- executive in charge of production
- Michael Ghent
- executive producer
- Rina Fraticelli
- associate producer
- Lauren Grant
- Karina O'Sullivan
- additional editing
- Brendan Woollard
- camera operator
- Brian Johnson
- Todd Craddock
- Kevin Keating
- John Badcock
- John Westheuser
- Jim Aquila
- Glenn Taylor
- Alan Stewart
- Nash Stevanovic
- Winston Upshall
- Jonathan Benny
- Laurie Long
- Mark Poirier
- still photography
- Holly Birch
- location sound
- Doug Kaye
- Brent Calkin
- Brooke Thomson
- Peter Jones
- production manager
- Marie Wrede
- post-production supervisor
- Janet Kendrick
- post-production coordinator
- Lauren Grant
- Karina O'Sullivan
- story editor
- Siobhan Flanagan
- production consultant
- Jeff Schutts
- research consultant
- Isaac Romano
- development editor
- Heather Frise
- Brendan Woollard
- assistant editor
- Jeremy Lutter
- Colleen Smith
- titles designer
- Brendan Woollard
- titles
- Mike Bernard
- graphics
- Mike Bernard
- online editor
- Sevé Schelenz
- closed captioning
- Line 21 Media Services Inc.
- sound post facility
- Western Post Productions
- sound designer dialogue
- Miguel Nunes
- dialogue editor
- Gina Mueller
- sound editor
- Jeff Caines
- Scott Benson
- assistant sound editor
- Chris Fairfield
- Nacime Goian
- post sound supervisor
- Nicole Thompson
- re-recording mixer
- Miguel Nunes
- engineering
- Ryen Froggatt
- guitar instrumental
- Randy Murray
- archival researcher
- Paula Sawadsky
- lead publicist
- Marina Percy
- publicity coordinator
- Sarah Kiehne
- Meagan Beavis
- business affairs manager
- Claire Querée
- production accountant
- Steven Thibault
- production accountant - assistant
- Neelam Puri-Narayan
- bookkeeper
- Meiling Guo
- producer assistant
- Alicia Brady
- Tristan Schön
- website designer
- Calliope Gazetas
- Jordan Lewin
- legal
- Doran Chandler
- transcription
- Joanne Greenwood
- Susan Reid-Friedman
- title search
- Dennis Angel Law Offices
- insurance
- David Hamilton
- Bob Adams