Songs of War: Music as a Weapon
“Music is a Weapon”
2010•52m•6.2•Released
Documentary
Music elates, touches the soul and bypasses reason. Music is magic. But precisely this magic can turn it into an insidious weapon for music and violence belong together. The brutal power of African war dances, the ferocity of Maori Hakas, the earth-shattering roar of US sound guns blasting Metallica at Taliban hideouts the principle is always the same: Aggressive sounds demoralise the enemy and whip the allies into a frenzy. In Songs of War, director Tristan Chytroschek explores the extraordinary harmony between music and violence. Sesame Street composer, Christopher Cerf, always wanted his music to be fun and entertaining. But then he learned that his songs had been used to torture prisoners in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. He is stunned by this abuse of his work and wants to find out how this could happen.
Director
Tristan Chytroschek
Languages
English
Studio
A&O Buero
Cast
Christopher Cerf
Presenter
Thomas Keenan
Human Rights Project, Bard College, New York
Chris Arendt
Former Guard, Guantanamo Bay
Herb Friedman
Psychological Operations Expert, US Army
Mike Ritz
Former Interrogator, US Army
Nathalie Gosselin
Music Psychologist, Université de Montréal
Moazzam Begg
Former Detainee, Guantanamo Bay And Bagram
Morag Josephine Grant
Musicologist, University Of Göttingen
Mike Luce
Drowning Pool
C.J. Pierce
Drowning Pool
Vahan Simidian II
CEO, HPV Technologies
Production
Company
A&O Buero
Company
ZDF
Company
ARTE
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