Films
THE RECRUITER
Australian Premiere
THE RECRUITER
Australian Premiere
USA 2008, English, 82 mins
Director/Writer: Edet Belzberg
Producer(s): Edet Belzberg & Alan Oxman
Genre: Documentary
Film Trailer: http://www.kinoaero.cz/en/film/2015/
Themes: War in Iraq, Conflict
Related Links: http://www.aclu.org/intlhumanrights/gen/
Sundance Film Festival 2008 - Official Selection, Grand Jury Prize nominee
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, New York 2008 - Official Selection
Synopsis
With bloody conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan still raging and the death toll of US soldiers mounting, The Recruiter captures a phenomenon now occurring throughout the United States - the intense push to recruit new soldiers into the US Army.
Shot in verite style, the film captures the day-to-day life of its remarkable central character, Louisiana's Sergeant First Class Clay Usie, one of the most successful USA army recruiters whose life is entirely dedicated to his mission of finding new soldiers in his hometown of Houma, Louisiana.
The Recruiter also follows the journeys of Lauren, Matt and Bobby, three of Sgt Usie's new recruits, who spend their last semester of high school preparing for boot camp and bracing themselves for the transition from student to soldier.
Matt seems to be looking for a new father figure; Lauren for a way into college she couldn't otherwise afford; and Bobby, the only one who seems to be signing up out of something other than necessity, has a veteran father who doesn't want his son to risk his life. Oscar-nominee Edet Belzberg (Children Underground) shows us the compelling human story behind Uncle Sam's voracious appetite for fresh cannon fodder.
