A fake war in the Mojave Desert. We’ll call it virtual Iraq. 1,600 role players. 250 of them Iraqi. In this surreal world, American veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan play insurgents whose role is to kill American soldiers. The soldiers are never out of character as they try to win over this mock Iraqi village. In the words of a commander at Medina Wasl, USA it is one big realty TV show. On GRITtv we speak with the directors of Full Battle Rattle, Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber, about why a fake war in the Mojave might bring the real war home.

Gerber says Full Battle Rattle lies somewhere between a Ridley Scott production and a Monty Python skit and that showing fake limbs and fake body parts allowed them to get around the censors. It also enabled them to talk about some real truths. The film opens July 9, at Film Forum in NY. Look for it in your city, or dvd outlet, soon.

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