Screening: The Somnambulists

Controversy has surrounded Richard Jobson’s newest film, The Somnambulists. The film contains 15 testimonies from British servicemen and women who were involved in the Iraq conflict.

Heavily influenced by the exhibition of photographer Joana Kane at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery that is a expose of the space between life and death, the film weaves the testimonials with images representing the lives these individuals left behind

The film, Jobson has said, is his response to the public apathy surrounding the Iraq war and the British who fought there. The victims are represented both visually and through the film’s narrative in order to awaken us, the somnambulists or sleepwalkers, from our inability to see the reality of war.

CPH DOX: International DOX:Award Competition Nominee

Director: RIchard Jobson

Year: 2011

Running Time: 97′