Description

We encourage veterans organizations, community groups, universities, Veteran/Military Groups, non-profits, grassroots, student groups and individuals across the country to organize screenings, houseparties and actions around SEVERE CLEAR in an effort to support the sacrifices of our troops and issues such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

We are offering a Fundraising Screening Kit that includes 1 Limited Public Performance Licensed DVD, 10 regular DVDs, 5 posters, 100 postcards and a discussion guide.  This kit essentially "pays for itself" because it includes enough extra DVDs to sell at the event to cover the cost of the kit, and helps you raise additional funds for your organization! You can sell the extra 10 DVDs for $20 at the event so that the kit pays for itself and helps you raise up to an additional $80 or more for your organization!  Order additional 10 DVD packs at only $100 to raise additional funds. These kits are not designed for events where you charge admission, although of course we understand that you may want to collect donations. A portion of all DVD sales goes to support a military or veteran charity organization.

Ground Shipping only out of Los Angeles. West Coast 2-3 days, East Coast 5-7

Shot by First Lieutenant Mike Scotti on his Mini-DV camera, and told through his own journal entries, Kristian Fraga’s SEVERE CLEAR is more than a documentary. It is a first person account of the Marines who were on the front lines of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This is what they saw.

In this digital age of embedded reporters and filmmakers directing their “war” pictures from the internet, SEVERE CLEAR strips the barriers between audience and soldier, personalizing the fear, moral conundrum and sheer adrenaline rush of life on
the battlefield. The personal story of Mike Scotti and the Marines in his unit is the backbone of this intimate, extreme and often times horrific tale.

The story begins with Scotti on a 40-day voyage across the Arabian Sea, aboard the USS Boxer, where his days are filled with physical training, tactical study, and mental preparation. For the Marines, who have been in a constant state of war since the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the political wrangling of world leaders and diplomatic debates over the merits of UN resolutions are nothing but a smoke screen for a war they all know is inevitable. So they train, blow off steam, and wait.

The forces reach Kuwait, but there is more waiting to be done. That is, until President Bush addresses the nation and orders the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. As they push onto Baghdad, patriotism and youthful enthusiasm gradually gives way to the real, brutal horrors of war. As the resistance to their presence escalates, Scotti and his fellow soldiers are forced to come to grips with the magnitude of the situation they find themselves in.

SEVERE CLEAR is a motion picture that captures the chaos and complexity of war.

Written, edited and directed by award winning filmmaker Kristian Fraga with original music by Cliff Martinez (Traffic; Solaris; Narc; Sex, Lies and Videotape). The film has been critically acclaimed by The New York Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and IFC.com and featured on CNN, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, Newsweek, Men’s Journal, Interview Magazine, Filmmaker Magazine, indieWIRE, NBC and more.


Production Credits & Notes

WINNER - Jury Special Mention 2009 Rome International Film Festival, Jury Prize 2010 Salem Film Festival, 2009 Barrymore Award, 2010 Telly Award

OFFICIAL SELECTION - 2009 SXSW Film Festival, IDA DocuWeeks Showcase, St. Louis Film Festival, San Diego Film Festival, Palm Beach International Film Festival, Lone Star International Film Festival, Big Sky Film Festival

REVIEWS:

"Visceral true-life portrait of the brutality and chaos of war.  It offers a much needed personal perspective on a subject that is too often reduced to political arguments." THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

“SEVERE CLEAR pungently evokes a heroic Marine Corps mystique." THE NEW YORK TIMES

"Most fictional films simply can't capture the immediacy of the experience the way a raw chronicle like this one does."  THE DAILY NEWS

"This visceral, gripping doc uses footage shot in Iraq to give us a clear-eyed, brutal, but decidedly unpoliticized look at the reality of war." NEW YORK MAGAZINE

"This is the real deal. It puts you right on the front lines."  Jeffrey Lyons, KNBC

""It's a great movie as well as a deceptively complex work of popular art." - IFC.com

"instantly reminds us of Kubrick's FULL METAL JACKET...as striking as any war narrative you can imagine"- EFILMCRITIC