Songs of War: Music as a Weapon
Music is a Weapon
52 mins
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.
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
Tristan Chytroschek
Director
Norik Stepanjan
Editor
Ole Förster
Sound Engineer
Susanne Mertens
Commissioning Editor
Karl-Heinz Satzger
Editor
George Parashakis
Sound Engineer
Knut Sodemann
Camera Operator
Max Kielhauser
Sound Engineer
Christian Eichenauer
Camera Operator
Igor Martinović
Camera Operator
Bernhard Wagner
Camera Operator
Alexander Joksimovic
Sound Engineer
Michael Bamber
Art Direction