"Appeasement" by the American Reed Van Dyk, screened at the Filmmakers’ Fortnight, gives a voice to the civilian victims of the Iraq War

In 2003, Iraq was invaded by the Americans. The Kachadoorian family, who fled the bombings, came under fire from American soldiers who thought they were defending themselves against the attack of an Iraqi militia. The father and two sons are killed. Mariam (Hiam Abbass), the mother, and her daughter Nora (Gheed) are the only survivors of the shooting. A decade later, Lou D’Alessandro (Boyd Holbrook), the “marine” whose decision is at the origin of the tragedy, tries to reconnect with the survivors thanks to the mediation of a journalist from the New Yorker, Michael Reid (Kenneth Branagh). Appeasement, the first film by American filmmaker Reed Van Dyk, presented at the Quinzaine des cinéastes, is inspired by real events described in the eponymous article. Over a decade and by offering the points of view of the different protagonists of this story, the director tells the story of a unique approach. In a staging totally at the service of his subject, Reed Van Dyk returns to the tribulations of a soldier who questions its moral responsibility while being primarily interested in the point of view of civilian victims, a rare perspective in the treatment of the wars waged by the United States in the world.

Franceinfo Culture: What led you to adapt this article by Dexter Filkins? Over what period did the events – the shooting which decimated part of the Kachadoorian family and their meeting with the US marine – that you relate occur in reality?
Reed Van Dyk : The shooting occurred in April 2003 in Iraq and the trajectories of these characters crossed again in 2012 in California. At the time, I had read the article, published this year, in The New Yorker. I was very moved but I wasn’t in the capacity to make a film at that time and it wasn’t even clear how I could do it. However, I couldn’t stop thinking about these people. When I found myself in the position of being able to make a film, I began to inquire about the rights to this story. In 2018, I told myself that I could try to make a feature film. I contacted Dexter Filkins, who wrote the paper, and everyone involved. The scenario developed gradually as I talked with them.

How much leeway did you give yourself in bringing this difficult story to the screen?
We went there scene by scene. I had read a 12-page article and my first interviews with the people involved in this drama allowed me to fill in the blanks. Some of the scenes between the journalist and the family, when he finds them years later, reflect the questions I myself asked them. For example, what it was like to live in America after what they had suffered.

It was essential for you to meet the Kachadoorian family and everyone involved before making a film about their story…
Yes. I wanted to get to know them, spend time with them and make sure they were comfortable with the idea of ​​telling their story in a film. They all supported the project from the start. From there, a friendship developed. I visited them and we talked. I was going to see Dexter in New York… It was from these conversations that the characters began to become clearer to me.

Your film talks about the importance of focusing on the plurality of points of view in this drama. What we find in the staging, in the cutting of the film. Why did you want to make what can be guessed so palpable?
As an American, I have often seen Western films that evoked war without ever really focusing on the civilian victims of these conflicts. We often see Iraqis through sniper glasses, not at home, in their homes. With this film, we are embarked with the Kachadoorian family. We experience this drama both from their point of view and from that of the American soldier. I wanted to show these different perspectives.

Did meeting the real protagonists of the story help you choose the actors who would play them, among others Boyd Holbrook, Hiam Abbass and Kenneth Branagh?
I wasn’t looking for actors who resemble the real protagonists but rather who share their essence. These are three exceptional actors who can play anyone. For a filmmaker making his first film, it’s a dream casting.

How do you explain that Lou, the American soldier, questioned his moral responsibility so much towards the survivors of this Iraqi family, that he did not simply hide behind the war?
Part of him understands that he did what he was trained to do and the other thinks otherwise. And this is what will push him to want to meet the survivors of this family. This dilemma constitutes the essence of the character. Moral wounds are linked to the fact that the psyche of men and women who return from war is irreparably modified by the act of killing, especially innocent people. One of the reasons that will push him even more to want to find this family is the article by Dexter Filkins which reports the events from their point of view and relates their confusion at the time of the incident. This reading confirms what was bothering him. The article gives meaning to his first intuition.

Your film particularly addresses the care of veterans and especially their trauma. The United States is a country often at war which, at least since Vietnam, still does not seem to have found the best way to take care of its former soldiers. The budgets allocated to veterans have recently fallen again…
They like to prepare for war, making ever more efficient tools but do not take the time to take care of veterans. We will always find the money to wage war, but not to support the reconstruction process for returning soldiers. It is a disruption of values.

With new warfare techniques, remote shooting and the use of drones, soldiers are behind machines, far from civilian victims. Do you think that with this type of weapon, the story you are telling remains possible?
That’s a good question. I don’t know but I read that these soldiers remain just as haunted by these tragedies, even if they have never seen the faces of the civilian victims. Appeasement returns to a unique approach, including in a “classic” war like that in Iraq.

You have been working for a long time on this film, which was released at a time when the United States, which had pledged to no longer wage war – a promise from candidate Trump in fact – was involved in a new conflict with Iran. What do you feel?
It’s sad. History repeats itself. This film is about an incident that happened one day and how it forever changed the lives of everyone involved. You then think of all these days when incidents of this type will multiply.