Loach's new Iraq movie

See http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/may/16/cannes-diary-ken-loach-route-irish-palme-d-or

Cannes diary: Ken Loach's Route Irish sneaks into running for Palme d'Or

Producer says decision to put Iraq thriller forward was taken to ensure uncompromising message is heard

Vanessa Thorpe - The Observer, Sunday 16 May 2010

Paul Laverty in the Ken Loach film Route Irish. Photograph: Joss Barratt

The 11th-hour decision to sneak Ken Loach's latest film, a politically explosive thriller about contractors working in Iraq, into the running for the Palme d'Or was taken to ensure that its uncompromising argument is heard, according to producer Rebecca O'Brien.
Speaking for the first time before the premiere of Route Irish on Thursday, O'Brien said that she and Loach wanted to "find the best forum". "We just suddenly felt, here is a film that is really serious and that packs a very powerful political punch," she said. "Cannes is a place where people will take a work seriously and understand the politics."
The title of the film is taken from the nickname of the dangerous road that links Baghdad's safe green zone to its airport. The movie examines the difficulties experienced by ex-servicemen who cannot get used to living as civilians, and who often decide to go back to Iraq to work as commercial contractors. "The film asks what are we doing being involved in a privatised war? That is the real message, although we have dressed it around a thriller," said O'Brien.

See more arts at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2010/may/18/cannes-film-festival-ken-loach http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/may/18/mike-leigh-ken-loach-cannes
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/136427/route-irish