The Peace Patriots

A primer on dissent in a time of war • Digitally Remastered 4K Version • 2024
by
Robbie Leppzer
2005
78 mins

20 years ago – at the start of the Iraq War, college students and others participated in a nationwide anti-war movement that received little coverage by the mainstream media.

The Peace Patriots follows a diverse group of individuals, including teenagers, college students, war veterans, teachers, clergy, and community activists, as they take part in vigils, marches, theater performances, and civil disobedience sit-ins to protest the start of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. An effective discussion catalyst about student and community-based protest movements then and now. Digitally remastered 4K version (2024).

“THE PEACE PATRIOTS gives us hope and inspiration.”
—Howard Zinn,
Author of A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

“A filmmaker unafraid to go against the tide.”
Rhonda Stewart
THE BOSTON GLOBE

Synopsis

When the United States invaded Iraq twenty years ago in 2003, there was a huge protest against this war across the country and around the world, which was largely ignored by the American mainstream media. In an unprecedented day of global protest—one month before the invasion began—over 15 million people around the world demonstrated against this impending war. In the United States, grassroots citizen opposition during the first 18 months of the Iraq war grew at a larger and faster rate than during the Vietnam anti-war movement of the 1960s. Americans protested against this war in hundreds of cities and towns across the country.

Narrated by actress Janeane Garofalo, this feature-length documentary film follows a diverse group of individuals living in western Massachusetts, including middle and high school students, college students, teachers, clergy, and war veterans from Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf, as they take part in vigils, marches, teach-ins, theater performances, and civil disobedience sit-ins to protest the start of the U.S. war in Iraq.

The Peace Patriots is a primer about the various ways people express dissent as engaged citizens in a time of war. Digitally remastered 4K version (2024).

Reviews
“The Peace Patriots takes the word ‘patriotism’ and gives it a rich positive meaning, removing it from the ugliness of war and nationalism, and restoring its original idea as ‘love of country.’ It does this by showing us true patriots—those people who, with artistry and imagination, as well as deep moral commitment, have spoken and acted to end the war in Iraq. In a time of sadness, thinking of the dead and maimed on both sides, this film gives us hope and inspiration. I hope it will be shown widely.”
Howard Zinn
Author of A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
"As a documentary filmmaker, Robbie Leppzer boldly accepts the role of contemporary historian who permits those working for peace to show that dissent is patriotic. He defies the censorship masterminded by the mass media to let the voices of students of all ages, combat veterans, teachers, clergy and all the outraged speak for themselves. The Peace Patriots humanizes political activism by focusing on the eloquence of everyday people. This film has helped to awaken and empower our students."
Shane Boeder, Ph.D.
Professor of Foreign Languages, Marian College
“The Peace Patriots is a powerful portrayal of activism. As a college professor who is interested in exposing students to nonviolent means of action against injustice, I have found this film to be very uplifting. I highly recommend it as a teaching tool."

Abbie Jenks
Professor of Psychology and Peace Studies, Greenfield Community College
“The Peace Patriots is a moving documentary that is sure to inspire. In an atmosphere rife with frustration and apathy, this film stands out by giving hope to activists and inspiring those who may not be activists to be activists.”
John Behnken
Student, Kent State University

Director Commentary

I am releasing this digitally remastered 4K version of The Peace Patriots through New Day Films 20 years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

I teach advanced documentary filmmaking at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. I have had an opportunity to screen this film several times to students over the past year.

The Peace Patriots stimulated an engaging hour-long discussion about the Iraq War, militarism, media coverage and the role that social media plays today in covering conflicts throughout the world.

In discussions, students expressed that they had no awareness that there had been a large and significant antiwar movement that protested the U.S. war in Iraq, even before the invasion began.

This should come as no surprise as the mainstream media ignored this significant grassroots movement at the time.

What was most interesting about the discussions with the students was how they shared that they receive most of their information from social media today, which does not present an in-depth view of what's happening in the world.

The students affirmed that documentaries, such as The Peace Patriots, fill a major void with information and perspectives about vital issues such as war and peace and how this impacts us as U.S. citizens.

The Peace Patriots is a primer on the various ways that citizens can express themselves in a democratic society.

Please check out my other social issue documentaries that chronicle grassroots activism in the New Day Collection, An Act Of Conscience and Power Struggle, as well as additional films at my website www.TurningTide.com.

Features and Languages

Film Features

  • Closed Captioning
  • Subtitles

Film/Audio Languages

  • English

Subtitle/Caption Languages

  • English

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