The Road to Fallujah

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RAY OF LIGHT FILMS and CONCEPTIONMEDIA
presents

A joint production between American and Iraqi filmmakers

THE ROAD TO FALLUJAH

Directed by Mark Manning

Executive Producers:

Michelle Rhea
Natalie Kalustian
Mark Manning

Produced by:

Creative Consultants:

Natalie Kalustian

Mark Manning

Neil Mandelberg
Jimmy Giritlian

Middle East Producer:
Iraq Field Producers:

Rana Al-Aiouby
Maki Al-Nazzal
Isam Rasheed

Written & Edited by:

Supervising Editors:

Motion Graphics Animator:

Mark Manning
Natalie Kalustian

Jimmy Giritlian, A.C.E.
Neil Mandelberg, A.C.E.

Ryan J. Wolfe

Camera:

Translators:

Rana Al-Aiouby
Mark Manning
Isam Rasheed

Rana Al-Aiouby
Salam Hassan
Khaled Hettini
Michelle Zimney

Original Score Composed by: Greg Ellis

Additional music by: Lisbeth Scott

Orignal Score performed by:

Cameron Stone: Cello Nathan Barr: Cello Steve Stevens: Acoustic Guitar Lisbeth Scott: Vocals

Greg Ellis: Percussion, Dulcimer, Trumpet, Keyboards, Guitar

FILMMAKER BIOGRAPHIES


	MARK MANNING (Director, Producer) Mark Manning is currently involved in multiple film projects that intend to connect people to their common humanity, bridge divides and find common ground by factual and truth based presentations of issues. He is currently in two joint productions with Iraqi filmmakers, in development on a feature film, and is in post-production on a feature documentary that takes an in-depth introspective look at the American culture and people in a post-911 environment. He has been interviewed on numerous radio, print and television outlets concerning his experience in Iraq and the release of his film Caught in the Crossfire: The Untold Story of Fallujah, and his in-depth project on American culture American Voices. Press coverage has included: Air America, DemocracyNow, Free Speech TV, Entertainment Weekly, LA Weekly, Alex Jones Show, Clear Channel, Al-Arabiya, and the World Tribunal on Iraq in Istanbul, Turkey. Manning began his career as a professional deep sea diver working in the offshore oil fields for 22 years, diving in depths of over 400 feet and working in all aspects of the diving industry including; underwater burning and demolition, deep saturation, underwater robotics and submarine piloting. In February of 2003, Manning retired from his diving career, decided to put this problem-solving skill set into socially responsible filmmaking and founded ConceptionMedia, an independent film production company specializing in documentaries.

	NATALIE KALUSTIAN (Producer) Natalie Kalustian has been producing films with Mark Manning and ConceptionMedia since 2004, and is involved in all aspects of film production including writing, editing, directing, artistic development and graphic design. She has a background in newspaper design and a B.A. in English from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Natalie also holds an M.A. in Healing Science and, when not producing films with ConceptionMedia, maintains a private healing practice. Her passion for filmmaking lies in its power to transform and heal through socially-conscious, balanced, and informative media.

	RANA AL-AIOUBY (Middle East Producer) Rana Al-Aiouby was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1972. She received a degree in French literature and language from Al-Musstanssria University Baghdad, in 1996 and worked as a private tutor until the US-led invasion in 2003. She then began to undertake research and interpretation/translation for the following news organizations: BBC-TV News (Newsnight), BBC website, ABC News (Nightline with Ted Koppel), Al Jazeera, Polish Radio, De Morgen (Belgian newspaper). In 2004, after the second siege of Fallujah, she worked with American filmmaker Mark Manning to co-produce a short documentary: Caught in the Crossfire. In early 2005, she co-founded and serves as executive director of International Peace Angels, an NGO which provides direct humanitarian relief to areas of conflict inside Iraq. Rana has documented the civilian situation in Iraq since the invasion and has become an eloquent spokesperson around the world about Iraqi civilian life, addressing such audiences as the War Crimes Conference in Malaysia, the World Social Forum in Nairobi, and several cities in the UK and United States.

	MICHELLE RHEA (Executive Producer) Michelle Rhea was born and raised in Texas and grew up hearing daily about the Vietnam war. She clearly remembers the day that war "ended", and, at 12 years old, she naively believed lessons were learned and there would never be another such war. Many years later, Michelle and her young son marched up State Street in Santa Barbara to protest the impending invasion of Iraq. In early 2006, Michelle first heard of Mark Manning's short film, "Caught in the Crossfire." Impressed with Mark's film, dedication and vision, she immediately decided to help Mark in his endeavor to bring "The Road to Fallujah" to fruition. In addition to her interest in socially conscious films, Michelle is a poet and photographer and a Secular Humanist activist. Some of her poems and photographs can be seen online via her website: www.MichelleRhea.com

	NEIL MANDELBERG, A.C.E. (Creative Consultant, Supervising Editor) As an Emmy winning film editor Neil Mandelberg has been a respected member of the entertainment industry for over 20 years. He has been involved in many landmark industry series and movies such as Medium, Equal Justice, The Temptations mini-series, for which he received an Emmy nomination, and the ground breaking series Moonlighting, for which he won 2 Emmys. Neil is currently lead editor on the CBS drama, Ghost Whisperer. Neil met Mark a year ago and became involved because he was moved by Mark’s passion for bringing the human condition and the consequences of war to the forefront through this film, The Road To Fallujah.

	JIMMY GIRITLIAN, A.C.E. (Creative Consultant, Supervising Editor) Jimmy Giritlian is an active member of the Directors Guild of America, the American Cinema Editors (A.C.E.), the Motion Picture Editors Guild, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He has been making films since 1968, and has received numerous awards and citations. Jimmy recently completed his assignment editing 3-years of "CRIMINAL MINDS" for CBS and Mark Gordon Films. He met Mark instantly believed in his story and mission. "Communicating the message and helping to make THE ROAD TO FALLAJUH is truly a labor of love and understanding."

	GREG ELLIS (Composer) Greg Ellis is a master drummer, multi-instrumentalist and composer who has recorded and performed with some of the greatest musicians and drummers in the world. His work can be heard in the major motion pictures “The Matrix: Reloaded” and “The Matrix: Revolutions,” “Fight Club,” “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” “Dawn of the Dead,” “City of Ghosts,” “Dukes of Hazzard,” “The Chronicles of Narnia,” “Brave Story,” and “300. As well as recording with such diverse artists from Beck to Billy Idol, he co-founded and released four critically acclaimed albums from the world music group VAS, and released a CD of his own compositions titled “Kala Rupa.” A staunch advocate for the healing power of organic rhythm and ‘real time’ music, Greg has created RhythmPharm, an organization dedicated to dispensing entirely organic unprocessed rhythm as audio-pharaceuticals called RhythmTonics. Together with Lisbeth Scott, Greg has created Biomusique. From the rolling, driven and rocking world drums and instruments of Ellis to the tender, compelling and other-worldly vocals an lyrics of Scott, Biomusique has given birth to a new genre of sound. Their live shows which bring together master musicians from around the world are riveting, joyful, moving, and not to be missed. www.biomusique.com

	LISBETH SCOTT (Vocals) Lisbeth Scott is an extraordinary vocalist and multi-instrumentalist who has appeared with some of the world’s largest talent, including John Williams, INXS, John Prine, John Martyn, Tom Rush, and Mark Isham. Scott produced and released four critically acclaimed CDs of her own music, of which Dove, her sophomore effort, was named record of the year in New Age Voice as well as grabbing the Number 2 spot on the New Age charts. She’s written and sung on many of Hollywood’s greatest films, including the “Chronicles of Narnia,” “Munich,” “Shrek,” and “The Passion of the Christ,” for which she received her first Gold Record.

	RYAN J. WOLFE (Production Assistant / Motion Graphics Animator) Ryan Wolfe is a producer/director with 3 years of technical experience. He directed and produced “BioNation,” a twelve-minute documentary about alternative fuels and people who create alternative fuel in order to live outside the box of big oil. Ryan received a full-page write up in The Channels newspaper for “BioNation” and another short film he created called “Crime and Disregard.” Ryan is looking forward to producing his first feature-length documentary, “Kauai,” a cultural and anthropological film exploring invasive plants and animals and how they affect the Hawaiian islands.

	JOHN B. CALVERT (Webmaster) John Calvert is a freelance web designer and software engineer. He specializes in custom-designed Joomla! content management websites. He also has over 20 years experience in data communications and networking system software development and embedded programming. His clients include The International Permaculture Conference, ConceptionMedia Productions, HopeDance magazine, and Global Voices for Justice. John can be reached at: calvertdesign@gmail.com .