Charles Ferguson's probing documentary, No End in Sight, draws from more than 200 hours of footage to chronicle the events that followed the fall of Baghdad in 2003. Scenes from the Iraq war are interspersed with interviews with Iraqi civilians, American soldiers, prominent analysts, and high-ranking U.S. officials, like former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Lawrence Wilkerson, Colin Powell's ex-Chief of Staff, Ambassador Barbara Bodine (interim governor of Baghdad during the Spring of 2003), and General Jay Garner (director of the post-war reconstruction efforts in Iraq from March through mid-May 2003). The resulting film systematically dissects the Bush Administration's decisions, and examines how the insurgency and chaos of Iraq are rooted in the flaws of U.S. policy, which apparently include insufficient troop levels, the unchecked looting of Baghdad, the purge of professionals from the Iraqi government, and the dissolution of the Iraqi military. This 2007 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize winner is presented at Eckerd College on Friday evening as part of its International Cinemas Series. Fri., Oct. 5, 7 p.m., Miller Auditorium, 4200 54th Ave. S., St. Petersburg, free admission, 727-864-7979, noendinsightmovie.com.
This article appears in Oct 3-9, 2007.