Photo by Brian Palmer
Full Disclosure
October 12, 2011
7 p.m. – Wilson Hall, 214
The Center for the Humanities and University Libraries will host independent journalist and filmmaker Brian Palmer for a presentation of his documentary film, Full Disclosure, at 7 p.m. on Oct. 12 (Wilson 214) . The event is free and open to the public, with a reception in Olin Library’s Ginkgo Reading Room immediately following the screening.
In conjunction with the screening, an exhibition of Palmer’s photography and journal excerpts, “The Ethics and Aesthetics of Embedding,” will be featured in the Grand Staircase Lobby in Olin Library.
Also on display will be an exhibit of war-related materials from the Libraries’ Department of Special Collections in a special exhibit,” Documenting War.” This exhibit is co-curated by the Film and Media Archive, University Archives, Rare Books, and the Modern Graphic History Library, and will run till the end of October.
Full Disclosure, shot by Palmer during his time as an embedded journalist with a U.S. Marine combat unit in Iraq, concentrates on the daily activities of the American troops and the effects on the troops themselves as well as Iraqi civilians. Palmer made his first trip to Iraq as journalist and photographer in 2004. Armed only with a pen and a camera, he felt that his essays and photographs did not sufficiently capture the experience. So when he returned in 2005 and 2006, he brought a video camera.
“I tried to probe deeper into the stories of the Marines and the Iraqi men and women I met,” Palmer says. The film also explores the filmmaker’s conflicting role as an impartial journalist sometimes mistaken for a Marine.
“My presence affected everyone’s behavior. Although I didn’t carry a gun, I looked intimidating in my black helmet, desert camouflage bulletproof vest, and combat boots,” he says. “Small children cried and ran away if I came too close.”
Palmer has written for Mother Jones, The Huffington Post, Pixel Press.org, and ColorLines, among others, and produced video projects for various outlets including PBS and MTV. He is a Fellow at NYU’s Center on Law and Security and the recipient of a Nation Institute grant for reporting in Bangladesh in 2010. Palmer received a Ford Foundation Knowledge, Creativity, and Freedom grant in 2008 to complete Full Disclosure. He is an instructor at The School of Visual Arts in New York City and an adjunct instructor at Baruch College, City University of New York.
For more information, contact the Libraries’ Film & Media Archive at 314-935-6154.
