Interview with Jake Rademacher from Brothers at War

Posted by: Patty Gale on March 24, 2009 
Filed Under General

brothers-at-warI recently saw the Brothers at War movie in Chicago when it opened on March 13th. I happened to be in Chicago for a business conference and the theater was 2 blocks away from my hotel so I knew I wasn’t going to miss it.

This past Friday, I had the privilege of speaking with the director, Jake Rademacher, in a phone interview and wow, talk about a guy who has poured his soul into this movie.

We talked for nearly 45 minutes, so I’ll post this in two sections. Jake was gracious enough to give me his mom’s contact information as I had a question about her. She and I have been trying to catch up with each other since Friday.

Me: Jake, what is the one main thing you want people to learn and understand from your experience in going over to Iraq to see what is happening over there and especially with your brothers?

Jake: In making Brothers at War, I wanted to give the public a window to what is happening on the front lines, something that they can see on the day to day basis and also for the people who are fighting the day to day war… So, now that people can see them on a personal basis, how they are living their lives, why are they are doing what they are doing.

“That is very positive for us.. because it is a movie that no matter what your political viewpoint is, you can see the day to day activities of what is going on over there.”


One of the things I found out there is a real healing benefit for those that are living the war… It’s as if we now have this tool for those who are living this, where we can show the movie wherever we are, and then have a nice conversation about it, especially at the screenings.

Me: Now that you’ve spent that time there, how does the reality of what is happening differ from the media coverage we see, say on our nightly news?

Jake: One of the benefits of making Brothers at War is that I have an hour and 45 minutes to tell the story.. I don’t have to cram Iraq into 30 seconds… so inherently on a big screen in high definition, I already have a head start into Iraq and the military families and allow them to tell you why their doing what they are doing… You get to be there when Isaac is reunited with his daughter, you get to be there when he has to go back.

The film offers opportunities to see this that are just not available to news media because of the different format..

Secondly, I have a very deep personal connection.. I grew up as the older brother… I looked out for them, so when this disconnect was created because of the lack of information from there (Iraq) to here (US), I was willing to go a little further to get to the heart of the story…

That’s a big thing to do…People ask me “how did you get that access”.. part of it was I was willing to make up my mind to get to the tip of the spear to find out the truth. I wasn’t ordered there. I made the choice to go… I didn’t come with a gun…

You have that same deep connection, too… you have 2 sons.. I feel your need to know… my job is to communicate and maybe take a couple of years of my life, well 4 now really, in really digging into it… I don’t look at things from a black & white perspective as I get into the reality of what is going on and why.

Me: Do you see the possibility of doing a follow-up movie to Brothers at War, perhaps not necessarily going back to Iraq, but keeping the message alive of what our military families go through as part of their daily lives, because the American public is not getting that from the mainstream media.

Jake: Yes, I am going to do something… First, though, I’ve already done some of the follow up and have intended … Brothers at War must be seen on the screen because the movie, well, it’s an interesting thing about the backgound. You see it once and then see it again, and you pick up on things you didn’t get in the background the first time… for example, what’s sitting on the humvee, or off to the side of the road.

It becomes very interesting to see what is this emotional roller-coaster. The second time you see it, you have that same emotion, but you pick up on other things that really captures even more about what this movie portrays.

Down the road, the DVD will have 400 hours of footage.. maybe a follow up.. maybe even catch up where these guys are by then.

I’ve also been getting calls requesting if I’ll go into Afghanistan…I’m definitely thinking about it.

Read Part II of my interview with Jake Rademacher > > >


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  • Hi Sally,

    The Brothers at War is not based on a book. It is a documentary based on the actual events that Jake Rademacher went through in visiting Iraq during his brothers' deployment.

    You can see the full movie site at www.BrothersAtWarMovie.com

    Patty
  • sally McClean
    I am a collage professor in MD and I teach a film'lit class.
    Is the Rademacher documentary Brothers at War from a book?
    Some one said it was from a children's book and someone else said there was a story called The FAther's Day Bike Massacre
    that the film was based on.

    Help. I want to find that short story so I can use this film in my class.

    Sally
  • Renea
    Thanks for this interview. It was insightful and appreciated. My husband, Randy, actually delivers their parents mail in Decatur,daily, and he brought this to my attention just a few days ago. I googled it to find out more. It would be nice to have the opportunity to see the entire thing. Hopefully soon.

    Thanks again.

    Aloha~ Renea Judd
    Illiopolis, Illinois
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