James Spione, whose documentary "Incident in New Baghdad" was nominated for an Academy Award, will be in Fargo Friday and Saturday as part of the 12th annual Fargo Film Festival underway through Saturday.
The downtown Fargo Theatre is the headquarters for the Fargo Film Festival with other events taking place at locations in Fargo and Moorhead.
A special screening of "Incident in New Baghdad" and a question-and-answer session with Spione will be from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Friday at Livington Lord Library, Room 103, at Minnesota State University Moorhead. This event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited.
"Incident in New Baghdad" also will be shown at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Fargo Theatre as part of the Fargo Film Festival's Best of the Fest closing night. Spione will participate in a brief Q&A session that evening as well.
Nominated for 2012 Best Documentary (short subject), Spione's film is about the Iraq War on July 12, 2007, when two Apache helicopters opened fire on a group of people in Baghdad, killing two Reuters journalists and a number of other unarmed civilians. In April of 2010, WikiLeaks released classified footage of the incident from a gunsight camera in what became known as the "Collateral Murder" video.
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One of the first infantry soldiers to reach the scene on the ground, Ethan McCord, was the only veteran willing to speak publicly about what happened. He became the the subject of Spione's documentary.
The film won Best Documentary Short when it premiered at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, and garnered the Grand Prize for Documentary Short at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. It won the Documentary Short category for the 2012 Fargo Film Festival and is currently nominated for several Best in Show awards.
Spione's other documentaries include "American Farm," a documentary feature, and "Garden," a fiction film starring Melissa Leo.
Other directors, writers and actors who will visit the film festival:
• Director Matt Walsh (whose movie credits include "The Hangover") has a narrative feature selection, "High Road," that will show at 4 p.m. Saturday. Info: HighRoadMovie.com/. An actor from the movie, Jose Lo Truglio ("Wet Hot American Summer"), also will be on hand.
• Filmmaker Don Hertzfeldt, whose film "Rejected" was nominated for a best animated short Oscar in 2000, has brought "An Evening With Don Hertzfeldt," which will show at 7 tonight. Info: BitterFilms.com/.
• Actor/Writer Fred Stoller (Ray's mopey cousin on "Everybody Loves Raymond") has a narrative feature selection, "Fred & Vinnie," that will be shown at 4 p.m. Friday. Info: FredandVinnie.com/.
• Actress Sarah Hagan (Millie Kentner in "Freaks and Geeks"), has a narrative feature selection, "Jess + Moss," that will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Info: JessAndMoss.com/.
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For tickets to the film festival, call the Fargo Theatre at (701) 239-8385, or visit the box office.
For more information and a complete schedule of films, go to fargofilmfestival.com.
