Jo Wilding and young Iraqi friend, Nov. 2003

Offering a singular take on the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq, ‘A Letter to the Prime Minister’ follows international activist Jo Wilding on her remarkable journey of the last few years, in solidarity with the people of Iraq. Narrated as a letter to Tony Blair and using original diary extracts, from her challenging of the legality of the devastating economic sanctions imposed on the country, through to her activities in Baghdad before and during the 2003 Invasion, the film traces the lineage of non-violent resistance to US/UK policy in the region. Wilding serves as witness to the destruction of the lives of ordinary people during the bombing campaign and their subsequent neglect by Occupation forces and the interim authorities but she also acts, forming the Boomchucka Circus to work with school children and refugees. And in April 2004, that help extended to travelling into Fallujah, when even Al Jazeera had pulled out, to stand alongside the civilians trapped and targeted by US forces.

Exclusive footage from the besieged city creates a moving picture of the terrible impact UK & US foreign policy has had on ordinary Iraqi people, while the film itself stands as a powerful act of remembrance and call to continued protest against an unjust and damaging Occupation.

Jo Wilding is a 29 year old Law student and international activist. She first travelled to Iraq in August 2001 with Voices UK. She returned to Iraq from Feb. 2003 to April 2003 (including the opening weeks of the invasion) and then again from Nov. 2003 to April 2004. In April 2004 she travelled to Fallujah during the siege, where she was an eyewitness to US war crimes (eg. she was in an ambulance targeted by US marines). Her web-log account of the latter (www.wildfirejo.org.uk/feature/display/114/index.php) was widely read on the internet and later anthologised in John Pilger's book "Tell Me No Lies." In a review of the latter that appeared in the Guardian, Roy Greenslade wrote: "[Jo Wilding] deserves a special mention ... Her description of life inside Falluja is immediate, painful and so full of detail it demands to be read and believed."

Julia Guest is a documentary producer. Her earlier work includes ‘Baghdad Stories’ following the work of a group of young Iraqi Journalists establishing a newspaper soon after the occupation of Baghdad in April 2003. She has been working in documentary as a photographer and film-maker for the past ten years across the Middle East and in the UK.

John Pilger is one of the world’s foremost investigative journalists and documentary film-makers. He has authored numerous films and books, most recently ‘Tell Me No Lies’, an anthology of committed journalism that closed with Jo Wilding’s dispatches from Fallujah.

Dr. Eric Herring is Senior Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Bristol and Convenor of the Network of Activist, Scholars of Politics and International Relations (http://www.naspir.org.uk). He is co-authoring a book on the occupation of Iraq with Dr. Glen Rangwala from the University of Cambridge.

Gareth Evans is a writer and critic. He works on the film pages of ‘Time Out London’,and edits the moving image journal ‘Vertigo.’ He is also a joint co-ordinator of Voices UK and travelled to Iraq with Voices in May 2002.