Waffenstillstand

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Three weeks after the fall

of Baghdad in April 2003,..

...there is a gunfight in the city

of Fallujah between US soldiers...

...and local demonstrators.

15 civilians are killed,

including women and children.

ln the following months,

Fallujah becomes the stronghold...

...of Sunni resisance.

While driving through town

on 31 March 2004, four US...

...mercenaries are shot and hanged

from a bridge over the Euphrates.

Pictures of the charred bodies

are published around the world.

On 4 April, the Americans launch

operation "Vigilant Resolve"...

...whose goal is to arrest the killers

and bring peace to the city.

Come on! Quick!

This way!

Quick, quick!

BAGHDAD, 9 APRlL 2004,

GOOD FRlDAY

- My son, nmy son!

- Quick, quick!

Quick, quick!

My son!

Alain!

Volume deficiency shock... blood!

- Leave!

- Type 0 negative.

Please, leave.

Medi, type 0 negative!

- Mombasa.

- lstanbul.

Probably the spleen, the kidney...

...or the colon.

Tachycardia... damn it!

Come on!

Stop!

lt's useless!

lt's been going on like this for days.

What are you doing here?

ln Fallujah, we have no more

blood units, no medication, nothing.

People die, and we watch.

l thought they weren't letting

anyone in or out.

There's a ceasefire

until 5 a.m. tomorrow.

Until sunrise.

We need supplies.

- By this afternoon?

There was gunfire all night.

We have heavy casualties...

...and not even bandages.

You have to help me, Kim.

How? We'll never get

the papers that fast.

l'll try.

- Will you tell them?

No, my son! My son! No!

Sorry. l'm at a press conference.

What? When?

Right away?

Sure, l'm spontaneous, but...

Where did you get the information?

At the press conference...

A ceasefire? Are you sure?

How'd you find out?

The big road in Al Mansour, right?

Okay, we'll be there.

Ralf?

Ralf?

OUT EATlNG!

Damn it!

l'll try to send it tonight.

Yes, it'll be great. Bye!

lt's good you've eaten. We gotta go.

Did it taste good?

Sit down.

lt's Paolo's farewell party.

- Pull up a chair.

- Thanks. We're driving to Fallujah.

- Fallujah?

- We gotta go.

- You're kidding?

- No. l have everything with me.

Tanzim's driving.

l'll explain later.

Hold on.

He's a Shiite, he drives

to the meeting place.

Fallujah is a war zone.

We're traveling with an aid convoy.

There's a ceasefire.

Nobody knows but us.

Are you coming?

- Where are you going?

- To my room.

For weeks you've been saying,

"No way,..

...too dangerous."

l'm not here to read off a teleprompter...

...what l saw on CNN.

lf you don't want to go,

find another job.

Finished? Then l'll get some

batteries. lt'd be a shame...

...if the camera suddenly stopped.

Aiche.

Alain?

A/ain, we have to go!

Coming!

Everything okay?

Yeah, sure.

Everything's just fine.

Sorry, Ralf.

l didn't mean what l said.

The 4 Americans they burned

in Fallujah probably left Baghdad...

...just like us

and got barbecued in Fallujah.

We're in an aid convoy.

They were from Blackwater.

Who cares!

They'd blow up anything.

lf you aren't for them,

you're against them.

l tell you, l got a bad feeling about

this. lt'd be smarter not to go.

What's the smart thing to do?

Film our daily car bomb?

We'll be the first to enter Fallujah.

lt's our chance!

Our chance for what?

To end this f***ing war?

Listen, l've been doing this

for 20 years now.

You know what we'll get?

A 30- second report.

You know why, 'cause

not a single bastard cares.

All they care about is if we get

our heads shot off.

Then we'd be big news.

The van is loaded.

What's wrong?

l almost beat down your door.

Sorry. l was showering.

We're low on blood bottles.

Just one cooler left.

- And this?

- Expired 1 or 2 years ago,..

...but it's okay.

That's why it's cheaper.

And this is for you.

- You're an angel. Do you...

...realize that?

- Can we go now?

- Yes, let's go.

Husam, take Al Urdun Street

and then to Checkpoint Al Mansour.

What? Why Al Mansour?

We're picking up two journalists.

Do we have to?

They're our way in.

A little publicity won't hurt.

My God!

One is quite nice.

Then he's not a good journalist.

Sir, sir?

- Hi.

- Hello!

Sir, sir!

A kilo, please.

Don't you have school?

ls business okay?

Thank you.

- Goodbye.

- Goodbye.

Oliver. They know nothing

about a convoy. Let's go back...

...and film some car bomb.

Then we'd have something.

- They're coming.

Maybe something went wrong.

lt always does.

At least we have fresh dates.

Not bad for a start.

Shall we?

- Yes. Let's go.

Oh, f***!

- Hi, Kim!

- Hi.

My cameraman Ralf Siebert.

Kim Ruyter.

My pleasure.

You aren't serious about the van?

lt's all we could get.

Better than nothing.

Come on. l'm glad it worked out.

Everything okay?

Let's go.

Hold on!

To Fallujah in an unarmored van?

Come on, let's get in.

There's a ceasefire until sunrise

tomorrow. Until sunrise.

By then we'll be

out of there for sure.

lt's only 80 kilometers.

- By tomorrow morning?

Our driver knows the road.

We'll be met by our contact...

...who'll take us to the hospital.

lt's all organized.

Satisfied?

We aren't doing this so you can get

into that nurse's pants,..

...are we?

- Come on, get in.

Peace be with you.

You got papers? The Gls knew

nothing about your "convoy."

We have all we need.

Dr. Alain Laroche

and Husam al Zawiri, our driver.

Can l sit in front?

Then l can do some filming at least.

Alain runs an emergency unit

in Fallujah. The actual hospital...

...is out- of- town.

- The Al- Fallujah Hospital.

lt is the only hospital, that is still

working in town.

How's it going?

We have enough to do.

100 new patients since Monday.

Many died.

- 28, to be precise.

Some are militants,

but a lot of them are civilians.

How do you differentiate between

militants and innocent civilians?

Nobody is innocent.

Says Camus.

Why not pass the checkpoint

and stay on the highway?

This way is safer. This week there

were 3 assaults on the highway.

And we avoid the checkpoints.

l feel a lot safer

when the Gls are nearby.

- The lraqis don't think so.

- But this takes longer.

When will we be in Fallujah?

Around four.

Nice watch.

Thanks. 70 years old, from my

grandfather. A pilot watch.

Your grandfather

served in the Wehrmacht?

He was a pilot. He says he dropped

his bombs into the English Channel.

He probably would've been shot

for that.

Yes, the Germans were

hardly involved in World War 2.

Why do you speak such good German?

l lived there for a long time.

Alain is from Alsace.

He studied medicine in Heidelberg.

You've known each other long?

Somalia. When l started working

for Medicamundi.

Five years ago?

And how long

have you been a war reporter?

l was lucky. l was in Lebanon in

January to report about a bomb attack.

When Joschka Fischer arrived to

arrange an exchange of prisoners,..

...and l was the only German around.

Then l went to Mitrovica,..

...and all hell broke loose

after it had been quiet for years.

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