Washington, D.C. (November 4, 2007) -- Redacted, the controversial new film about the rape of an Iraqi girl by U.S. soldiers, will premiere next week on HDNet Movies, the 24-hour high-def TV network.

The movie, directed by Brian De Palma, will air on HDNet Movies on November 14 at 10:15 p.m. ET, which is two days before its theatrical release in Landmark Theaters. (An encore showing will be broadcast at midnight ET.)

Mark Cuban is the co-owner of both Landmark Theaters and the two high-def TV networks, HDNet and HDNet Movies. And Cuban's Magnolia Pictures produced the movie, which is why HDNet viewers will get the first peek.

However, the film will only air on HDNet Movies on November 14.

Redacted, which was shot on HD video, is sure to generate enormous controversy in the U.S. The film is based on the real-life rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl by four American soldiers, three of whom have been convicted by military tribunals.


Director Brian De Palma.

When the movie was shown this summer at the Venice Film Festival, Reuters reports that some viewers were deeply disturbed by its graphic and violent images.

De Palma, who's no stranger to controversy having helmed such violent films as Dressed to Kill, Carrie and Casualties of War, says the movie is aimed at stopping the U.S. involvement in Iraq.

"The movie is an attempt to bring the reality of what is happening in Iraq to the American people," De Palma said after last week's screening at the Venice Film Festival, according to Reuters. "The pictures are what will stop the war. One only hopes that these images will get the public incensed enough to motivate their Congressmen to vote against this war."

The rape of a young girl by military personnel during combat is not new territory for De Palma who used the same premise for Casualties of War which starred Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox as U.S. soldiers in Vietnam. (Redacted features a cast of unknown actors.)

But he says this film is different because he contends that Americans are being shielded from the horrors that the war is bringing to Iraqi civilians.

"In Vietnam, when we saw the images and the sorrow of the people we were traumatizing and killing, we saw the soldiers wounded and brought back in body bags. We see none of that in this war," De Palma said, Reuters reports.

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