DESCRIPTION:
Kate Bush's "Army Dreamers" was blacklisted on the BBC. Here is Norwegian singer/songwriter Moddi's reinterpretation of the 1980 classic.

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ABOUT THE SONG:
SOME CALLED IT THE “VIDEO GAME WAR”. The Gulf War of 1991 saw 34 nations join forces to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein. Western viewers could follow the warfare live on TV, with daily videos brought to their living rooms from cameras aboard US bombers.

At the same time, criticism against the war was muffled. 67 songs that were removed from the BBC because they were considered “inappropriate for airplay” during the combats in the Gulf. One of these songs was Kate Bush’s Army Dreamers, a story about a grieving mother who laments the loss of her fallen son.

“What should he do?
Could have been a rock star,
but he didn’t have the money for a guitar.
Could have been a politician,
but he never had a proper education.
Could have been a father,
but he never even made it to his twenties.”

The individual human suffering of Western warfare is often downplayed. Rather, we are fed with a public narrative about the necessity and urgency of our military involvement. Songs like "Army Dreamers" that highlight the consequences of war, are seldom played on the radio or given public attention.

More than a hundred thousand people lost their lives as a consequence of the Gulf War. "Army Dreamers" was blacklisted for talking about one.

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PRODUCTION TEAM

Director:
Maren Skolem

Producer:
Marte Hansen

Cinematographer:
Annicken Aasheim

Production manager:
Pål Moddi Knutsen

Production designer:
Catrine Gormsen

Editor:
Matilde Fridlund

1st AD:
Marte Hansen

2nd AD:
Line Herud

Focus puller:
Magga Vala

1nd AC:
Sondre Hemstad

Gaffer:
Anton Østerlund

Best boy:
Alexander Ophaug

SFX Make-up:
Ingvild Håheim

Colorist:
Lasse Sevli / Uhørt

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ACTORS

Dad:
Roy-Allan Larsen

Children:
Vetle Bråthen
Heidi Kaafjeld
Berge Grundstad
Linn Sollien Vestad.

Teenagers:
Mats Røysom
Henriette Rinde
Marius Jonassen
Hege Etnestad

Soldiers:
Sigve Bakken
Torstein Reistad
Mikkel Horsberg
Beate Haugsdal.

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TUSEN TAKK

Krypton
Christian Berrum
Location-service
Filmbin
Fiksern
Kapp Kirke
Vestoppland Bussveteran
Julie Tollefsrud Foss
Ramirent
Remi Antonsen
Pål Røed
Anders Fristad Rudolph

Produced with support from Mediefabrikken (v/Remi Antonsen) and Viken Ung (v/Anders Fristad Rudolph)

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Army Dreamers is taken from the album Unsongs, released by Propeller Recordings in 2016.

Producer:
Hasse Rocbach

Musicians:
Pål Moddi Knutsen
Hasse Rosbach
Peder Kjellsby
Katrine Schiøtt
Trondheimsolistene

Mixed by:
Mike Hartung at Propeller Music Division

Mastered by:
Morgan Nicolaysen at Propeller Mastering

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Disclaimer: In Moddi's original interpretation of "Army Dreamers", the line "I've a bunch of purple flowers to decorate a mommy's hero" had been replaced with "daddy's" to reflect the position of the singer, but had to be changed back again in this version due to copyright issues.

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Videoen er støttet av Fond for lyd og bilde.