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LIST OF KEY PERSONNEL
Director: John H. Smihula Producers: Viví Letsou, John H. Smihula Co-Producer: Andrés Thomas Conteris Associate Producers: Andrea Zondler, Susan Jane Director of Photography: Chip Holley Editor: Andrea Zondler Contributing Editors: Kenji Yamamoto, Bob Spector Music Composer: Luis Perez Sound Designer: Jim LeBrecht Consultant: Sandra Alvarez Narrator: Martin Sheen
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
. John is an English instructor at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he teaches literature, composition, and film. He has included his documentary in two of his courses: “Intellectual Self-Defense: Understanding the American Mass Media” and “’Where are the Snowdens of yesteryear?’: Considering War and Resistance.”
. A native of Greece, Viví finished her studies in the U.S., graduating with honors with an A.A. in business administration, a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering, and a Master’s degree in Theater Arts. Viví’s fifteen-year career as director and producer of commercial and educational shows for McArthur Advertising has enabled her to master all phases of production. She has written, directed and produced 15 plays and five award-winning short films. In 1987, she established KINISI Worldcenter in San Jose, which was the first ethnic dance and music school in the area. She organized school performances and large-scale ethnic dance festivals and carnival events, and worked for the Office of Cultural Affairs as a co-producer of the San Jose New World Festival.
. Andrés has promoted human rights throughout Latin America for 25 years. He has traveled throughout the Americas as a human rights advocate, meeting with both rebel leaders and government officials. In January of 2001 he was presented with an award by human rights organizations in Honduras for his advocacy work. He is currently co-producing a documentary about the U.S. bombing of Vieques.
. A native of Germany, Andrea came to the U.S. to study film and graduated from the American Film Institute in 1996. Since then she has edited thirteen feature films including award-winning features “Camera Obscura,” and “Skeleton Woman,” “Flip Side”(which was an Official Sundance Film Festival selection in 2001), “Vivaldi,” “Dreamers,” “Chasing Parked Cars,” “Ginseng Power,” and “Jerks.”
Susan Jane: Associate Producer Coming from a Fine Arts background, Sue made her first short films on 16mm, writing, producing, directing, and editing "Kyudo" (1993) and "Safe as Houses" (1994), and producing a radio documentary, "Native Voices" (1993). She has been active in the independent film scene in San Francisco for the last ten years as a producer and off-line editor while working professionally as a camera assistant, lighting technician, location scout, and production coordinator on various film and video projects. Her credits include producer and editor of "Baker Paints Cakes" (1997) and production coordinator for "Skeleton Woman," both of which screened at the Mill Valley Film Festival
Chip Holley: Director of Photography Chip has been working in the photographic field for over 10 years. He has worked in film, video, and still photography. A graduate of the Brooks Institute of Photography, he currently earns a living doing corporate videos. He has a passion for documentaries, and this is the third documentary project he has worked on. Having been raised on a military base, he appreciated the chance to work on a project about the military and has found the whole process challenging and edifying.
James LeBrecht, Sound Designer Jim has worked as a mixer and sound designer at the Saul Zaentz Film Center since the early 1990s. His credits as a sound supervisor and editor for feature films and documentaries include: “Skeleton Woman,” “The Cockettes,” the Sundance documentary winner “Daughter from Danang,” “Hope Along the Wind: The Harry Hay Story,” “Discovering Dominga,” “In Service to the Dream,” “Store Wars,” “Barney's Great Adventure” (as supervisor/designer), “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story,” “Twin Peaks--Fire Walk With Me,” Serial Mom,” “Crossing the Bridge,” “500 Nations” (CBS), “Earth and the American Dream” (HBO), and “The Chariot Races.”
Luis Perez, Music Composer A native of Mexico, Luis has dedicated his life to the study of pre-Columbian musical instruments, and to researching the living musical traditions of Mexico’s many ethnic groups. His collection of hundreds of native Mexican instruments includes archeological artifact, some dating more than 2,000 years. He composes music by combining pre-Hispanic instruments with the realm of electronics. During the last few years he has been composing music for the “Earth Rescue” and “Friends of the Forest” series which won an award during 2000 and five more in 2001 for “Outstanding Documentary Series.” Luis has composed music for many feature films including “Road to El Dorado,” “Skeleton Woman,” “La Carpa,” “Sometimes They Come Back,” and award-winning documentaries like “Pipe dreams: Oil vs. Arctic Wildlife Refuge,” “Coyote Walking,” “Wild Horses: Homeless on the Range,” and “Elephant Abuse.” His most recent work has been as a composer and sound designer for the play “R. Buckminster Fuller: The History [and Mystery] of the Universe.”
Sandra Alvarez, Consultant Sandra works for Global Exchange, a grassroots human rights organization based in San Francisco. A native of Colombia, she focuses on social and economic issues, particularly those related to "Plan Colombia." She spends much of her time either in Colombia or traveling the United States speaking about Colombian issues.
Martin Sheen, NarratorA well-known TV and film actor who for the last several years has played the president of the United States in the popular and award-winning TV show “The West Wing”. Apart from his present role, he is most famous for his portrayal of an Army captain in “Apocalypse Now”. He is also a noted peace activist.
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–John H. Smihula: Director, Producer
–Viví Letsou: Producer
–Andrés Thomas Conteris: Co-Producer 
–Andrea Zondler: Associate Producer, Editor