In 97 minutes, pull back the veil of the Iraq war and catch a glimpse of the conflict through a different lens.

Tonight, the UGA Progressives, along with Students for Peace, will be screening “The War Tapes.”

The film captures the war in Iraq, Operation Iraqi Freedom, through the lives of soldiers on the front lines.

“It brings out a different perspective of the Iraq war through the eyes of the soldiers,” said Samiron Dutta, a senior biological engineering major from Augusta and member of the UGA Progressives. “It’s a side Americans have not seen.”

Xavier Kim, a senior water and soil resources major from Auburn and a member of Students for Peace, also echoes this sentiment.

“There has been a lot of media coverage of the war. [This film] takes away the mysticism of Hollywood and puts it on a reality basis.”

In March 2004, upon arriving in Iraq, one unit of the National Guard began filming its experience. Five soldiers spent an entire year filming, with the heart of the movie following three soldiers – Sgt. Stephen Pink, Specialist Mike Moriarty and Sgt. Zack Bazzi.

The men were based in an area known as the Sunni Triangle, known as a dangerous spot for troops in Iraq, according to the movie’s Web site.

Its three boundary points lie in Tikrit, Ramadi and Baghdad, with Fallujah on its southern border.

“I was surprised by how raw it is, the struggles that soldiers go through,” said Zaid Jilani, a sophomore international affairs major from Kennesaw and member of Campus Greens.

“The soldiers are always in danger and try to live their lives in a normal fashion despite being in a war zone.”

Despite filming more than 800 hours of tape in Iraq, the film also looks at the lives they left here in the U.S.

Each of the three men have women in their lives, be it a wife, girlfriend or mother.

Showing the more personal side of their lives, 200 hours of film was shot documenting their families at home, both during deployment and after returning home.

“It’s a message that hits home pretty hard when you realize these soldiers are our age,” Dutta said.

Kim, Jilani and Dutta said they believe that it is particularly important for students to view the film in light of the 2008 presidential election in November.

“We wanted to show it because these are the top issues that the president will have to deal with,” said Dutta.

Jilani also expressed a similar viewpoint, believing that knowledge is power.

“It’s important for students to see the film so they can inform themselves about the war and make informed choices about voting,” Jilani said.