James Blunt: Return to Kosovo
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox film
| name = James Blunt: Return to Kosovo
| image =
| caption =
| director = Steven Cantor
| producer = Mikaela Beardsley
Steven Cantor
Mark Cann (co-producer)
| starring = James Blunt
| music =
| editing = Trevor Ristow
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|2007|03|10}}
| runtime = 50 minutes
| language = English
}}
James Blunt: Return to Kosovo is a 2007 documentary film recorded in September 2006, when musician and former British Army Captain James Blunt returned to Kosovo to perform a concert for serving NATO troops, and to visit places and people he had encountered whilst serving in Kosovo in 1999.{{cite web|title=Return to Kosovo|url=http://bff.org.uk/news/return-to-kosovo/|website=bff.org.uk/|accessdate=8 October 2015|date=30 March 2007}} The documentary was directed by Steven Cantor.{{cite web|title=SXSW screening listing |url=http://2007.sxsw.com/film/screenings/film/F8545.html |accessdate=26 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090102180654/http://2007.sxsw.com/film/screenings/film/F8545.html |archivedate=2 January 2009 }}
Synopsis
The documentary interlaces the footage filmed in 2006 with personal videos taken by Blunt in 1999, as well as news footage from the Kosovo conflict. Blunt was reunited with the three interpreters with whom he had worked when his unit was first sent to Kosovo. Together, they had intended to seek out families with whom Blunt and others had interacted; instead, they found abandoned and destroyed homes where these families had once lived. The group also returned to a mass grave that Blunt's squadron had been instrumental in identifying; it was now a traditional cemetery, where most of the dead have been identified and gravestones with their likenesses have been erected. Blunt performed songs from his Back to Bedlam album, including "You're Beautiful". Also included was his performance of No Bravery, a song about the conflict that Blunt wrote during his tour of duty in Kosovo.{{cite journal|last=Williams|first=Holly|date=4 December 2007|title=Documentary depicts another military side of singer/songwriter James Blunt|journal=The Michigan Journal|url=http://media.www.themichiganjournal.com/media/storage/paper255/news/2007/12/04/StudentLife/Documentary.Depicts.Another.Military.Side.Of.Singersongwriter.James.Blunt-3131142.shtml|accessdate=9 August 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080424051426/http://media.www.themichiganjournal.com/media/storage/paper255/news/2007/12/04/StudentLife/Documentary.Depicts.Another.Military.Side.Of.Singersongwriter.James.Blunt-3131142.shtml|archivedate=24 April 2008|df=dmy-all}}
Release and distribution
Return to Kosovo had its world premier at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas on 10 March 2007. In August 2007 the documentary was shown at the Dokufest film festival in Kosovo.{{cite web
| title = Dokufest screening listings
| url =http://dokufest.com/2007/repository/docs/dokufest_2007_web.pdf
| accessdate = 26 January 2010}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}} At the end of 2008, the video was included with the release of the album All the Lost Souls - Deluxe Edition, increasing significantly its distribution worldwide.{{cite web|title=James Blunt: All The Lost Souls - Deluxe Edition|url=http://www.discogs.com/James-Blunt-All-The-Lost-Souls/release/1597561|website=www.discogs.com/|date=November 2008 |accessdate=8 October 2015}} In March 2012, The Live Room powered by Warner Music, the Warner Music Group's official YouTube channel, uploaded the documentary in four parts entitled "James Blunt: Return to Kosovo [From The Vaults]", each episode subtitled as following:
- From Soldier to Singer{{YouTube|UiZwrLlcfNI}}
- Revisiting the Villages{{YouTube|U3W_-oTFHHo}}
- Life in the Villages Before and After{{YouTube|ahJOhKqq3XM}}
- The Inspiration behind "No Bravery"{{YouTube|Jj9n_2ESmzI}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|1112701|James Blunt: Return to Kosovo}}
- [http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/mo/entries/2007/03/09/sxsw_interview_steven_cantor_j.html SXSW Interview: Steven Cantor, ‘James Blunt: Return to Kosovo’]
{{James Blunt}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:James Blunt: Return To Kosovo}}
Category:Documentary films about singers
Category:2007 documentary films
Category:American musical documentary films
Category:2000s English-language films
Category:Films directed by Steven Cantor
Category:British musical documentary films
Category:English-language documentary films
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