Written & Directed by Maggie Hadleigh-West and Produced by Hank Levine
War Zone is about sex, power and what happens when men—either knowingly or unknowingly—threaten a woman’s right to walk undisturbed on the streets. What exactly do catcalls, leers or a whole litany of other behaviors mean to a woman? And why do men engage in these behaviors?
Shot all over the US, Hadleigh-West turns her camera on men in the same way that they turn their aggression on her. War Zone is 76 minutes of explosive footage as the filmmaker places herself in very real danger by daring to ask the men on the streets why they are treating a complete stranger in a sexual way. In the process, she has been hit, yelled at, apologized to and engaged in mesmerizing conversations with the men that have harassed her. Through these conversations, Hadleigh-West reveals the anger, fear and frustration as well as the affection, admiration and humor that characterizes relationships between men and women.