Bulletproof Salesman

Fidelis Cloer is a salesman from Germany who has enjoyed a surprising windfall as a result of the long war in Iraq -- he works for a company that manufactures armored and bulletproof vehicles that have become popular with Iraqi officials and representatives of international firms doing business in the country. While war has boosted his business, Cloer resents being called a war profiteer, insisting (not incorrectly) that he's not selling weapons but safety, though as Iraqi guerillas become better at creating improvised explosive devices, his designers must constantly improve their vehicles to stand up to the destructive force. As Cloer puts it, "We do not create the demand. The demand is here." Filmmakers Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein, who previously looked at the lives of American soldiers in Iraq with their documentary Gunner Palace, profile Cloer and the business of selling a bit of safety in an unsafe land with their film Bulletproof Salesman. The picture was an official entry at the 2008 South by Southwest Film Festival.