MUMBAI: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) will help America’s troops overseas celebrate Independence Day this year by screening the studio’s Vietnam war biopic Rescue Dawn in Iraq.

On 4 July, 2007, over 2,000 troops stationed at Camp Anaconda, a large US base near Balad, will screen the film highlighting the amazing life of Dieter Dengler, the only American to ever break out of a POW camp in the impenetrable Laotian jungle during the Vietnam War.

The film, which will also be released in Los Angeles and New York on 4 July, will be introduced with a taped message to the troops from the film’s lead actors Christian Bale, Steve Zahn and Jeremy Davies. Rescue Dawn will expand its release pattern on 13 July, 2007 to additional markets and on 20 July, 2007 the film will be released wide in the US.

MGM arranged the Rescue Dawn screening in Iraq through the motion picture team of The Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), a division of the military which provides products and services to military families worldwide and generates earnings to supplement military morale, welfare and recreation programs.

“We are proud of our troops in Iraq and we wanted to do something special to honor their commitment. Screening a film about Dieter’s heroic life on Independence Day could not be more appropriate to show our thanks to the brave men and women overseas,” said MGM chief operating officer Rick Sands.

Rescue dawn is directed by Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man, Fitzcarraldo) and stars Christian Bale (Batman Begins, The Prestige). Rescue Dawn is the true story of a Dieter Dengler who, from the depths of total darkness, blazed his own willful path to freedom. Dengler, a German-American Navy pilot, received numerous honors for his heroism including the Navy Cross. An inspirational action-adventure and a stark epic of survival, Rescue Dawn reveals how Dengler relied on his courage, endurance and tenacity to find his way home.