Film
Arts, Military + Healing Documentary Film Project
May 13-18, 2012
Veteran Artist Program, Vets on Set. Film Team: Josh Davidson (Air Force) and Jeremy Paris (Army), VOS, Andrea Hull, Andrea Hull Video, with the assistance of many other veterans.
During the Arts, Military + Healing workshops and public events, you will see Vets on Sets taping for a short video to be posted on the Veteran Artist Program (VAP) website soon after the Collaboration week. The video will provide an overview of the week—we hope that other communities will see what we have done in DC, and adapt some of those ideas and experiences to the needs of their own locales.
Vets on Sets (VOS) is an initiative of the Veteran Artist Program which brings military veterans into the filmmaking industry. VOS seeks out relationships with local, regional, and national film and TV producers to match veterans with film and TV industry jobs. This is a strong mutually beneficial relationship that simultaneously creates a ready source of reliable, hard-working and skilled personnel for producers, while providing veterans avenues to pursue their love of filmmaking.
The reality of shooting a film is similar to the on-the-ground truth of being in the military, especially the combat zone experience. Both are intense environments where long hours of multi-tasking are the norm.
Some might ponder whether the military and filmmaking communities are compatible environments, in the belief that they are at odds with each other over politics, the depiction of war in movies, etc. The truth is that they have much in common. Hard work, intelligence, efficiency, commitment, and the completion of the day’s objectives are all requisite in both communities. The focused mindset and complete-the-mission orientation are fully compatible. VOS believes that both communities have a lot to learn from each other.
Film Screening and Panel Discuss
Thursday, May 17, 2012, 6:00-8:00 pm
Where Soldiers Come From, directed by Heather Courtney.
Corcoran Gallery of Art, College of Art + Design, Washington, DC
This documentary film which follows several young men from northern Michigan as they sign up for the National Guard, through their return from service in Afghanistan as 23-year old disillusioned veterans. Where Soldiers Come From looks beyond the guns and policy of an ongoing war to examine the effect on parents, loved ones and the whole community when young people go off to fight and return to deal with Traumatic Brain Injury. The film’s director, Heather Courtney, the executive director of Women in Film and Video, Melissa Houghton, and one of the featured veterans, Dominic “Dom” Fredianelli, will participate in a panel discussion following the film.
Related Event:
GI Film Festival
May 14-20, 2012, Washington, DC
During the month of May - Armed Forces Appreciation Month - the GI Film Festival present films from new and established international and domestic filmmakers that honor the heroic stories of the American Armed Forces and the worldwide struggle for freedom and liberty. The Festival’s mission is to honor the successes and sacrifices of American GIs through the medium of film. For a complete listing of films and related programs, such as a Filmmaker Boot Camp on Friday, May 18, 2012.