The GI Film Festival, supported by Ranger Up, will have it’s fifth annual event May 12-16 in Washington DC. If you’re in the area check it out here.
Overall, the G.I. Film Festival will feature a total of 35 narrative and documentary full-length and short films during the five-day event. Subject matter ranges from World War II themes of courage, sacrifice and brotherhood to present-day struggles including veteran homelessness and post-traumatic stress.
“This year, the G.I. Film Festival will put the spotlight on the full range of human emotions experienced by American G.I.s inside the arena of war and back on the homefront,” said G.I. Film Festival co-founder Brandon Millett. “This is an exceptional line-up of films that will entertain, captivate and inspire,” added festival co-founder Laura Law-Millett.
Festival screenings include actress Glenn Close’s directorial debut in Pax. Pax is the story of Sergeant Bill Campbell who returned home from Iraq with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. Sgt. Campbell reclaims his life from an unlikely source: a dog named Pax, trained by an inmate at the Bedford Hills (NYC) Correctional Facility for Women. Following the screening, a panel discussion on post-traumatic stress will include Ms. Close, former ABC co-anchor and award-winning reporter Bob Woodruff and Brigadier Gen. Loree Sutton, Director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.
The festival will also host the world premiere of Starting Strong, a new Army reality show created, produced, directed and narrated by actor Ricky Schroder as well as an advanced screening of the new documentary Lt. Dan Band: For the Common Good with special guest actor Gary Sinise. Filmmaker and veteran of the 82nd Airborne, Jonathan Flora, directed Lt. Dan Band.
Another festival world premiere, Chosin, features the work of two Iraq War veterans, Brian Iglesias and Anton Sattler, who lived out of a van and operated on a shoestring budget to complete their epic documentary Chosin, which chronicles one of the most savage battles in American history, the Korean War’s Chosin Reservoir Campaign.
The G.I. Film Festival’s Filmmaker Boot Camp will return this year. Budding directors and other attendees will learn how to finance, market and pitch their own films during this all day event.
The G.I. Film Festival’s principal venue is the Carnegie Institution for Science, 1530 P St., N.W., Washington, D.C. The festival will host the post-traumatic stress panel at the Canadian Embassy and a congressional reception in the Russell Senate Caucus Room. Media registration is encouraged, and available at http://www.gifilmfestival.com/credentials. Individual tickets and festival passes can be purchased online at www.gifilmfestival.com/tickets.
RU’s Kelly Crigger produced this video trailer to give you a taste of what you’ll see. Check it out and if it sucks, keep it to yourself.
