A woman’s journey across the soul-destroying chasm between war veterans and others. A film about connection and healing.
“A powerful and moving film that gets the non-veteran world interacting with the Veteran as a human being and gives the Veteran the chance to speak and feel safe doing so, something which too rarely happens, Ultimately, both sides are helped to connect, which is essential for us all.” –Shad Meshad, Founder and Director, National Veterans Foundation
Paula Caplan grew up listening to — but not remembering — stories her beloved father, Jerome Caplan, told yearly about being Captain of an all-Black battery in The Battle of the Bulge.
Her bewilderment about her inability to remember those stories led her to listen to hundreds of veterans. Her alarm that veterans’ deeply human reactions to war and rape are diagnosed as mental illness drove her to set up free sessions nationwide for a non-veteran to listen in wholehearted, respectful silence to whatever a veteran wants to say, reducing veterans’ soul-crushing isolation and non-veterans illiteracy about war and rape.
There is a silent suffering, so Paula takes us on her journey through interviews with veterans including a 96-year-old, Black man who served with Captain Caplan, archival footage, and visual art.
“Though this issue has been addressed several times before and comes up in horrible news stories of abused and neglected veterans, homeless veterans and the failure of the government to keep their obligations to those who delivered time and again, risking their lives and not getting anywhere near the thanks they deserve. Caplan has created a key program that can help correct that and let’s hope it is not the last one. This is definitely worth your time.” – Fulvue Drive-In
Endorsed by The National Veterans Foundation; William Joiner Institute for the Study of War and Social Consequences; Minnesota Humanities Center; Returning Veterans Project; & Culturas Music & Arts in Coachella, CA
WINNER, Award of Excellence, WSTL Short, Tight, & Loose Film Competition
WINNER, Awards of Exceptional Merit for Research, Docs Without Borders Film Festival
WINNER, Award of Excellence for Editing, Docs Without Borders Film Festival
WINNER, Award of Exceptional Merit, Depth of Field International Film Festival
“The documentary is sobering and full of hope. I definitely recommend it, but not for a casual, fun movie night. Watch it, when you are ready to expand your understanding and empathy.” – Mama Likes This
“This half-documentary, half-instructional-video film may not be a work of cinematic genius, but it does its audience one better by opening up a cultural dialogue about the unfair standards to which we hold the members of our armed forces. “ – S. Lyons, The Sound View
2014 / 51 Minutes / Color / English / A film by Mark Harris
HOW TO ORDER:
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In-home/personal use copies available on Amazon https://amzn.to/2vjxRgU