La quinta edici\u00f3n del GI Film Festival San Diego, que se llevar\u00e1 a cabo del 24 al 29 de septiembre, no tiene un tema establecido fuera del prop\u00f3sito del festival: exhibir pel\u00edculas creadas por, para y sobre miembros del servicio militar y veteranos. A\u00fan as\u00ed, los largometrajes, documentales y cortometrajes seleccionados tienen un hilo conductor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“A lot of the films, and specifically \u2018Homemade\u2019 and \u2018Take Me Home Huey,\u2019 have to do with healing from war,” said Lisa Marcolongo, a member of the Advisory Committee for the GI Film Festival San Diego. “We’re still at war and our active duty and our veterans and their families are still healing from war.”<\/p>\n
“Homemade” is a documentary film following a combat veteran and his family for six years as he struggles to reintegrate to civilian life. Its world premiere is at the Museum of Photographic Arts on Sept. 25. “Take Me Home Huey” opens the film fest on Sept. 24 with its portrayal of a San Diego-based artist\u2019s project to restore a Huey helicopter from the Vietnam War and then reunite it with its former crew.<\/p>\n
“\u2018Homemade\u2019 is about Afghanistan. \u2018Take Me Home Huey\u2019 is about Vietnam. These are two different generations. These are two different conflicts and wars. They’re all healing and finding ways to do that, whether it’s through sculpture and art forms, whether it’s through physical activity and things like that,” Marcolongo explained. “It’s something that resonates with multiple generations and we need to be there to help and support them. San Diego has a great collaborative and coalition of service providers and community members that are here just to support them during that journey.”<\/p>\n
Ella ve la divisi\u00f3n entre la vida civil y militar como una de las barreras que dificultan el regreso de los veteranos a sus comunidades. Marcolongo cree que el festival de cine es un lugar importante para que los veteranos se re\u00fanan con personas en el \u00e1rea de San Diego dispuestas a apoyarlos, ya que las bases son en gran medida inaccesibles para los civiles.<\/p>\n
“I understand that there are security protocols and safety is number one, but at the same time, that kind of cut us off from creating more links and connections between the military and the community. That’s just one more reason why the GI Film Festival is so important. It’s not just about watching those films that you’re going to see in that theater; you’re going to be able to meet active duty and veterans at the same time you’re viewing some of those stories and journeys that they wanted to highlight,” she said.<\/p>\n
A Marcolongo le apasiona apoyar a los veteranos debido a la lucha de su esposo con el trastorno de estr\u00e9s postraum\u00e1tico (PTSD, por sus siglas en ingl\u00e9s) cuando regres\u00f3 del combate en 2007. Necesitaba la ayuda y el apoyo de los habitantes de San Diego a medida que la familia aprend\u00eda a manejar su condici\u00f3n.<\/p>\n
“Our family is thriving because of those resources that reached out to us and helped us,” she said.<\/p>\n
Of the films she viewed while making selections for this year\u2019s festival, Marcolongo particularly resonated with “Homemade,” as it showed another family dealing with invisible wounds from war.<\/p>\n
Para los cineastas, dar a los espectadores una perspectiva identificable en pantalla fue una elecci\u00f3n intencional.<\/p>\n
“We really wanted [the film] to feel like you were on the inside and that you were a part of Adam and Victoria and their family’s life,” said director\u00a0Danielle Bernstein.<\/span><\/p>\n La pel\u00edcula en s\u00ed se basa en la empat\u00eda, con los directores detr\u00e1s de las c\u00e1maras describiendo a sus sujetos como amigos cercanos. Cada vez que visitaron a Adam Sorenson mientras navegaba por la vida despu\u00e9s de la guerra, primero se preocuparon por asegurarse de que la familia saldr\u00eda adelante mientras Sorenson luchaba contra la adicci\u00f3n y los problemas de salud, y segundo por la filmaci\u00f3n.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “We’re a couple and we were documenting a couple. I really became friends with Victoria throughout the film,” Bernstein said. She believes since her and co-director Jason Maris did the project together, they were able to connect in a different way than if Maris executed the filming alone. What resulted was an intimate portrayal of the struggles to readjust to civilian life after a traumatic brain injury.<\/span><\/p>\n El Cuerpo de Marines est\u00e1 actualmente en conversaciones con ellos para usar la pel\u00edcula como una posible herramienta de entrenamiento. Bernstein cree que la cultura civil tambi\u00e9n puede aprender algo de los militares y necesita ayudar mejor a las personas a encontrar un prop\u00f3sito en sus vidas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “I’m a huge advocate for how do we make transition more streamlined and more positive and easier to integrate to civilian culture, and also how do civilians start to look at ourselves and how we participate in a culture that doesn’t give us daily feeling of purpose and meaning,” she said.<\/span><\/p>\n Seg\u00fan Maris, los m\u00e9dicos que asistieron a proyecciones privadas de la pel\u00edcula tambi\u00e9n aprendieron a comprender mejor a sus pacientes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Doctors who work with military said, \u2018Wow, this is incredibly insightful because it is all the people that we\u2019ve treated, but it’s what happened before they walk through our door.\u2019 [They have] never even gotten to see that part of the story. [They have] just [seen them] after they’d come for treatment,” Maris explained.<\/span><\/p>\n Maris said, “It’s been very effective in igniting the kind of dialogue that we want to have around these issues.”<\/span><\/p>\n To continue that discussion, they will be a part of a panel, alongside stars Adam and Victoria, after the screening of “Homemade” at the festival.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The local artist featured in the 2017 Emmy-award winning documentary “Take Me Home Huey” will also be speaking at the event. His mixed-media transformation of the Huey was the original premise of the film, but it became about helping Vietnam veterans who visited the 47-foot-long sculpture heal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Seg\u00fan el Departamento de Asuntos de Veteranos de EE. UU., se estima que aproximadamente 7,3 millones de estadounidenses que sirvieron durante la Guerra de Vietnam entre 1964 y 1975 est\u00e1n vivos hoy. Sin embargo, muchos veteranos de la era de la guerra de Vietnam no comparten sus historias o experiencias y se ven afectados por el PTSD.<\/span><\/p>\n “In this case, the art became a catalyst for conversation. It kickstarted conversation and allowed these veterans to open up and talk like they’ve never talked before,” Maloney said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Maloney decidi\u00f3 embarcarse en el proyecto despu\u00e9s de convertir otro helic\u00f3ptero en una escultura. Quer\u00eda hacer lo mismo con un Huey para agradecer a los veteranos que nunca fueron bien recibidos en casa durante la guerra de Vietnam.<\/span><\/p>\n “The first thing that turned me onto thinking about this project was the fact that I learned that there was a 50th commemoration of the Vietnam War,” he said. “When I thought about the Vietnam War, I thought, wouldn’t it be ideal if I could get an old scrapped Huey helicopter and transform that to be a piece of art to thank those that never got a welcome home.”<\/span><\/p>\n Quer\u00eda que el arte involucrara todos los sentidos, raz\u00f3n por la cual contact\u00f3 originalmente a los cineastas para que un documental acompa\u00f1ara la transformaci\u00f3n. El proyecto pronto se volvi\u00f3 viral, con senadores y otros legisladores elogiando el trabajo y un recorrido por el helic\u00f3ptero transformado que viaja por los EE. UU. Actualmente reside en Palm Springs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “I’ve always said this is the proudest thing I’ve done \u2014 the whole project. It’s been incredible and it’s taken off organically. It’s grown by leaps and bounds. When I envisioned the project, I had no [idea] the reach that it would have,” Maloney said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Una l\u00ednea de la pel\u00edcula resultante se ha quedado con Marcolongo, organizador del GI Film Fest.<\/span><\/p>\n “It said, \u2018As I walked through life, there’s a pebble in my shoe. What has helped me the most is helping a fellow veteran,\u2019” she said. “I think that resonates with both of those films as they both wanted to help other veterans and themselves through this healing process.”<\/span><\/p>\n