In honor of Veteran's Day, we have compiled this list of feature films to watch directed by Film Fatales members:
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A Sense of Purpose directed by Jillian Bullock
An Army medic, Diane Torres, struggles to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder and deals with carrying the baby of Captain Nixon, who sexually assaulted her. At the same time Nixon, who is dying from cancer, must confront his past.
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American Veteran directed by Julie Cohen
America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have created a new population of American veterans: service members so severely wounded they would have died in previous wars, but who survive because of advanced medical technology. Sgt. Nick Mendes was paralyzed from the neck down by an IED and suffers from PTSD. American Veteran follows his recovery and sometimes harrowing, sometimes romantic, and often surprisingly funny life.
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Bodies at War directed by Emily Cohen Ibañez
A legacy of its decades long civil war, Colombia is one of the most mine-affected countries in the world. This film offers a window into Colombian people's lives as they strive to rehabilitate themselves and others after landmine injury. The film brings together the perspectives of soldiers, civilians, and medical professionals about what rehabilitation is and means in Colombia. It takes an unflinching look at the corporate industries that grow up around rehabilitation and the ambivalence people feel towards humanitarian campaigns that aim to help them.
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Farmer/Veteran directed by Alix Blair
A combat veteran's fragile struggle to overcome PTSD and transition to life as a farmer in North Carolina.
Handsome Harry directed by Bette Gordon
52 year old Vietnam veteran "Handsome" Harry Sweeney is convinced to seek forgiveness from a comrade he betrayed long ago, David Kagan. As the road stretches out before Harry, we see the full effect that this long ago crime has had on his life. Only through confronting the events of his distant past, and finally confronting David himself, can Harry can begin to truly live again.
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Hero: The Extraordinary Life of Mr. Ulric Cross directed by Frances-Anne Solomon
Inspired by the life and times of the Caribbean war hero, judge and diplomat Ulric Cross spanned key moments of the 20th Century like WW2, African independence movements and Black Power.
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Mickey and the Bear directed by Annabelle Attanasio
Faced with the responsibility to take care of her opioid-addicted veteran father, headstrong teen Mickey Peck does what she can to keep her household afloat. When she receives the opportunity to leave her home for good, she must make the impossible decision between familial obligation and personal fulfillment.
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Served Like a Girl directed by Lysa Helsov
A powerful and poignant look at a group of diverse female veterans as they transition from active duty to civilian life after serving tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, who participate in the "Ms. Veteran America" competition.
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Service directed by Marcia Rock
Women make up 15 percent of today's military. That number is expected to double in 10 years. Service highlights the resourcefulness of seven amazing women who represent the first wave of mothers, daughters and sisters returning home from the frontless wars of Iraq and Afghanistan. Portraying the courage of women veterans as they transition from active duty to their civilian lives, this powerful film describes the horrific traumas they have faced, the inadequate care they often receive on return, and the large and small accomplishments they work mightily to achieve.
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Small Time by Niav Conty
It can be brutal enough just growing up a girl. Then add poverty, addiction, and God to the mix. Armed with a gun and a prayer, Emma and her cat bravely go where too many girls have gone before. It's a war, and we gotta win it.
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Sunken Roads directed by Charlotte Juergens
Don McCarthy was 20 years old on D-Day, when his infantry division landed on Omaha Beach. Don and the other veterans who survived D-Day will soon have passed into memory and legend. This realization inspires 20-year-old filmmaker Charlotte Juergens to join Don and seven other D-day vets on a journey to France – a commemorative pilgrimage to Omaha Beach for the 70th anniversary of the invasion.
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Surviving the Silence directed by Cindy Abel
Two women in love are surviving the demands of a closeted military career when one is forced to expel an Army hero for being a lesbian. The way she does it, however, leads to re-instatement and eventual change in military policy.
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This is Not a War Story directed by Talia Lugacy
A ragtag group of combat veterans in New York whose anti-war art, poetry and papermaking keep them together, despite the spectre of their friend's suicide and the ever-crystalizing fact that healing from war is sometimes an impossible mission.
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TransMilitary directed by Fiona Dawson & Gabe Silverman
Around 15, 500 transgender people serve in the U. S. miary (notably the largest transgender employer in the U. S.), where they must conceal their gender identity because military policies ban their service. TransMilitary chronicles the lives of four individuals (Senior Airman Logan Ireland, Corporal Laila Villanueva, Captain Jennifer Peace & First Lieutenant El Cook) defending their country's freedom while fighting for their own. They put their careers and their families' livelihoods on the line by coming out as transgender to top brass officials in the Pentagon in hopes of attaining the equal right to serve.
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Union directed by Whitney Hamilton
Over 400 women fought disguised as men on both sides of the U.S. Civil War. This is the story of Henry Kieler...
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