ARLINGTON, Va. - Forget Sundance and Cannes. Military members now have their own indie-style film festival.
The GI Film Festival premieres Monday and runs through the week at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1530 P Street Northwest in Washington, D.C. To purchase tickets, visit gifilmfestival.com/tickets.
Attracting stars, such as Kelsey Grammer of the television show "Frasier," and former Sen. Fred Thompson of "Die Hard 2," more than 20 movies will be screened at the festival.
The founder said she started the festival, which includes movies with positive portrayals of Soldiers, because they were disappointed by mainstream motion pictures.
"(They don't) reflect any of the great men and women that I know," said Laura Law-Milliett, co-founder and director of the festival and a 14-year Army veteran, as she recalled a conversation between her and her husband that sparked the idea for the festival. "Every movie was a Soldier as a rapist, murderer or drug dealer."
So, Law-Milliett and her husband, Brandon, put together a showing of positive movies for a small gathering. "Just us and a few friends showing some films on DVD," she said.
Three years later, movie studios now approach her to screen their film, and Vietnam veterans hold their reunions during the festival, she said.
Two movies being shown include: "Taking Chance," in which Kevin Bacon depicts a Marine casualty officer; and Gary Sinise documents a United Services Organization tour with his "Lt. Dan Band: The Documentary."
Guardmembers will also be well represented in the festival, especially in the documentary "Bedford: The Town They Left Behind," a documentary about Company A, 116th Infantry, 29th Division, a National Guard unit from the town of Bedford, Va.
Bedford, with a population of 3,200, gained tragic notoriety by becoming the town with the highest per capita death toll in America during the first 15 minutes of the attack on Normandy during World War II. A total of 22 Soldiers from the town died on D-Day.
The legend of these "Bedford Boys," said Joe Fab, one of the directors, is still talked about in Virginia. The story gained renewed significance when the unit was again called up for service in Afghanistan in 2004.
Fab and Elliot Berlin interview the surviving Bedford Boys, who as wide-eyed, patriotic young men enlisted in the National Guard for the one-dollar-a-week salary and the chance to wear the uniform, among other reasons.
Shortly afterward, the combined forces of Emperor Hirohito unexpectedly attacked Pearl Harbor, and the Guardmembers found themselves training for war. The film tells the stories of survivors and family members in their own words.
As young Citizen-Soldiers, Fab said the recruits were innocent, idealistic and had little concept of what was to come. "The idea that all these young men – 18, 19, 20 – without any combat experience were the first ones on the beach is amazing," he said.
Fab said he tried to avoid ideology in the movie, letting people draw their own conclusions about the righteousness of war. Rather, his objective was simply to get viewers to pay attention to current events.
"If you avoided certain parts of the newspaper, you could go your entire day not knowing your country is at war," said Fab. "I think it's imperative you know what our nation is engaged in."
The comparison between the unit then and now is also a major theme of the film.
"It provokes questions about: ‘What's the same?' and ‘What's different?'" said Fab.
These questions could be posed in every screening with a slate of films depicting servicemembers sacrificing for their country in completely different eras providing the answer.