Today’s Prayer Focus

Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience

Moral Rating: not reviewed
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Adults
Genre: Documentary
Length: 1 hr. 21 min.
Year of Release: 2007
USA Release: February 9, 2007
DVD released: January 15, 2008
Copyright, Documentary Group Copyright, Documentary Group Copyright, Documentary Group Copyright, Documentary Group Copyright, Documentary Group Copyright, Documentary Group
Relevant Issues
Copyright, Documentary Group

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War in the Bible

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Featuring Sharon D. Allen, , Colby Buzzell, Richard Currey, Robert Duvall, Aaron Eckhart, John Krasinski, Josh Lucas, Paul Fussell, Christopher Gorham, Edward Parker Gyokeres, Joe Haldeman, Sangjoon Han, Ed Hrivnak, Justin Kirk, Yusef Komunyakaa, Jack Lewis, John McCary, Tim O'Brien, Tim O'Brien, Peter O'Meara, James Salter, Michael Strobl, Anthony Swofford, Michael Thomas, Brian Turner, Brian Turner, Blair Underwood, Tobias Wolff
Director Richard Robbins
Producer Talleah Bridges, Adam Hyman, Kristin Lesko, Richard Robbins, Tom Yellin
Distributor Documentary Group

Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “A unique documentary about troops' experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, based on writings by soldiers, Marines, and air men. Some writings were published in the New Yorker in summer 2006. A larger assortment was published as a book by Random House last September. The film drew upon the submissions by soldiers for the book. It’s a remarkable portrait of troops at war—the complexities, doubts, and fears—written with honesty. The 81-minute version of the film (in theatres) includes 11 pieces of writing, with different visual strategies, along with interviews with the writers, and with more established American writers who are also veterans. In the latter group are Tim O'Brien, Yusef Komunyakaa, Tobias Wolff, Joe Haldeman, James Salter, Anthony Swofford, Richard Currey, and Paul Fussell.

The visual approaches range from poet Brian Turner reading directly to camera, to archival footage, to an animated ‘graphic novel,’ to a still photo sequence shot by photographer Antonin Kratochvil. It’s rooted in a program by the NEA that created a series of writing workshops at military bases. After those workshops, the writers submitted pieces for consideration in the book, edited by Andy Carroll. From those writings were selected 11 for inclusion in the film. There is also a 53-minute version of this film which will be airing on PBS as part of the series ‘America at a Crossroads’ in April, 2007. Both of these are different from the other film ‘Operation Homecoming’ from 2007, directed by Lawrence Bridges. That piece was produced by the NEA as a documentary about their writing workshops.”

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