thedrifter
04-05-09, 07:11 AM
Utah filmmaker seeks to help veterans
By Matthew D. LaPlante
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Updated:04/04/2009 07:14:28 PM MDT
Chantelle Squires thought she was working on a project for school.
In 2004, the Brigham Young University film student heard that her neighbor had just returned home from Iraq, where he had served as a Marine Corps sniper. Unable to fathom how the shy, sweet boy she'd grown up with could have been the man behind a sniper rifle, she convinced him to submit to an interview.
The project turned into a years-long effort to document the lives of four Marines from the Utah-based Fox Company of the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines.
The resulting film, "Reserved to Fight," has won critical acclaim, been nationally televised and was singled out by a major veterans advocacy group for support.
Now the documentary has turned into something else. With Monday's release of the film on DVD, Squires and those she worked with are seeking to use the film as a catalyst for education on the struggles of returning war veterans.
To that end, the DVD's extra features include expert interviews on post-traumatic stress disorder and guidance -- for veterans, their friends and families and mental health care providers -- on how to cope with the mental anguish of war.
"Whenever we would screen the film," Squires said, "people would say, 'So what can I do to help?' "
The DVD answers that question, she said. Each scene in the movie is coupled with expert analysis and advice for those who suffer -- and those who want to help.
Squires said many of the extras are culled from hundreds of hours of additional footage shot over years of making the film.
"I always just thought it was such a waste if we didn't let people see some of those things," said Squires, who was in Salt Lake City on Thursday to promote the film at the 2009 Generations Conference, an annual gathering of Utah's mental health professionals at the Salt Palace. "It just made sense to include it."
mlaplante@sltrib.com
Ellie
By Matthew D. LaPlante
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Updated:04/04/2009 07:14:28 PM MDT
Chantelle Squires thought she was working on a project for school.
In 2004, the Brigham Young University film student heard that her neighbor had just returned home from Iraq, where he had served as a Marine Corps sniper. Unable to fathom how the shy, sweet boy she'd grown up with could have been the man behind a sniper rifle, she convinced him to submit to an interview.
The project turned into a years-long effort to document the lives of four Marines from the Utah-based Fox Company of the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines.
The resulting film, "Reserved to Fight," has won critical acclaim, been nationally televised and was singled out by a major veterans advocacy group for support.
Now the documentary has turned into something else. With Monday's release of the film on DVD, Squires and those she worked with are seeking to use the film as a catalyst for education on the struggles of returning war veterans.
To that end, the DVD's extra features include expert interviews on post-traumatic stress disorder and guidance -- for veterans, their friends and families and mental health care providers -- on how to cope with the mental anguish of war.
"Whenever we would screen the film," Squires said, "people would say, 'So what can I do to help?' "
The DVD answers that question, she said. Each scene in the movie is coupled with expert analysis and advice for those who suffer -- and those who want to help.
Squires said many of the extras are culled from hundreds of hours of additional footage shot over years of making the film.
"I always just thought it was such a waste if we didn't let people see some of those things," said Squires, who was in Salt Lake City on Thursday to promote the film at the 2009 Generations Conference, an annual gathering of Utah's mental health professionals at the Salt Palace. "It just made sense to include it."
mlaplante@sltrib.com
Ellie