Gary Mortensen
Gary Mortensen, Director
Shepherds of Helmand
Gary Mortensen, is the founder of Lucky Forward Films and President of the National Combat History Archive in Portland, Oregon. Mortensen is a passionate advocate for the preservation of our veterans legacies and actively supports programs that help support our wounded veterans. Mortensen’s films are hard hitting, honest and non-political and he tries to use as much of the actual photographs and video from his subjects as possible. The result is a raw authenticity that transports the viewer to the front lines of the action.
Mortensen prefers to keep himself out of the spotlight as the director, and this quote reveals why: “What I try to do is give the soldiers a voice,” he says. “Everyone seems to want to speak for the soldiers, and my job is to give them a platform so they can speak for themselves. The soldiers call it the “ground truth”, and that’s what I’m after”.
