Gary Sinise Foundation Presents GI Film Festival 2011

The 5 Nov GIFF LA event has been postponed until further notice. All tickets have been refunded

Coming Saturday, November 5th, 2011!

The Gary Sinise Foundation and the GI Film Festival is bringing the best military films to Los Angeles for one day at the GI Film Festival, Los Angeles Edition!

The GI Film Festival, a 501(c)3 non-profit public education foundation, is the first and only film festival in the nation dedicated to the American Armed Forces. Our mission is to honor the successes and sacrifices of American GIs through the medium of film.

We bring Hollywood and the military together to create a venue for artists to tell the story of the American veteran, both past and present. In addition to the main Washington, DC event, the GI Film Festival also hosts “Road Shows”as well as co-producers of GI Film Festival Film Night on the Military Channel.

The Gary Sinise Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 and who is mission is to serve and honor our nations defenders.

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When: Saturday, November 5th, 2011  |  12pm – 1:30pm

Includes: The Last to Leave, M.I.L.O Goodbye 09, Something Special, Line of Departure, and the Telegram Man.

The Last to Leave
Directed by Pat Clark
Documentary Short (19 Minutes)

April 29, 1975: As the North Vietnamese Army surrounded Saigon, the order was given to evacuate. In 19 hours, 81 helicopters air lifted nearly 6,000 Vietnamese and more than 1,000 Americans from Saigon during the largest helicopter evacuation in history.

The Last to Leave documents the final day of the Vietnam War through the eyes of those who lived it. Featuring dramatic images and compelling firsthand accounts, this film captures the desperation, chaos and emotion from three unique perspectives.

M.I.L.O Goodbye 09
Directed by Julius Telmer
Documentary Short (4 Minutes)

Danish rapper M.I.L.O.’s first official documentary style music video tells the real life story of the 6-month journey that brought the rapper from his last concert in Denmark to the war in Afghanistan as a soldier. The song “Farvel til ’09” (Goodbye ’09) is the goodbye letter he wrote to his family in the event he would be killed in action.

Something Special
Directed by Kristi L. Simkins
Narrative Short (3 Minutes)

A young war veteran explores the magnificent wilds of New Zealand to fulfill the last wish of a close friend who died in combat, allowing the veteran to reconnect with his friend while coming to terms with the traumatic memory. This is a powerful film about friendship, loss, and healing.

SOMETHING SPECIAL was written and directed by Kristi L. Simkins. With Academy Award-winning producer Barrie Osborne (LORD OF THE RINGS, THE MATRIX) as executive producer, the film was shot with a RED ONE on location in Queenstown, New Zealand. SOMETHING SPECIAL features the voice of retired U.S. Marine Dallas Barnett.

“[SOMETHING SPECIAL] was well performed and beautifully directed. The idea of contrasting the peace and beauty of New Zealand with the horror of war was an interesting and ambitious undertaking. I commend Kristi for taking risks with the storytelling.”

– Sir Peter Jackson (LORD OF THE RINGS)

Line of Departure
Directed by Folleh Tamba
Documentary Short (28 Minutes)

His mother hails from Sierra Leone, the land of blood diamonds; his father is from Liberia, in West Africa. He survived a civil war and now he is about to go war for his adopted country of America.

Take a journey with award-winning filmmaker and United States Marine Folleh Tamba as he shares his most personal thoughts in the hours leading up to his deployment.

The Telegram Man (Australia)
Directed by James Khehtie
Narrative Short (14 Minutes)

During World War II, Australia’s small farming communities paid a terrible price. In the rural towns of New South Wales, one family each week discovered their son, husband, brother or father would not be coming home. In the throws of such grief, one seldom considers the man who delivers the news – the telegram man. This beautifully crafted short film stars three international screen legends – Australian actors Jack Thompson, Gary Sweet and Sigrid Thornton.

When: Saturday, November 5th, 2011  |  1:40pm – 3:00pm

The Wereth Eleven
Directed by Robert Child
Documentary Feature (71 Minutes)
The Wereth Eleven retraces the steps taken by eleven African American GIs from the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion when their unit was overrun by Germans at the start of the Battle of the Bulge. Their 10-mile trek from their battery position to Wereth, Belgium would be the last journey of their lives as a local resident turned them in to an SS scouting party.

Subsequently all eleven were butchered and killed in one of the least understood and unknown war crimes of WWII.

When: Saturday, November 5th, 2011  |  3:10pm – 4:45pm

Includes: We Were the Vanquished and The Real MASH

The Real MASH (Canada)
Directed by Min Sook Lee
Documentary Short (48 Minutes)

The Real MASH traces the original stories that inspired the fictional TV series and film set during the Korean War.

Both pushed buttons on cultural and social frontiers but Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) units were more like renegade units and early indicators of the social turmoil and tensions that were to unfold later in the USA.

Interviews with MASH actors, including Jamie Farr, Loretta Swit and Gary Burghoff, co-creator Gene Reynolds, as well as the military surgeons, doctors, nurses, pilots and enlisted men who served in the war are blended with dramatic recreations, archival film and rare photographs to tell the true stories behind the MASH series.

We Were the Vanquished (Holland)
Directed by Joshua Sampson
Documentary Short (40 Minutes)

Pieter Gerard Vanderhooft was targeted for death by the Nazis for his activities as part of the Dutch resistance in World War II. Twice jailed and even placed on death row, Vanderhooft miraculously survived to fight another day. Complete with heart-pounding reenactments, We Were the Vanquished gives rare insight into the personal experiences and struggles of a Dutch war hero.

When: Saturday, November 5th, 2011

Reception:  7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. | Patrol Base Jaker: 9:30 p. to 11:30 p.m.

Includes: Cocktail Reception (includes open bar and free appetizers) and screening of Patrol Base Jaker

Patrol Base Jaker
Directed by David Scantling
Documentary Feature (93 Minutes)

Patrol Base Jaker details a remarkable Marine success story in Afghanistan. Through intimate, behind-the scenes access to US and Afghan government and civilians, the film follows U.S. Marine combat and civil affairs teams in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, as they work to defeat the Taliban and secure the Afghan population.

Patrol Base Jaker takes the audience to the front lines where US policy meets the reality of on-the-ground execution through the context of day-to-day life in Helmand where the Marines have been deployed to change the situation on the ground.

The Gary Sinise Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 and who is mission is to serve and honor our nations defenders.