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2009
Feature Documentary Winner
Perfect Valor
In 2004,
coalition forces in
Iraq
launched Operation Phantom Fury, the battle for control
of Fallujah. American troops fought through a city of
enemy insurgents, moving house to house and street to
street to seize control of the most dangerous city in
the world. Perfect Valor is the story of the price paid
by
U.S.
forces and the legacy of that campaign as seen through
the eyes of the men and women who were there, risking
their lives in service to their country.
Narrator
Fred Dalton Thompson
David Bossie
Producer
David C. Taylor
Director; Writer
David Bossie
Producer
Citizens United Productions
Presents Perfect Valor
Runtime:
90 min
http://perfectvalor.com/
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2009
Feature Documentary Runner-Up
Bedford: The Town They
Left Behind
On June
6, 1944, members of a National Guard unit comprised
largely of volunteers from
Bedford
,
Virginia
, joined hundreds and hundreds of fellow soldiers in the
terrible assault on
Normandy
’s
Omaha
Beach
. Of 35 men from
Bedford
, 19 died in the opening moments of what would come to
be known as D-Day. On a per capita basis,
Bedford
lost more soldiers that day than anyplace else in the
United States
Elliot Berlin & Joe
Fab
Producer
Elliot Berlin & Joe
Fab
Director and Writer
Runtime:
75 min
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Filmmaker Info
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2009
Best Narrative Feature
Everyman's War
As the
seasoned infantry and tank units of the German 11th
Panzer 'Ghost' division move silently into position on
the snowy hills around Nennig Germany, a battle weary GI
and his unit stand ready to defend the small town, a key
position in the Allied advance to win the war. Outgunned
and outnumbered, Sgt. Don Smith (Cole Carson) struggles
to find hope and courage against overwhelming odds in
one of the decisive confrontations in the '
Battle
of the Bulge'.
Thad Smith
Director
Thad Smith
Executive Producer
Runtime:
100 min
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2009
Founder's Choice Award
Triangle of Death
Join
the Marines of 2/24 as they take you on a journey
through one of
Iraq
's deadliest regions known as The Triangle Of Death.
Feel what it's feels like to survive through a tour of
duty during the largest combat engagement since the
Vietnam war. Struggle through all the hardship of daily
life in a combat environment though a country without
law and order as the Marines struggle to keep order.
They must survive all that is thrown at them -- fire
fights, car and roadside bombs, snipers -- no matter
what, the Marines are relentless. They can only accept
mission accomplishment of securing The Triangle Of Death
for the first Iraqi election. The Marines of 2/24 have
beared the hardships of their deployment onto the Corps
ethos of unremitting toughness, as they secured The
Triangle of Death for
Iraq
's first election.
Folleh Tamba
Director
Runtime:
90 min
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2009
Best Documentary Short
A Touch of Home
Armed
only with smiles...627 young American women on the front
lines of the Vietnam War brought entertainment, a
smiling face, and a reminder of home to millions of
young American men who otherwise faced the grim, daily
reality of death. A Touch of Home: The Vietnam War’s Red
Cross Girls pays tribute to their courage and their
actions through their amazing stories and those of the
people they helped.
Cheryl Fries
Director
Runtime:
40 min
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2009
Best Narrative Short
Witt's Daughter
The
story of a young man driven by expectations and love for
his family as he returns from the Korean War and finds
himself coldly rejected by his three year old daughter.
Suddenly left alone with her on his first night home,
Witt Stringfield struggles to be a father to a little
girl who sees him as an unwelcome stranger. In
desperation for the love he lost, Witt struggles with
the thought that the war has robbed him of not only his
innocence, but his daughter as well.
Carole Holiday
Director
Runtime:
39 min
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2009
Best Student Film
Kapisa
Caught in the crossfire of the intensifying war in
Afghanistan
, members of a small team of US Army soldiers are forced
to choose between promises made to one another and those
assured to their loved ones back home.
Kyle
Hausmann-Stokes
Director
Runtime:
19 min
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2009
Best First Time Filmmaker
The Inheritance of War
Detailing an ongoing fight for justice, The Inheritance
of War follows the little-known tale of thousands WW II
soldiers who were held as prisoners of war in the
Philippines after one of the worst military defeats in
United States history. The emotional story of survival
and hardship describes nearly-forgotten events like the
march of death across the
Bataan
Peninsula
, the “hell ships” that carried prisoners of war to
Japan, and harrowing stories of starvation, poor
treatment, and harsh conditions experienced when the men
were forced to work as slave laborers.
Ashley Karra
Director
72 min
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2009
Best Military Family
Film
Lioness
Lioness presents the untold story of the first group of
women soldiers in
US
history to be sent into direct ground combat, seemingly
in violation of official DoD policy. Told through
intimate accounts, journal excerpts, archive footage, as
well as interviews with military commanders, the film
follows five women who served together for a year in
Iraq
. With captivating detail, this probing documentary
reveals the unexpected course of events that began with
using US women soldiers to defuse tensions with local
civilians, but resulted in the women's fighting in some
of the bloodiest counterinsurgency battles of the war.
Together the women's candid narratives and scenes from
their lives back home form a portrait of the emotional
and psychological effects of war from a female point of
view. Lioness is the first film to bridge the gap
between perception and reality of the role women in the
military are playing in
Iraq
, capturing an historical turning point for American
society.
Meg
McLagan
&
Daria
Sommers
Co-Director & Co-Producer
81 min
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2009
Best Short Film
Looking Back
Albert
Lewis struggles with addiction and with memories of war,
using photography to help him survive in a supportive
community of homeless veterans. Running Time: 6 Minutes
Emile
Bokaer
Director
6 min
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