2015 GI Film Festival boasts 65 military films
Brandon Millett and wife Laura Law-Millett are founders of the annual GI Film Festival, which will kick off its ninth session in Washington, D.C., next week.

2015 GI Film Festival boasts 65 military films

The ninth annual GI Film Festival, brainchild of Brandon Millett and Laura Law-Millett, kicks off May 18 for a seven-day run that will showcase more than 60 feature films, documentaries and short films on military subjects.

The festival was created to celebrate films that reflect positive images of men and women who have served – or are serving – America in the armed services.

Millett said he thought one film, “The Millionaire’s Unit,” may be of special interest to Legionnaires. It recounts how a group of Yale students became some of the country’s first combat pilots of World War I after the United States declared war on Germany and its allies in April 1917.

The film, getting its Washington, D.C. premiere, took more than six years to produce. The film crew worked closely with surviving relatives and researched archives in the United States and Europe.

The American Legion was founded by a group of World War I veterans, and “The Millionaire’s Unit” tells a rare story about that war – a cadre of well-to-do young gentlemen who volunteered to fight and die for their country in the skies over France.

“We don’t get too many films about World War I,” Millett said, “and it’s a tremendous story because they didn’t have to do it, they wanted to do it. Probably because they benefited so much from American society, they wanted to do something to give back. (The film) is so well put together with high production values.”

Festival screenings include the world premiere of “War Pigs,” a 90-minute feature about a ragtag unit of misfits in World War II who go behind enemy lines to exterminate Nazis by any means necessary. The 108-minute “Kajaki: The True Story” gets its North American premiere at the festival.

“Kajaki” tells the story of British troops fighting at Kajaki Dam in 2006 during the Afghanistan War; it has been compared to the 2008 Oscar-winning U.S. film, “The Hurt Locker.”

Other film offerings include:

  • Fate’s Call: A 57-minute documentary about five soldiers at a U.S. airbase in Soc Tran, South Vietnam, and their missions over a 10-month period in 1969. They end up reuniting 40 years later in a small West Virginia town.

  • Climb: A 13-minute documentary short about Sgt. Rob Jones, a double-leg amputee, who biked across America in one of the coldest winters on record – to raise money for veterans charities.The Haircut: A 14-minute film about one of the first female cadets at West Point.

    Special guests at the festival include actors Gary Sinise, Ben Kingsley and Dolph Lundgren. Ticket prices start at $12.

    Click here for the full schedule of events.

    Click here to view the 2015 GI Film Festival trailer.

    Click here to learn more about the men who flew in the “Millionaires’ Unit”.

    Q & A with Brandon Millett, co-founder of the GI Film Festival

    Brandon Millett co-founded the GI Film Festival (GIFF) in 2007 with his wife, Laura Law-Millett. The festival is in its ninth year and will showcase 65 films next week in Washington, D.C. Brandon spoke with The American Legion about military-themed films, how the festival has grown and what lies ahead.

    Q: What trends are you seeing in the way war movies are being made? What has changed along the way from “Full Metal Jacket” to “American Sniper”?

    A: People are reacting as if “American Sniper” came out of the blue. But the fact is, every time Hollywood has produced a film where the American GI characters are portrayed as heroes, they always have success at the box office. “Saving Private Ryan,” “Black Hawk Down,” those films did exceedingly well at the box office. “Lone Survivor” had the second-biggest opening for January in film history.

    Our position from day one has been that when you show films that portray GIs with respect, that’s what the American people want to see. Back when we started the festival in 2007, there were just too many films coming out that were portraying servicemembers in a negative light. Now there seems to be a little bit of a movement in the other direction and, now that “American Sniper” has become such a success, Hollywood is scrambling to find other great, heroic stories. I’ve got a message for Hollywood studios: If you want to find heroic stories, come to the GI Film Festival – we have 65 of them.

    Q: What kind of responses are you getting from the veterans community about GIFF?

    A: Overwhelmingly positive. Veterans appreciate seeing their stories on screen. There’s something healing about that process. Veterans come to the festival and feel understood. They’re able to have conversations, not only with one another but with their family members, about experiences – some of them opening up for the very first time. For military family members, it’s a sort of bonding experience. There’s a catharsis that happens for the veteran and there’s greater understanding on the part of military families when they experience these films as well.

    Q: How have GIFF’s film offerings changed over the past nine years?

    A: Every year, the quality gets better and better. Every year, we get a greater diversity in terms of genre, the conflicts covered, branch of service. We’ve got films with action, comedy, drama, historical documentaries. This year, for the first time ever, we’re opening up the submission process to military veteran filmmakers who produce or direct a film – even if it has nothing to do with a military subject. This gives us access to a whole, broad range of subject matter.

    One of our objectives from the very beginning has been to help veterans get into the film industry and find success. Because when you get more veterans into the industry, then the character portrayals will be more accurate.

    Q: So many films are now available online. Why come to a festival when many of these films can be watched at home via the internet?

    A: People tell us, time and time again, that coming to the GI Film Festival is a life-changing experience – and they mean it. When you put amazing film content on screen, you bring some celebrities out to the red carpet, you bring real heroes into the room, you throw a great party – there’s something magical that happens through that process. It’s really impossible to describe unless you experience it. Just buy a ticket and come for one day. The impact the festival has had on attendees has been something so rewarding and somewhat surprising.

    We review these films on our computers or television screens. But when they get put on the big screen, it’s a totally different experience. We can judge the quality of a film on a computer screen or TV screen, but we can’t fully appreciate it until it’s on the big screen. You have to get to the theater and experience the films as they were meant to be seen.

    Q: Let’s talk about what you and your wife, Laura, have accomplished. What do you see as the festival’s influence on filmmaking in America?

    A: We had no idea the impact this festival was going to have when we started it. Of course, there was Gary Sinise in Hollywood back then, supporting the troops at the tip of the spear. We took an inside-out approach. From the outside, we started showing film content we thought the American public wanted to see – content that focused on the courage and the honor and the selflessness of those who served. From the inside, we started inviting Hollywood studio executives to come to our events and interact with military people, so they could get a sense of their character and dignity.

    Over time, that has had a tremendous impact. One of our filmmakers from year one (2007) started a group called Veterans in Film & Television and it’s now 2,000 strong. So we feel like we’re on the front end of a wave that is just growing so much, and we’re very happy to see it. At the same time, our work is never done because, inasmuch as we still focus on the courage and the honor of serving, we’re now also focused on transition and helping to connect servicemembers with society so that we can welcome our GIs back home properly.

    Q: We hear about our recent wars being fought by one percent of the country’s population. Is it accurate to say that GIFF provides many people the opportunity to understand the military experience, who would otherwise know nothing about it?

    A: It’s a critical part of what we do. I’ll give you one example. We had a big-time Hollywood producer who came out to our Wounded Warrior event two years ago. He called Laura and I the next morning and said, “You know what? My wife and I have been up all night, consumed with what we can do to help these people. They’re just such amazing people. We want to help. What can we do?” And they were very earnest in their question.

    So that’s what happens. Over time, if you just bring people in to meet the great people who serve our country, it really does change hearts and minds and that’s one of the missions of our festival.

    Q: Where to from here, as far as the festival is concerned?

    A: We had a filmmaker say to us one time, “Every city in America should experience what you’ve created, what the festival is all about.” And, honestly, that’s our goal. We are exploring a variety of different ways to get our films in front of more people, whether that’s exploring avenues of distribution or expanding the presence of the GI Film Festival in a number of different ways.

    I see the festival growing, I see it expanding, hosting events around the country in different cities. I see it continuing to help get these films into the market place through distribution. There are a lot of opportunities in front of us.