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2018 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

ISLAND SOLDIER

Directed by Nathan Fitch

Documentary Feature Competition / Afghanistan, Micronesia, USA / 2017 / Action, Documentary, Human Rights, Pacific Islander / 85 mins / English, Kosraean with English subtitles / Los Angeles Premiere

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ISLAND SOLDIER

Tateuchi Democracy Forum @ JANM
Saturday | May 5, 2018 6:30 pm

Description

ISLAND​ ​SOLDIER​ ​is​ ​a​ ​feature​ ​documentary​ ​that​ ​interweaves​ ​the​ ​personal​ ​stories​ ​of Micronesian​ ​soldiers​ ​serving​ ​in​ ​the​ ​US​ ​military​ ​and​ ​the​ ​experience​ ​of​ ​their​ ​families​ ​back​ ​home​ ​in the​ ​islands.

We​ journey​ ​from​ ​one​ ​of​ ​the​ ​most​ ​remote​ ​islands​ ​in​ ​the​ ​world​ ​to​ ​the​ ​front​ ​lines​ ​of​ ​war​ ​in Afghanistan​ ​in​ ​2013.​ ​These​ ​non-US​ ​citizens​ ​mostly​ ​serve​ ​in​ ​the​ ​infantry​ ​and​ ​have​ ​extremely high​ ​casualty​ ​rates,​ ​dying​ ​at​ ​a​ ​rate​ ​that​ ​is​ ​five​ ​times​ ​higher​ ​than​ ​that​ ​of​ ​fellow​ ​soldiers​ ​born​ ​in the​ ​50​ ​states.​ ​In​ ​following​ ​the​ ​odyssey​ ​of​ ​young​ ​men​ ​from​ ​the​ ​island​ ​of​ ​Kosrae,​ ​we​ ​glimpse​ ​an intimate​ ​perspective​ ​from​ ​parents​ ​grappling​ ​with​ ​the​ ​absence​ ​of​ ​their​ ​precious​ ​children, humanizing​ ​the​ ​repercussions​ ​of​ ​America’s​ ​foreign​ ​wars,​ ​and​ ​the​ ​changing​ ​fabric​ ​of​ ​a​ ​small island​ ​nation​ ​on​ ​the​ ​brink​ ​of​ ​economic​ ​and​ ​environmental​ ​collapse.
Told through the intimate personal odyssey of the Nena family, they strive for the “American Dream” while dealing with the consequences of war. – Anderson Le

Co-presented with our Community Partners: Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC) and TeAda Productions

 

Director's Bio

Nathan Fitch is an award-winning filmmaker and visual journalist based in New York. A member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and Video Consortium, Nathan most recently worked in the video department of The New Yorker. Nathan’s work has also been published by TIME, WNYC, ESPN, NPR, and the New York Times Op-Docs, to name a few. ISLAND SOLDIER, Nathan’s first feature-length documentary, has screened both nationally and internationally.

Credits

Director: Nathan Fitch
Producer: Nathan Fitch, Fivel Rothberg, Bryan Chang
Editor: Bryan Chang

Dates & Times

ISLAND SOLDIER

Tateuchi Democracy Forum @ JANM
Saturday | May 5, 2018 6:30 pm