THE
G.I. FILM FESTIVAL 2017 - BLOG POST
Guest Blogger: Ana Quinata
Contact: quin@anaquinata.com
Follow: Twitter/IG: @anaquinata
Since the first days of cinema,
commercial productions and even some newsreel
documentaries have often found success as entertainment but as true to life
tales they have had a tendency to fall short or miss the mark entirely in their
depiction of the service member experience.
This was in large part due to the
delicate constitutions of the viewing populace. Essentially, studios wouldn't
make money and the government wouldn't entice recruits if they always told it
the way it really was. South Pacific ring
a bell for anyone? For those seeking an unapologetic level of honesty, there is
a solution.
Currently in its eleventh year, the
pioneering G.I. Film Festival remains an important platform for the military
veteran community to share their stories in several categories including music
videos, student films, features, and screenplays to name a few, allowing
differing levels of filmmakers and avenues of expression to be showcased.
Participants are also afforded the fantastic opportunity to network with
working professionals in the television and film industry - the importance of
which cannot be understated.
When pursuing a career after the active duty
military life has come to its conclusion, the exceptional news coverage the
film festival garners is not limited to local newspapers around the D.C. area
but reaches every corner of the nation through articles printed in the
Washington Post and stories featured on national television providing
widespread exposure to the projects selected.
GI Film Festival 2017
GIFF2017 - #GIFF2017
May 24 - May 28, 2017
Washington D.C., USA
Whether those projects be narrative
shorts or feature-length documentaries, every experience shared on screen at
the GI Film Festival is a real story that can only be told by those men and
women of the armed forces that have lived through them. Stories that speak to
viewers on spiritual levels; that reach depths within us that we thought
perhaps we'd buried.
In being open with
their experiences - the good, the bad, and the in-between - participants
promote understanding and encourages others to do the same. It is their
expression that the event was founded on and on which it continues to thrive
because their authenticity can be felt by those who watch in the screening
rooms.
Now, who can be in those screening rooms?
Anyone, really. Not only those aforementioned entertainment industry
professionals looking for talent but film students, family members, anyone in
the general public who enjoys military stories and of course, fellow veterans.
The event also includes opportunities for attendees and participants to
socialize with one another and on the international level with respective
counterparts from American allied countries.
GI Film Festival 2017
GIFF2017 - #GIFF2017
May 24 - May 28, 2017
Washington D.C., USA
As a daughter of two former United
States soldiers myself, I appreciate the steadfast efforts the GI Film Festival
team has put forth with each passing year for this event to continue as another
means of connectivity among veterans.
As a filmmaker with much of my work
focused on military conflicts in the last century, this provides proof that
these stories matter as they should which is in turn encouragement to keep
pushing forward to share them as best I can so that one day I might be able to
honor those who have sacrificed so that I might be in this position to do just
that.
Guest Blogger: Ana Quinata
Contact: quin@anaquinata.com
Follow: Twitter/IG: @anaquinata
GI Film Festival 2017
GIFF2017 - #GIFF2017
May 24 - May 28, 2017
Washington D.C., USA
Blog posted by:
Fulton Film Company
Fresno, California
