My Father’s Brothers World Premiere at Charlotte Film Festival

759

Locally produced independent film, My Father’s Brothers, makes its world premiere at the Charlotte Film Festival next week.

A favorite for historians and veterans alike, this film will feature a true account of an army airborne company outnumbered in the jungle during the Vietnam War. The story follows their struggles, how they survived, and how the conflict still lives on in their lives today.

Produced right here in Charlotte, the film is spearheaded by Charlottean filmmakers Shawn Kelley, John Disher, Trinity Vélez-Justo, Jason Hausman, Joanne Hock and Ross Wissbaum. The story follows Shawn Kelley’s father Jack Kelley, a Citadel graduate with a 20-year career in the United States Army, who currently resides in Fayetteville, N.C.

Soon to be featured in film festivals across the United States, My Father’s Brothers differs from other military documentary films. This film focuses on one pivotal day in American history that affected the lives of 140 soldiers of A Company. On June 29, 1966, surrounded and outnumbered 10-to-1 in the dense Vietnam jungle, an army platoon is savagely attacked while they wait for reinforcements. 50 years later, survivors tell their story of tragedy, resourcefulness and heroism. Some volunteered for the army as teenagers. Others were drafted. Some went back to Vietnam years later in hopes of finding closure. All share a bond that cannot be broken.

“My Father’s Brothers is a journey to understand what my father and the men he served with went through during the Vietnam War,” said Shawn Kelley, director of My Father’s Brothers. “The idea for the film started with a long car ride. My 82-year old dad rarely talks about his time in Vietnam. Since I had a few hours with him alone in the car, I decided to ask a lot of questions. And I found out there was a lot about my dad’s past I didn’t know. So I began interviewing him and survivors of a 1966 battle in Vietnam.

Originally the film’s main purpose was to highlight one day of American history that might easily have been forgotten. But it expanded to illustrate what these men continue to deal with, fifty years after their time in combat. The story is told by eight men, some who were just teenagers when they went off to war. I strove to share their humor and sadness, as well as their determination and heroism, to give a glimmer of what they endured during the war and still endure today.”

My Father’s Brothers will make its world premiere at the Charlotte Film Festival on Saturday, September 28 at 6:10pm at the Ayrsley Grand Cinema. For more information, visit https://www.myfathersbrothers.com/

Tickets for the screening can be purchased at here.

Comments

comments