Nathan Fitch and Face2Face host David Peck talk about his new film Island Soldier, war, colonialism, family, community, second-class citizens and much more.
More about the film here on the website.
Synopsis:
ISLAND SOLDIER follows members of the Nena family from one of the most remote islands in the world to the training grounds of Texas and the battlefields in Afghanistan. The death of Sapuro “Sapp” Nena in Afghanistan makes waves through his tiny home island of Kosrae – where nearly everyone is connected to the U.S. Military directly or through family members.
In an attempt to heal from his own deep wounds, Sapuro’s best friend in the Army, Mario Robles, heads to Kosrae with his family to meet Sapp’s parents for the first time and pay his respects on Veteran’s Day.
It is an emotional gathering of two families, from opposite sides of the world, brought together by loss, love and honor.
Biography
Nathan is a filmmaker and visual journalist based in Brooklyn. He currently works in the video department of The New Yorker. His work has been featured in The New York Times, TIME magazine, and The National Film Board of Canada.
Nathan holds an MFA in documentary storytelling from Hunter College where he was the recipient of the Welfare and Scholarship fund, and the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism.
Nathan served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Micronesia doing Historic Preservation work, and still has a great fondness for breadfruit.
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Looking forward to the release of this film also. My first 16 yrs of life was spent on Kosrae during which time democracy was well on its way. Post European colonialism and Japanese Empire, this was the time the American Capitalism was newly introduced to these Micronesians even though only a few citizens were exploring the idealism that American way of life was worth pursuing. American school system up to secondary schools was offered throughout the 2,000 plus small islands under the Trust Territory of the United States. English was the major language taught in schools whereas American War movies (i.e. John Wayne’s “Iwo Jima”) were introduced to all generations. More opportunities for college education in America were also offered by way of grants and student loans and many took advantage. These grants are no longer available but to join the US Military was the opportunity to further their education by way of the GI Bill and possibly a career. After 40 years in the United States, I’ve seen all the changes politically and economically between both countries. This marriage since 1947 is on a downward spiral due to lack of recognition and support from the USA and the island nation’s inability to support itself. Remaining close and God-fearing parents of Kosrae should be commented for allowing their sons/daughters to serve in the US Military. BTW – my brother from Kosrae and my son-in-law (American) are actively serving in the Army along with many cousins and friends. Kulo ma lulap.
Love the concept, and message of this work. To show sincere and True respect to family involved , you need to do a Special screening of this film in Kosrae. No effort in this regard, shows lack of respect , and perhaps dare I suggest exploitation for commercial gain, which is Kosrae’s rather tragic past.
I do think that Nathan would like to take the film there – having done some work in production myself I know it can be tough to make all the arrangements and also try to reach a broad audience. I definitely got the impression that it would be a goal to be able to set up a showing there. I don’t see anything yet on the film’s website or Twitter about their next steps, yet.
Hi Mike,
I’ve been trying to figure out how to make a screening in Kosrae/FSM happen, including reaching out to various government and private individuals in the FSM. If you have any ideas about how to make that happen, I would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you, kulo!
Waiting for the release of Island Soldiers. Thank you
I hope, and I’m sure Nathan does too, that it comes out in much broader release. I still haven’t seen updates on where it will be showing next – often with documentaries there is an attempt to enter them in several festivals to generate more interest, and then possibly release them widely. But it’s definitely worth seeing!