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Striking a Chord screened at the RMWFF in early November. Our film’s cinematographer and field producer, Nara Garber, flew to Colorado to participate in the panel following the screenings, both at the festival and at one of the local army bases, Paterson AFB. Below are here notes on the experience:

This is a truly amazing festival in terms of audience engagement, the passion of the volunteers who make it possible, and the extraordinary commitment they make to the filmmakers.  On the flight out, our departure from LGA was delayed on account of wind, which meant that we landed in Dallas only 20 minutes before the connecting flight was due to take off.  While angling to make a quick exit from the plane, I overheard the three women in front of me talking about what gate they had to rush to but also about the festival, so I confirmed they were continuing on to Colorado Springs and asked if I could follow them.  They said they were part of a group of ten women who fly out for the festival every year. Apparently one of them has a sister on the board. We annexed the other seven attendees and just made it to the next plane, where a flight attendant was holding the door for us.

Peterson AFB Screening:

The Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival takes its community screenings really seriously, and they were thrilled to include Peterson Field for the first time this year.  This was due in large part to the efforts of Margie Arnold, of the 21st Force Support Squadron, who has volunteered with the festival in the past (as she did again this year) and thought it would be a great way to bring Peterson AFB into the community.

Audience at Peterson AFB screening

People estimated the audience at being about 200. Everyone seemed really excited to be there and the enthusiasm was contagious.  SAC screened alongside The Legend of Pancho Barnes, which was both hilarious and touching. When the film was programmed, the AFE decided to invite the Ninety Nines, members of an elite women’s flying club that recently celebrated its 81st birthday.  Also in attendance was Millicent Young, a feisty firecracker of a lady.  She was a Women Air Force Service Pilot (WASP) in World War II and a recent recipient of a Congressional Gold Medal.  All of this conspired to draw an interesting audience that was mostly military, but which also had some festival volunteers and people from the aviation world.  The Q&A after SAC was lively.  People wanted to know what the most difficult aspects of filming over there were, both physically and logistically. One woman hung back for a while, looking as though she might cry.  She finally approached to thank me and say, “What a beautiful film.”  It turns out this was Millicent Young’s daughter. The festival volunteers in attendance all said they appreciated getting a sense of what men and women are going through overseas, and one gentleman who has apparently worked as a therapist on the base said the subject matter is incredibly important.  Margie, who watched the film four times prior to the evening’s screening and loves it, felt the evening went well, and I kept hearing positive feedback from other festival staffers.

Millicent Young cutting the 81st birthday cake of the Ninety Nines

Saturday and Sunday were the big screening days.  SAC screened on Saturday afternoon, and most of the other filmmakers were in the audience.  The Q&A was fun because it became more of a conversation. The filmmakers asked a lot of procedural questions, and the local attendees talked about the disconnect between, say, the soldiers over at Fort Carson and the residential civilian community that abuts the base. I noted that people kept telling me that the military has a very high profile in town, but almost no one on the civilian side ever said that they actually talked to the people in the military.  One festival volunteer excitedly told me after the screening that her family had just “adopted” a Marine, meaning that they’ll send him notes, care packages, etc., during his deployment.  I used her as an example of what one can do at the very grassroots level and suggested that it’s important that these relationships continue when the deployment ends.

Filmmakers at the Saturday screening

Sunday was another filmmakers luncheon panel.  There was a full house for that screening, and a lot of similar questions were asked.  People also wanted to know about the difference between AFE and the USO and how Nell Bryden decided to tour with her band.

I was excited to see how much people wanted to talk about the film and how grateful and moved so many people were to catch a glimpse of what life is like “over there.”

As I’ve been typing this up over the course of the evening, I’ve received several emails from the other filmmakers in attendance.  We’re going to try to pool our resources to get together a sum of money to sponsor a film for next year. The money would cover the cost of the screening. Last year’s guest filmmakers did this and sponsored a film by a first-time filmmaker who has volunteered with the festival for the past decade.  It was that kind of festival.

Poignantly, at the time that Nara was attending the film festival, an article came out in the Colorado Springs Gazette about a new book titled Lethal Warriors. The book tells the story of a group of soldiers, suffering from PTSD, whose illness has had devastating effects on them and the Colorado Springs community. This coincidence emphasizes the need to seek more understanding and connection between the military bases and their local community, and to help provide the appropriate outlets and resources for returning soldiers.