Fourth Annual G.I. Film Festival Returns, Announces Film Line-up

Award-winning film festival features 'up & coming' directors, producers, Hollywood veterans

WASHINGTON, April 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The G.I. Film Festival, now in its fourth year, today announces its film selections for its May 11-16 event in Washington, D.C. The G.I. Film Festival is the only film festival in the nation to honor the successes and sacrifices of American service members through the medium of film.

Overall, the G.I. Film Festival will feature a total of 35 narrative and documentary full-length and short films during the five-day event. Subject matter ranges from World War II themes of courage, sacrifice and brotherhood to present-day struggles including veteran homelessness and post-traumatic stress. Visit http://www.gifilmfestival.com/trailers for complete film descriptions and trailers.

"This year, the G.I. Film Festival will put the spotlight on the full range of human emotions experienced by American G.I.s inside the arena of war and back on the home front," said G.I. Film Festival co-founder Brandon Millett.  "This is an exceptional line-up of films that will entertain, captivate and inspire," added festival co-founder Laura Law-Millett.

Festival screenings include actress Glenn Close's directorial debut in Pax. Pax is the story of Sergeant Bill Campbell who returned home from Iraq with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. Sgt. Campbell reclaims his life from an unlikely source: a dog named Pax, trained by an inmate at the Bedford Hills (NYC) Correctional Facility for Women. Following the screening, a panel discussion on post-traumatic stress will include Ms. Close, former ABC co-anchor and award-winning reporter Bob Woodruff and Brigadier Gen. Loree Sutton, Director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.

The festival will also host the world premiere of Starting Strong, a new Army reality show created, produced, directed and narrated by actor Ricky Schroder as well as an advanced screening of the new documentary Lt. Dan Band: For the Common Good with special guest actor Gary Sinise.  Filmmaker and veteran of the 82nd Airborne, Jonathan Flora, directed Lt. Dan Band.  

Another festival world premiere, Chosin, features the work of two Iraq War veterans, Brian Iglesias and Anton Sattler, who lived out of a van and operated on a shoestring budget to complete their epic documentary Chosin, which chronicles one of the most savage battles in American history, the Korean War's Chosin Reservoir Campaign.

The G.I. Film Festival's Filmmaker Boot Camp will return this year. Budding directors and other attendees will learn how to finance, market and pitch their own films at the all-day event.

The G.I. Film Festival's principal venue is the Carnegie Institution for Science, 1530 P St., N.W., Washington, D.C. The festival will host the post-traumatic stress panel at the Canadian Embassy and a congressional reception in the Russell Senate Caucus Room.  Media registration is encouraged, and available at http://www.gifilmfestival.com/credentials. Individual tickets and festival passes can be purchased online at www.gifilmfestival.com/tickets.

Sponsors for the 2010 G.I. Film Festival include: TriWest Alliance, USAA, Accenture, IMAX, American Airlines, Sony, Target, Dell, The Washington Examiner, The Hill, Stars and Stripes, The Military Channel, The American Life Network, WUSA-TV Washington, D.C., Military.com and the American Legion.

SOURCE GI Film Festival