FALLOUT: Coming Home from the War in Iraq - Watch it now!

[Ava]

As some of you know, I've recently been working on finishing up my first "full-length" documentary. This project was a two person project(my brother was a huge help with planning our filming trips and took still photography for the film) and self funded. It was a hard and at times incredibly frustrating experience, but sitting down with each of these veterans and listening to their stories inspired me to keep going. I wanted to give these three Iraq War veterans a platform to tell their own stories with viewers.

I learned so much through this experience, things that I will take with me when I begin my college studies in the fall. Thank you for the support and encouragement, and I hope you like the film.


Watch it now at -
http://www.iraqfallout.com

[malaise]

1. I'll watch this on the weekend

Bookmarked.

Keep up the good work Ava.
K & R

[Ava]

3. thanks malaise!

be sure to let me know what you think after you watch

[malaise]

10. Will do

[Echo In Light]

2. K&R

[Ava]

4. thanks!

[Bossy Monkey]

5. K&R

Much better than KBR, I always say.

[Ava]

11. thank you

[pleah]

6. K&R

[Ava]

12. thanks

[bananas]

7. k&r nt

[Ava]

13. thank you bananas

[bananas]

22. You're welcome!

[CrispyQ]

8. Bookmarked to watch this weekend.

Read the "About" page. You'll want to hear more about these mens stories.

I'm so glad you post here!

k&r

[Ava]

14. thank you CrispyQ!

let me know what you think after you've watched it

[barbtries]

9. bookmarking

for when i get off work.

[Ava]

15. thanks barbtries!

lemme know what you think!

[hwmnbn]

16. I watched the film this morning...

and am totally impressed.

These three soldiers provide a poignant element simply by describing their experiences in Iraq. How the war affected them and how their attitudes about the war changed over time was revealing. I've always known it's the low-level grunts who bear the biggest burden and suffer the most difficult psychic toll in war. I'm glad you gave them this platform to express themselves.


You have a gift, Ava. We've watched it develop over the past three years.

Combined with your persistence (aka you're a stubborn little mofo ), and lots of resourcefulness, you managed to pull off this ambitious enterprise. My hat is off to you and I'm certainly going to brag one day that I knew you when....



K&R



note: reposted from a previous thread

[Ava]

17. thanks again hambone

[some guy]

18. Congratulations!

That's a very good film.

Thank your interview subjects for being willing to share their stories and perspectives with you.

Thank you for the time and effort you put into bringing their stories to a wider audience.

You are a remarkable young person.




( nice timing as well, to have this available in time for the Memorial Day weekend, since this sort of thing is what the weekend was set aside to commemorate. )

[Ava]

19. thank you some guy! i appreciate it

these are three amazing guys and i was honored to be able to give them a platform to tell their stories.

[Ava]

20. kick for late night crowd

[Ava]

21. kick for saturday crowd

i'm shameless

[Subdivisions]

30. Ava, I'm so proud of you! Such a moving and tragic journey you've

portrayed with this film. Thank you and your brother for this soldiers' story.

Can't wait to see what's next!

[Ava]

31. thank you

[malaise]

23. Wow I'm impressed

This is an excellent documentary and I think you should send it to HBO, Bill Moyers, KO, Rachel et al.

I loved how you incorporated the glamorization of war into the script. First rate - everyone should see this. Memorial Day would have more meaning if M$Greedia would show people the truth as you did here.

[Ava]

32. thank you

i've sent info out to a few press contacts. i'll try to find contact information for those you suggested. thanks!

[magellan]

24. I've watched half of it so far

It sheds light on a perspective we rarely get to hear, that of soldiers who were actually there and have viewpoints that don't fall in line with government propaganda about Iraq.

From what I've seen, you and your brother have done an excellent job with this video. Kudos to you guys and these vets.

[Ava]

33. thank you magellan

[magellan]

42. Ava, I just watched the rest

Absolutely riveting. The end bit, where you say what happened to each -- I was so relieved to know Staff Sgt Bailey made him home from his 3rd tour okay. And (Staff Sgt?) Carlson being investigated for the letters he wrote while in Iraq... !!

Thank you so much for doing and sharing this. I'm going to pass it along to everyone I can think of.

[Triana]

25. Ava - you are INCREDIBLE!

I'm putting this out to some mailing lists and on FB.

I'd rec. it but it's been longer than 24 hours....

[Ava]

34. thanks Triana!

i appreciate it

[lapfog_1]

26. Awesome job!....

Words fail.

K & R.

[Ava]

35. thank you lapfog_1!

[LaurenG]

27. You did such a god job, thank you Ava

[Ava]

36. thanks LaurenG

[Better Believe It]

28. K & R

[Ava]

37. thanks!

[Joe the Liberal]

29. k&r I'll watch it later........

going to the movies in a few.

[Ava]

38. thanks! let me know what you think

[writingabook]

39. Thanks for sharing!

thank you for sharing!

[Ava]

44. glad to share

[DuckBurp]

40. Well done, Ava

How did you get to know these three individuals?

What will be your major in college?

Have you picked a college to attend?

DuckBurp

[Ava]

45. thanks! i put an open letter to iraq war veterans on my website

and asked my blogger friends to pass it on

i'm going to be majoring in film & television at NYU's tisch school of the arts.

[malaise]

50. You will be an asset to that institution

Kick

[wovenpaint]

41. I just finished watching this

and you've done a great job with a tough subject that needs to be addressed. My dad was a Korean War vet and I heard echoes of what he would tell me about his experiences-when he'd speak of them at all, that is. The eyes of these men speak volumes. You've created a powerful piece. Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

[Ava]

46. thank you wovenpaint

[shadowknows69]

43. If you don't stop being so damn talented Ava

You're going to have to clone yourself just to contain it all. Thank you for consistently giving me (some) hope for humanity's future.

[Ava]

47. lol! well thank you

[stewartcolbert08]

48. Congrats!

How cool it must feel to have done something so awesome! I will have to watch it when I get home from work!

[Ava]

53. thank you!

[Lochloosa]

49. Morning Kick and Rec.

[Ava]

54. thanks Lochloosa

[jeff30997]

51. Kickin' for a talented and wonderful person !

Like I said it's a fantastic documentary.10 thumbs up.

You didn't hug me!

[Ava]

55. here's your hug

[jeff30997]

63. Thanks a lot !

I knew I could count on you.Had a bad day so this is cheering me up.

[Tripper11]

52. Wow Ava....excellent piece....very well done!

YOu have one helluva future ahead of you young lady!!!!

[Ava]

56. thanks Tripper11!

[ColbertWatcher]

57. Congratulations!

I will watch this and share it with friends.

I hope we'll be seeing more from you!

[Ava]

59. thank you ColbertWatcher!

[DarkTirade]

58. Ooh... just realized that since my harddrive crash I no longer had this page bookmarked.

It is now though!

[Ava]

60. harddrive crash? that sucks!

[DarkTirade]

62. Thankfully I only lost a little bit of data.

I'd backed up a lot on my external drive. Not EVERYTHING, but a lot.

And the drive is just functional enough that I was able to recover bits and pieces here and there. A lot of it was corrupted, but I'm hoping I can still pull out a few things that I'm missing.

I did lose a lot of storage space, though. Had to spend most of my money just to buy parts to get the computer running again, so I didn't have enough to spend on another drive. :\

[Ava]

68. glad to hear you didn't lose too much

after losing everything when my computer went down i invested in an external harddrive


that still sucks though!

[DarkTirade]

74. Unfortunately mine was full, which is why I couldn't back everything up.

... of course, if I'd gone ahead and deleted all of the TV shows I had on there too I would have had the room.

[Ava]

79. you wouldn't dare...

illegally download television series? *gasp* how dare you!!!

[DarkTirade]

80. Well, most of the space was taken up by M*A*S*H and Dr. Who.

And since Dr. Who wasn't coming out in the US regularly yet when I started downloading it, and M*A*S*H is off the air for QUITE some time (except for reruns), I didn't feel too bad.

*edit* Oh, and I'd just gotten ahold of Carl Sagan's Cosmos again after losing that in my LAST harddrive crash about a year ago.

[Ava]

81. i guess that makes it a little bit better

but still.. how dare you!? *gasp*

[DarkTirade]

82. Don't worry, I won't illegally download any of your work!

... its a free download, right?

[proud2BlibKansan]

61. I consider it an honor

to have met you and seen your talent develop over the past few years.

You have outdone yourself once again. Outstanding job, Ava!

[Ava]

66. well thank you proud2BlibKansan

[proud patriot]

64. Thank You Ava

[Ava]

67. thank you!

[Duppers]

65. Brilliant, Ava!

I've watched it 3 times now and each time was so touched by these men's stories that I welled up with tears.

Brilliantly done! I think Fallout should be honored with much recognition not just at NYU, but at several Film Festivals.

Your dedication of the film was touching too. Your papaw and uncles must be so proud of you.

You've topped yourself on this one, my friend.

[Ava]

69. thanks Duppers

[Bozita]

70. Memorial Day kick

Good stuff, Ava.

[Ava]

75. thank you Bozita

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

71. Wow!

It's terrific! Congratulations and I look forward to more of your work. Just curious being a former journalism student, did you find any returning Iraq vets who thought being there was the right thing to do? I can't imagine anyone thinks that, but.............

[Ava]

76. thanks Dyedinthewoolliberal!

No veteran i spoke to thought that iraq was a well thought out or well executed war. some were hesitant to say we should have never invaded, but a majority did seem to believe that.

[Jazzgirl]

72. You rock!!!

[Ava]

77. thanks.. responding to your pm now!

[never cry wolf]

73. That was excellent!

I really was not expecting that much but this was an excellent piece. It should be on PBS!

Congrats and thank you!

[Ava]

78. thank you never cry wolf!

i appreciate it!