Me#1You#10
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 Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 9:57 pm Post subject: Kesler: "New Film Company Tells OUR Story" |
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Bruce Kesler of "Democracy Projet" shares some encouraging news he received from John Del Vecchio in which John announces the formation of his new film company, "CharlieFoxtrot Films", and, in a beautifully written commentary, presents the impetus behind his filmmaking plans.
Here's the opener and the closing paragraphs. Catch the rest at "Democracy Project"...
| Quote: | New Film Company Tells OUR Story
Bruce Kesler
Democracy Project
January 23, 2008
John Del Vecchio writes to tell us about his new film company, Charlie Foxtrot Entertainment, to tell the positive story of our efforts in Iraq. Assisting him is the veteran military advisor of Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, Band of Brothers, and Forest Gump. As Del Vecchio says, a man’s or nation’s story is its fate, and he means that our fate be success over dreadful opponents.“Abuses of power in the pursuit of freedom are not justification for the abandonment of that pursuit.”
“Opting to not defend freedom, integrity and human rights leads to abuses, atrocities and holocausts far worse than war. In war there remains an element of hope; under tyranny all hope is destroyed.” I wrote those lines for my mother in 1990, shortly after finishing For The Sake of All Living Things, a historical novel about the fall of Cambodia and the ensuing Khmer Rouge destruction and death trap which enslaved the nation and murdered nearly one third of it population. I had spent five years researching the topic, cross-referencing after-action battle reports, news articles, political histories and refugee interviews. I’d listened to or read hundreds of stories of cruelty and torture, including many perpetrated in the late 1960s and early 1970s under the North Viet Namese (NVA), the Khmer Viet Minh (KVM) or the embryonic Khmer Rouge (Khmer Krahoum--KK).
My mother had a left-leaning friend to whom she was sending a copy of my novel. The woman believed the Cambodian Terror was caused by immoral American intervention. I was attempting to condense the entire meaning of the book into a few sentences. If her friend read the book, she would learn of the 1971 battles of Operation Chenla II in which U.S. air power supported South Viet Namese (ARVN) and Cambodian National (FANK) ground units (allies) which were clashing with NVA, KVM and KK units (communist forces). The last mentioned, the KK, at times attacked all others factions. Toward the end of the battle allied forces broke the hold the communist had on a ‘Year Zero’ camp north of the city of Kompong Thom. Approximately 40,000 civilians escaped en masse. Many described to western reporters a gulag—internment under the harshest conditions, tortures, execution of civic leaders, of anyone who could read, of anyone who owned a book. They told of mandatory classes, of lectures and indoctrination into a world of the “new socialist man.” This was nearly four years before the fall of Cambodia, Viet Nam and Laos. At that time (1971) most western papers, including the New York Times, chose not to run the refugee stories. The Chicago Tribune was a courageous and responsible exception. My mother’s friend was not from Chicago… how could she have known what communist subjugation would mean? In 1990, if she didn’t read the book, I had hope that those brief lines might at least impact her beliefs.
Almost two decades later a significant element or our society still perceives the tragedies of Southeast Asia as caused by or exacerbated by American intervention. Many do not tie (or actually deny) the blood baths, the concentration (reeducation) camps, the repression, or the Cambodian holocaust to the terrorism which proceeded the fall. Yet behavior tends to be consistent. The 1971 ‘Year Zero’ camp north of Kompong Thom was an omen and precursor to the horrors of 1975 to 1979.
These omissions, denials and sentiments seemingly are being replicated and superimposed upon the current situation in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many Americans seem to believe (though perhaps not in these terms) that there have been abuses of power in the current pursuit of freedom, and thusly we should abandon that pursuit. To them, we are guilty, always guilty, thus freedom just is not worth defending; especially if it is the freedom of others. Why?
<snip>
If the story of American institutions is continuously skewed by relating only tales of dishonesty and moral bankruptcy, then the story itself undermines the very foundation of our democratic freedoms. If the gatekeepers and disseminators of information and story repeatedly focus on the foolish, the corrupt, the greedy, or the bigoted, those characteristics become self image and thus behavior.
At CFE we seek to fill the void in the way our story is being told. CFE is a for profit company with the mission of becoming the top market provider of military-based entertainment. We will leave it to others to seek out and tell the stories of the worst of the American military. Without whitewash, we will tell the stories of the best, of the heroic, or the inspiring—stories that are poignant and thrilling, that accurately portray the guts and sacrifices of our men and women in uniform.
CFE is honored to be affiliated with long-time Hollywood military advisor, Marine Corps Captain (Ret) Dale Dye (Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, Band of Brothers, Forest Gump), who will direct our first feature-length film, City of Fire. This is the dramatic story of the battle for Mosul, Iraq, on the day following that country’s first free elections in decades. It is our intention to follow this project with a slate of five additional films in the next four years.
We expect viewers to leave the theater after seeing a CFE film desiring to emulate the heroes who have inspired us. We want to let our service men and women know they are appreciated, not forgotten, not dehumanized or relegated to being anecdotal cannon fodder for the evening news.
For more information on the projects of CFE, please visit charliefoxtrotfilms.com
Democracy Project - cont'd |
Last edited by Me#1You#10 on Mon Jan 28, 2008 5:43 am; edited 1 time in total |
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