ABOUT THE FILM

FILMMAKER Q & A

What do you hope your audience takes away from this film?
Phil: I'm fascinated by what a person takes away from any film, especially a documentary. Many people have pulled me aside after screenings to offer personal reflections. It's a dense film with many emotional turns, involving youthfulness, patriotism, death, sadness, fear, duty, anger, frustration, brotherhood, sacrifice and honor. We didn't try to push any particular theme or agenda with the film but really to just offer a voice to these veterans who were a part of a significant moment in world history. This is their story.

My hope is that the film simply offers a variety of things for reflection and that someone might be able to return to film numerous times over the years and find something new. That's the best.

David: I hope that this film in some way expresses some of what I experienced and learned on the Normandy trip with the veterans. To have your own personal perceptions of a subject altered by your work on that subject probably means you've done a thorough job. As a participant on the trip, the making of the film was a personal journey for me. In the end, I came away with a new understanding of the war and a new appreciation for the men who fought it. If a viewer does the same from this film, then I'd feel I had done a good thing.