What Makes a Good War Movie? DC's GI Film Festival

by Jordan Yerman | May 27, 2007 at 02:13 pm

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The first annual GI Film Festival is taking place this weekend in Washington, D.C., screening 22 films out of 120 submissions. However, there are some disagreements over the selected films: Forrest Gump and not Platoon? I understand that the organizers are trying to paint soldiers in the best possible light (this is another topic entirely: to what extent should the interpretation of a festival's topic be limited?), but I don't think I'm alone in stating that Gump is, well, not a war movie.

It began with a simple idea: show some movies to honor the U.S. military. It culminates with a first-of-its-kind Memorial Day weekend film festival where the subjects are members of the American armed forces.

The GI Film Festival is bringing together filmmakers, actors, producers, directors, film historians and soldiers in the nation's capital. It began Friday for what organizers hope will be an annual event.

Brandon Millett, the festival founder, said the idea for the festival came after organizers realized something simple: Nothing like it had ever been done.

''We wanted to create a vehicle for the expression of support for our men and women in uniform,'' said Millet, former director of communications for the conservative nonprofit Judicial Watch. ''In the political tussle over whether we should be in one conflict or not, we feel sometimes the troops get lost.''

Which raises two important questions: What is a military film festival? And what movies should be shown?