G.I. Film Festival Announces Ground-Breaking Partnership with The Military Channel

The award-winning GI Film Festival announced today that it has established a ground- breaking new partnership with The Military Channel, the nation’s only cable network dedicated to military programming, which will provide unprecedented exposure for films that honor American warriors. Beginning on November 12th, the Military Channel, which is currently available in more than 57 million homes, will begin featuring weekend blocks of the festival’s award-winning productions. (See opening weekend schedule below.)

“This effort between the GI Film Festival and the Military Channel will be invaluable in putting the heroism and the sacrifice of the nation’s bravest men and women on full display for all of America to witness. This has been the Festival’s core mission from day one,” said GI Film Festival Chairman Stephen K. Bannon.

The G.I. Film Festival is the first and only film festival in the country dedicated to honoring the successes and sacrifices of American GIs. The festival’s documentary and narrative films showcase themes ranging from the courage and ingenuity on battlefields throughout history to the struggles of homelessness and post-traumatic stress on the home front.

The G.I. Film Festival block runs on Military Channel from 9-11 PM ET on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout November starting on Friday, November 12, the day after Veterans Day.

“We are proud to provide our filmmakers with a nationwide audience on one of the nation’s most respected television networks,” said GI Film Festival Co-Founder Brandon Millett. “We know Military Channel viewers will be touched and inspired by this programming. And we hope through our films that they gain a greater sense of appreciation for our nation’s men and women in uniform.”

“This national television program is a landmark event in the history of the GI Film Festival,” said GI Film Festival Co-Founder Laura Law-Millett. “With this ground-breaking new series, we now move from a DC-based event to a national organization fostering a positive image for American GIs.”

“The diverse lineup of the G.I. Film Festival is a natural fit for Military Channel, which prides itself on highlighting the full spectrum of human drama, courage and patriotism intrinsic to the armed forces,” said Henry Schleiff, president and general manager of Military Channel. “By providing the G.I. Film Festival a national platform, Military Channel invites its viewers to explore these beautifully produced films that resonate with the creative passion of each independent filmmaker.”

The opening weekend of G.I. Film Festival programming on Military Channel includes:

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12 from 9-11 PM ET

SHAKEY’S HILL In 1970, CBS News cameraman Norman Lloyd followed a battalion of American soldiers into the jungles of Cambodia. The mission was to seek out substantial weapons and supply caches being used by the North Vietnamese Army during the Vietnam War. As the battalion closed in on the location of the caches, they encountered a growing resistance from the North Vietnamese forces. Rarely seen footage and first-hand accounts take the audience through each firefight leading up to the operation’s climax, which came to be known as the infamous taking of Shakey’s Hill. By melding field interviews from 1970 with retrospective interviews from 35 years later, SHAKEY’S HILL explores not only the events leading to this successful mission but the effects of war decades later. SHAKEY’S HILL, winner of the 2007 GI Film Festival’s Best Documentary Award, is produced and directed by Norman Lloyd.

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THE SURGE: THE UNTOLD STORY, the Military Channel Documentary Award winner at the 2010 GI Film Festival, offers a look into the real story of the troop surge in Iraq, as told by top U.S. military commanders, policy makers and soldiers on the ground. These never-before-seen interviews move beyond Washington politics to explore how a failing mission transformed into one of the most successful military operations in a generation of war fighting. This documentary honors the sacrifice, courage and ingenuity of the military personnel who confronted nearly impossible circumstances, but found success through their dedication and hard work. THE SURGE: THE UNTOLD STORY is presented by the Institute for the Study of War, in association with The Stevens & Schriefer Group with Kim Kagan and Russ Schriefer as executive producers and Jason Killian Meath as director.

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13 from 9-11 PM ET

TRIANGLE OF DEATH: First-time filmmaker Marine Sergeant Folleh Shar Tamba tells the story of a foreign land engulfed in daily combat in TRIANGLE OF DEATH, winner of the 2009 GI Film Festival Founder’s Choice Award. Living day-by-day and seeing a country that wants to change, the 2nd Battalion 24th Marines’ struggles are chronicled in this poignant film. TRIANGLE OF DEATH is a story of people helping people, regardless of politics, presidents or public opinion. Told by the Marines who saw it firsthand, this is the story of the triangle of death and how its people chose to participate in Iraq’s first democratic national elections. TRIANGLE OF DEATH is produced by Wolf Dog Films with Folleh Tamba as director, Juan Montelongo and Thomas Hartmann as producers.

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14 from 9-11 PM ET

L-BIRD: THE LITTLE PLANE THAT DID: They weighed less than 800 pounds and were completely unarmed – but these cloth-covered spotter planes, the L-Birds, created more chaos than any other aircraft used in WWII. Flying low and slow to see enemy movement, the L-Birds would call in artillery fire to rain death and destruction ontotheir targets. Thanks to an innovative suspended landing system that hung above trees or over the sides of ships, pilots of these unique planes could land and take off without even touching the ground. Hosted by Academy-award winning actor Cliff Robertson, L-BIRD: THE LITTLE PLANE THAT DID profiles this little-known but heralded warplane, which earned a reputation as the deadliest plane used in WWII. L-BIRD: THE LITTLE PLANE THAT DID is produced by On Air Media from the Drury TV Studios with Brian Shipman as director.

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GOD AND COUNTRY: In the spring of 1942, the world was at war. Hitler had swept unchecked across the European landscape and was pounding at the doors of Great Britain. The United States learned of a plot by the Germans to break the stalemate with Great Britain. The German’s plot involved the use of diabolical new chemical weapons that were being developed at a research facility in Poland. GOD AND COUNTRY is a dramatic film portraying a team of three Americans who put their lives on the line to stop this plot by putting their lives on the line. GOD AND COUNTRY, winner of the “Best Narrative Short” at the 2008 GI Film Festival, is executive produced and directed by Daniel Piatt.