Attend a screening of a documentary about Tlingit veterans from Hoonah, Alaska, who saw combat during the Vietnam War, and hear insights from the filmmaker, at a special event from noon to 2 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 14, at the University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu Academy for Creative Media screening theater.
The James and Abigail Campbell Library will host a screening of the PBS documentary, “Hunting in Wartime,” and a Q&A with the filmmaker, Samantha Farinella, a lecturer at UH West O‘ahu’s Academy for Creative Media.
“We’re so fortunate to share ‘Hunting in Wartime’ with our community here at UH West O‘ahu and have the film’s director … be able to speak on the film’s themes,” said the event’s Q&A moderator, Alphie Garcia, Information Resources and Collection Management Librarian at the James and Abigail Campbell Library.
“The documentary highlights the experiences of native Tlingit veterans during the Vietnam War and their struggles upon returning,” Garcia said. “The lack of support they experienced for physical and mental health is still a challenge that the United States is dealing with today for many veterans and is compounded further by issues inherent to being indigenous people in the U.S.”
In the documentary, which recently aired on PBS Hawai‘i, the veterans talk about surviving trauma, relating to Vietnamese civilians, readjusting to civilian life, and serving a government that systematically oppresses native people, according to the film’s website. Their stories give an important human face to the combat soldier and show the lasting effects of war on individuals, families, and communities.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Farinella, a New York City veteran, now Honolulu-based filmmaker whose work has aired on PBS, screened in over a hundred film festivals, and won over twenty-five awards.
The “Hunting in Wartime” screening and Q&A is free and open to all UH West O‘ahu students, faculty, and staff, and to the general public. Guests are encouraged to wear face masks while inside the theater.
To learn more about the event or to register, visit go.hawaii.edu/sq2. For questions, email uhwolib@hawaii.edu.
Watch the “Hunting in Wartime” trailer:
Event flyer:
