Patriot Park IMAX Observes Patriot Day with Digital Screenings of Soldiers’ Stories

New Documentary Honors Soldiers and Tells
the Universal Experience of Combat

September 8, 2014: This Thursday, September 11, 2014, the IMAX Theatre at the National Infantry Museum is proud to present free digital screenings of Soldiers’ Stories, an innovative new documentary exploring the experience of modern warfare from its tragic beginnings in the trenches of World War I.

Directed by Jonathan Kitzen and produced by Academy Award winner Nicholas Reed, the film is primarily compiled from never-before-seen stereoscopic images taken during the Battle of the Somme in World War I, one of the costliest battles in human history with more than 1.5 million casualties reported between July and November 1916.

Unlike many military documentaries focusing on tactics or strategy, Soldiers’ Stories is about the warrior’s mindset and the common bond shared between veterans of all wars. To bring the early 20th century European battle alive for today’s patriots, Reed and Kitzen took a radical approach to documentary filmmaking: using oral histories of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to explain the visceral experience of combat from the perspectives of those who have lived it. Academy Award-winning actor and World War II Veteran Mickey Rooney, in one of the final performances of his storied cinematic career, provides additional narration.

“These modern-day veterans lend their voices to their brothers in the profession of arms whose voices were forever silenced a hundred years ago,” said Jordan Beck of the Patriot Park IMAX Theatre, who has assisted the project by conducting interviews of Columbus/Fort Benning area veterans. “Likewise, as many in our community can personally attest, the transition home for returning service members can be a difficult process.”

The National Infantry Museum’s Patriot Park IMAX Theatre will digitally screen the film on September 11 by special arrangement with the filmmakers. The film will play at 10am, 12pm, 2pm and 4pm. Admission is free and viewer discretion advised. For more information, call 706-685-2622.