Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
By ELIZABETH MARCELLINO Palisadian-Post Contributor In an age when so much narrative”whether a writer’s memoir, scripted reality television, or political analysis”seems to be spin and hype, veteran filmmaker Terry Sanders has succeeded in crafting a moving documentary, told in traditional form, straight up. `’Fighting for Life’ forgoes voiceover narration, manufactured action, and forced sentimentality, instead offering a compelling story of military medical personnel and the patients they serve. Given the war in Iraq as its backdrop, the objectivity of the film is even more impressive. ‘The intent was to be apolitical,’ said Sanders, a 35-year Santa Monica Canyon resident. ‘Philosophically, I don’t believe in preaching to the choir.’ ‘Fighting for Life’ began as the story of Uniformed Services University (USU) in Bethesda, Maryland. The medical school was created by Congress in 1972 to train physicians and nurses dedicated to career service in the armed forces or the U.S. Public Health Service. The university was threatened with closure five times in 15 years as legislators sought to reduce government spending. Sanders, a two-time Academy Award winner, began his research during the early days of the Iraq war in 2003 and originally expected that his footage of military medical personnel in action would capture their work in the face of natural disasters. But by the time he was ready to go on location in January 2006, 15,955 American service members had been wounded in Iraq, and combat medics were in great demand, giving his crew the opportunity to see USU graduates in the intense circumstances for which they had specifically trained. Twenty-five percent of active duty military medical personnel are USU alumni. Sanders was granted extraordinary access. Rather than enter Iraq as embedded journalists under the auspices of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), Sanders and his crew of four were ‘guests’ of the Air Force and given freedom to film whatever they saw. Sanders believes that one of his earlier films, ‘Return with Honor,’ helped establish his credibility with the military and opened doors for his crew. ‘Return with Honor’ documented the experiences of 20 American fighter pilots held as prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. The film is startlingly graphic. Action and horror films inure us to excessive amounts of blood, gore and mayhem, relatively little of which is shown here. Instead, ‘Fighting for Life’ shocks viewers with combat’s tragic aftermath. The use of body armor has reduced the number of general surgery cases and deaths, but has resulted in many cases of multiple amputations. The film shows that we now have the medical technology to save those suffering from grave wounds and even rehabilitate them to a high level of functioning with state-of-the-art prosthetics. We have the ‘miracle of expertise,’ said Katy Zatsick Scott, a mother of one of the amputees, on film. And yet, ‘these are healthy volunteers, whose lives are completely changed by the injuries they have,’ as Lt. Col. Gina Dorlac, MD, USU ’89, said in the film. One of the most remarkable things about the wounded on camera is their absolutely matter-of-fact appraisal of their situation, even when that situation is the absence of a right leg, blown off by an improvised explosive device. As in the case of Army Specialist Crystal Davis, who also has limited hope for retaining her left foot. These soldiers are facing the most dramatic of events and yet responding as if objective witnesses. It appears not to be shock, but stoicism and commitment to do their best that keeps them going. The medical personnel are equally committed, though some also wear their compassion on their sleeve. Their investment in their patients is so intense that they cannot bury it in the name of professionalism. Even on camera, voices break, eyes blink back tears. Since Sanders shot nearly 150 hours of film and ‘Fighting for Life’ runs 89 minutes, careful editing was crucial. Sanders himself said that ‘for a film, the three most important things are structure, structure and structure.’ But the material is generally presented in an unvarnished state and allows the audience to reach its own understanding. ‘This is carrying viewers to a place where they can draw their own conclusions,’ said Sanders. ‘That’s the difference between this approach and a documentary that has a narrator telling you what you are seeing and what your attitude should be’there’s a lot of thinking for yourself in this film’including whether it’s all worth it. It’s up to the audience to decide and not the filmmaker.’ The impartiality of ‘Fighting for Life’ serves to build its authority. The film ultimately serves as much more than an assessment of USU’s value; it is a powerful meditation on the myriad costs of war, whatever one’s view on the war’s imperatives. Sanders, 76, who wrote, directed and produced the film, has more than 60 documentary and dramatic features to his credit He and his wife, filmmaker Freida Lee Mock, co-produced the Academy Award-winning documentary ‘Maya Lin,’ which Mock wrote and directed, about the sculptor, architect and designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Together, they have three Oscars and 10 nominations. Their daughter, Jessica Sanders, is also in the ‘family art,’ as Sanders calls it. She wrote and directed ‘After Innocence,’ a documentary of wrongfully convicted men cleared by DNA evidence, under the auspices of her parents’ nonprofit American Film Foundation. Jessica has now started her own production company. Terry’s next project will likely be a dramatic feature; he’s working on a Ray Bradbury science-fiction thriller. For now, Sanders will focus on gaining ‘Fighting for Life’ some exposure through special screenings and by seeking a national broadcast of his film on television. ‘Fighting for Life’ will screen July 5 and 6 at 11 a.m. at the Laemmle Monica Theater at 1332 Second St. Ten percent of the proceeds from the screening will go directly to the Bob Woodruff Family Foundation. Woodruff was the ABC broadcast journalist severely injured in Iraq in January 2006 (and treated in Balad just four days after Sanders’ crew left), and the foundation serves to raise awareness of traumatic brain injury and combat stress. Information on the film can be found at www.fightingforlifethemovie.com
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