Poster Girl Nomination

Sunday is a big night for Robynn Murray and Sara Nesson a couple of the many film folks coming to Brattleboro the weekend of March 19 and 20 as part of the fest's 20th anniversary special events. On Sunday they will be attending the Academy Awards to see if their film "Poster Girl" wins 'Best Short Documentary.' Just being nominated is honor enough, and this 38-minute film about a high school cheerleader and national merit scholar who volunteers for service and ends up a machine gunner in Iraq deserves the praise. This film is powerful, compelling and important. It should be required viewing for everyone because it depicts what life is like for a growing number of young vets returning from war with health and life challenges those of us who stayed comfortable at home can never imagine. Robynn is the subject of the film. Director Sara Nesson found her when she was shooting a film about vets healing themselves through art. Robynn was featured on a poster for an army publication featuring female vets, and now she is a poster girl for how vets cope with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Vermont has become a national center for the treatment of PTSD. The Brattleboro Retreat just opened a clinic for uniformed service personnel and the national center for PTSD of the Veterans Administration is in White River Junction. Sara and Robynn are amazing people with a story to tell. I look forward to hearing it when they come to the New England Theatre for the 4pm screening of Poster Girl (shown after "To See if I'm Smiling" (60 min), an Israeli film about female soldiers, but more about how abject power corrupts souls).