Directing
Women have a long and storied tradition of fierce warriorship. Vietnamese women fought the French, South Vietnamese Regular Army and American troops in the decades following World War II. In a country of ancient art and religion, of poetry and song, and of resplendent physical beauty, these women suffered the horrors of war as active combatants. Some experienced many life shattering years of torture and imprisonment. Ultimately, all shared in victory in defense of their homes and country. But, as is always the case in war, their victory is not without its contradictions, losses, and sorrows.
This is a war story told like no other. Through personal experience, filmmaker Mel Halbach takes us on a journey on a nuclear missile submarine during the cold war days of Mutually Assured Destruction. Through interviews, stock footage and animation Halbach brings forth tales from the underworld where 140 shipmates lived underwater, seventy days at a time. Their mission: to participate in the destruction of the world, if ordered to do so. Mel’s personal journey is woven with the contemporary stories of his shipmates – some reluctant to push the button. During patrol Mel describes how he and others smoked marijuana to keep their sanity under the cloud of launching an all out nuclear attack.
