About

shooting spanned six months…

Moving between NYC, Ithaca, Queens, Brooklyn and New Jersey, the crew of 10 maintained a closed set and a keen respect for the participation of non-actors and veterans. Breaking up the shooting schedule into brief, intense segments instead of one long consecutive shoot, allowed Ryan and Talia to review footage, recalculate and plan for optimal shooting conditions.

The film is a collaboration spanning four years, where the veterans of FRONTLINE ARTS and OUT OF STEP PRESS invited Talia Lugacy into their process of papermaking and storytelling -- the characters, improvisation, poetry, artwork and music arose from this intensive and immersive collaboration.

The film is dedicated to the memories of Frank Wagner (Vietnam veteran who appears in the film), Hari Khalsa (Iraq veteran, who committed suicide in 2016), and KK Trieu (the film’s Associate Producer and Talia’s former student, a trans man who killed himself in 2020)

The method of producing a hybrid narrative started with test shooting “process scenes” where Talia and Ryan participated in each phase of papermaking with the veterans, and over a period of two years prior to filming, compiled a workable strategy for shooting “intentional improvisation” as well as a means by which to capture the ritual and detail of the process, in ways that reflect its meditative effects on trauma.

The film would not have been possible without the support of GOULD COLMAN, a World War II veteran, in whose home the film was partially shot. Gould is 94 years old and still changes his own tractor tires. Gould and Talia spent innumerable hours pouring over the film, bourbon and life.