Veterans of Foreign Wars: A Short Film

Below is the poem that inspired our short film:

After War

By Grace Patt Biddle

I pass the VFW, and consider

turning back. But I need

something sweet.

When I was nine and full of rage,

my mother took me

to the red-roofed Dairy Joy

to get an ice cream cone

Small vanilla sugar waffle,

I only ate half.

We drove to my enemy’s house

and threw the rest on their lawn.

Tonight, I eat it all

and head back

past the veterans of foreign wars

past the farmhouses,

past my adversaries, past

my barracks. All the way

to J.T. Reid’s Gun & Cigar Store.

Summary:

Veterans of Foreign Wars follows a queer college student struggling with loneliness and confinement. Escaping her dorm room, she finds herself lost in a memory with her mother and an ice cream cone. Navigating the emotions of an outsider, this poem/screenplay hybrid documents the typical, yet rarely displayed remoteness of college life. The abrupt turn at the end leaves the viewer questioning their associations with anger, savagery, and our national gun violence crisis.

Expenses:

You’re probably wondering what your donations will go towards!

Your donations will go toward cast and crew travel, props, costumes, and lighting equipment.

Timeline:

March 2024 - August, 2024

Pre-production: Scripting, financing, casting, location scouting, etc.

August 21 - September 1, 2024

Production: Filming, casting, location scouting, etc.

September 2024 - December 2024

Post Production: Editing, color grading, VFX, etc.

February 2024

Premiere!

Cast and Crew:

Director: Eleni Kokinos is a California-raised, Greek-American filmmaker. She is currently pursuing her Writing MFA at Columbia University, specializing in poetry. She enjoys free walking tours, olive oil, and water polo.

Producer: Grace Biddle is a poet from State College, Pennsylvania. Her work appears in Snaggletooth literary arts magazine and she is a recipient of the Farnsworth Poetry Prize by Bates College. She currently resides in New York City, where she is an MFA candidate in poetry at Columbia University.

Director of Photography: Hailing from Honduras and raised in the Washington DC area, Sebastian Reyes is a videographer currently based in Brooklyn, New York. A graduate of Penn State's class of 2023, Sebastian studied film production as well as supplementing his degree with studies in graphic design. He strives to continue working on projects that emphasize great stories and prioritize an artistic approach to filmmaking.

Lead Actress: Emmy is a recent Washington University in St. Louis graduate, with a major in Film & Media Studies (production concentration), and a second major in Drama, and a minor in Marketing. She is now living in NYC and pursuing a career in acting. In her spare time, she loves to play golf!

Supporting Actress: Everly is a rising sophomore at Ludlowe High School in Fairfield Connecticut, where she is in the drama club and most recently performed in Singing in the Rain. She has participated in various local musical theatre productions over the past 7 years. She also enjoys cooking.

No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or returns on investment are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe.