by LAGAN SEBERT

Homefront: Stories of America at War is an hour-long documentary produced by American University students. It started out as an assignment for Professor Rick Rockwell’s graduate-level television documentary class, but after more than five months of work, the final product was broadcast nationally Saturday, Nov. 10 on MHz Networks. The next scheduled broadcast is on Jan. 26, 2008.

This is the second year in a row that MHz has aired a documentary special produced by Rockwell and his students. Rockwell said there was no guarantee that MHz would air another student special but he challenged his students to raise the bar last year. The class is listed in the university catalog as lasting little more than a month, with an end date in mid June, yet Rockwell said the documentary was not finished until the day it premiered on Nov. 7.

Poster by Brendan Steidle
A poster for the movie, Homefront: Stories of America at War.

 

“Students have to be willing to work beyond the limited class time… I was very pleased we had an hour of material this year. It speaks to the talent and the commitment of the students,” said Rockwell.

The film made its official world premiere at American University’s Wechsler Theater days before its nationwide release. Homefront is a compilation of seven pointed stories about how overseas wars touch those in the United States; from veterans’ fighting to maintain normal lives while dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder to Muslim-Americans struggling with their racial identity in a post-Sept. 11 United States, the film shows how war does not end on the battlefield. While the film tackles daunting subject matter, it does so through personal stories that give original perspectives to an old song.

Raw emotions of everyday citizens affected by far-off wars tell a story of a war often left unexamined: the one at home.

Some of the filmmakers shared their experience producing the film, future plans and some of their favorite stories from their days working on the American Observer…

Michael Wargo graduated from AU’s master’s in broadcast journalism program earlier this year. He now works at ABC News in Washington. For his piece, Wargo went to the sleepy coal-mining town of Windber, Pa., to take a look at how the horrors of war have hit America in the heartland.

Michael Wargo

 

He said he got the idea for his story from his aunt over Easter dinner. “I was telling my family about the documentary project and she suggested doing it on Windber.”

Wargo said making his documentary was a hectic experience. He was interning at ABC at the same time, which left only the weekends and nights to work on the documentary. He said he quickly learned that organization was key to success.

His favorite American Observer story?

“I’d say my favorite story was the three-piece series Julia Dahl wrote about her experience with ‘America’s Most Wanted.’”

Mariam Simpson also graduated with a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from AU this year. She is now “preparing to give birth in five weeks.”

Simpson’s piece examined one man’s battle with post-traumatic stress disorder from his service as a medic in Afghanistan. Simpson said she met with her subject many times before beginning to film in order to develop a relationship. Her subject’s shaken response to the possibility of having to end his work as a doctor as a result of his disorder paints a vivid picture of an oft-cited yet little-understood problem.

Simpson said she chose the subject of post traumatic stress because it received relatively little media attention. She said time management was the biggest challenge along with gaining clearance for interviews and editing the piece down from a massive amount of content to a concise seven-minute film.

Simpson said she would love to produce another documentary because in doing so you become an expert about that topic.

“There would be few topics I would turn down, because I’m interested in learning more about everything,” said Simpson.

Favorite American Observer story?

“Mark Maathius wrote a funny op-ed piece called ‘How to win an American Election.’ I loved it!”

Jennifer Tyre graduated from AU this year with a master’s in broadcast journalism as well. She now works at Time Life as a web coordinator.

Tyre looked at the lives of disabled veterans after coming home from war. In her piece, she followed a family of local African-American veterans as they struggled to readjust to life in the United States.

She said it was a challenge to be prepared for interviews while at the same time knowing that things will not always go as planned. Tyre said the experience taught her the importance of telling a story accurately and fairly while still representing the opinions and experiences of her subjects.

Favorite American Observer story?

“We had a feature section called ‘Fashion File’ which highlighted the various fashions styles of students on campus. I thought it was a nice, edgy touch that I enjoyed reading every week.”

Cara Schayer graduated from AU with a master’s in broadcast journalism this year. Now she works at Fox News.

Schayer looked at the often forgotten yet important role of the chaplain in wartime.

Cara Schayer

 

“I wanted to tackle a unique subject and bring to light an untold story of war…There are people in the military who serve in an entirely peaceful capacity — to bring hope and light to their fellow soldiers — I thought theirs’ was an important story to tell,” Schayer said.

She said producing the documentary was an immense undertaking, but she dealt with the challenge by setting short-term goals and sticking to them. She said the biggest lesson she learned was “you get out what you put in.”

Favorite American Observer story?

“Julia Dahl produced a two-part series on a Katrina survivor who was later found murdered, allegedly by her boyfriend. Julia had interviewed this woman before her death, so the piece she wrote about the investigation was particularly poignant.”

Glenn Luther graduated from AU this year with a master’s in journalism. Luther works in American University’s School of Communications information technology department. He can normally be found moving about quickly on the third floor of the Mary Graydon Center.

Glenn Luther

 

Luther examined the controversial news station Al Jazeera English.

He said the station has been widely misrepresented.

“They are accused of being terrorists… they are probably one of the most credible news sources I have ever seen,” said Luther. His probing documentary examines why there is such a stigma attached with Al Jazeera, and why the station is unable to broadcast in the United States. He said he decided on his story because he wanted to “point a camera back at the media.”

He said his biggest challenge in producing his piece was gaining access to Al Jezeera’s Washington, D.C., offices. This is the second year in a row Luther has produced a piece for the MHz Networks, but this year Luther also served as the associate producer and post-production supervisor for the entire project. He said worrying about everything from color correction to sound for all of the pieces provided an additional challenge.

Luther is working on two documentary projects: one on a faith healer in Cleveland and another on journalists covering next year’s New Hampshire presidential primary.

Favorite American Observer story?

Luther said one of his own favorite memories from working on the American Observer was interviewing an 80-year-old former Broadway dancer named Faith Dane who was running for mayor in D.C. He recalled having her tell him midway through the interview, “You should see me naked, I still got it.”