Tuesday, November 26, 1996
FILM:
Award-winning documentary focuses on women's role in warBy Lori Swingle
Daily Bruin Contributor
When Nancy Kates began to create her master's thesis documentary at Stanford, she decided to tackle a very big subject Vietnam. Even though it seems this monumental war has been portrayed in every possible way, Kates became interested in a group of veterans who, surprisingly, have been excluded from many of these portrayals women.
What Kates came up with was a documentary that chronicled the lives of women veterans in Vietnam. And her film, "Their Own Vietnam," which won an Academy Award for student documentaries, plays tonight at Melnitz as part of the Academy's Fall Documentary Series.
Interviewing nearly 60 women, Kates became quite attached to the project and discovered many women who were more than willing to share their stories with someone who would listen. "I deal with the truth. To do good work in this field, you have to hear people. You have to make a few people and a few incidents symbolic of a bigger event."
The documentary, "Their Own Vietnam," has rapidly taken Kates from student to professional documentary filmmaker. The film has gained popular recognition in audiences beyond the classroom while shedding light on an important subject.
One problem facing Kates, however, is the general plight of making documentaries. These smaller-scale films lack the commercial advantages of big- budget feature films, and in a money-hungry society, documentary filmmakers find it difficult to bring their work to a larger audience.
"I was spending hours and hours alone in a darkroom, not knowing if anyone would ever even see this film, so all the recognition I've received is wonderful," Kates remarked.
"Their Own Vietnam" focuses on women's stories about experiences during the war and the difficult recoveries after. "I think, in actuality, the experiences of both the men and women were similar, but women weren't expected to have problems. If they did, they just had to keep quiet," Kates said. "Because they couldn't talk about it, their experiences have been silenced."
The five women featured in the film have distinctly different voices, yet a common thread ties all of them together. It becomes clear that their pain is deep, and that their lives have been forever changed by the images of war that still linger fresh in their minds.
Throughout the interviews, the sense of guilt and loss suffered by the women is apparent. In making the film, Kates also became aware of the issues of sex and romance which seemed to shape the war in many of her subjects' minds.
"While men lost buddies, women were losing their lovers," Kates said, also acknowledging that "some of them have been unable to have relationships in their adult lives. The women weren't out doing the killing, which adds to their guilt. Their jobs were to save the lives of the wounded soldiers."
One woman in the documentary recalls the night when an officer whom she had been dating stepped on a land mine off the side of the road, while she and several other men sat in a truck on the way to a dance. On the other hand, two of Kates' subjects are lesbian women who met while serving overseas and are still together.
Kates allowed the interviews to narrate the historical footage she used, adding depth to the women's words. The format allows the viewer to feel more in touch with the women, while also documenting the events of the war.
Throughout the film, Kates also spliced in humorous clips from recruiting films. Women are shown chatting, laughing and shopping in Vietnam, all for the purpose of luring American women overseas. "The purpose for using those clips was the irony," Kates said. "Vietnam was sold as being a fun place for women. They show women looking in store windows and talking on pink telephones. It also adds a bit of comic relief, which I think is important in a film with such a serious subject matter."
Despite the success of Kates' first documentary endeavor, she has no plans to turn this film into a larger-scale work. "I want to move on, to make other films," Kates said. "I've thought about it, but I began to feel as though I was fighting a battle myself, and there are other subjects I want to explore."
The feedback from this film has solidified her decision to continue in the medium. "It's all very encouraging to someone who hasn't done too much prior work," Kates reflected. "It just shows that it is possible to move people without a $30-million budget."
FILM: "Their Own Vietnam" will screen Tuesday 7:30 p.m. in Melnitz Hall. For more information, call 206-FILM
Nancy Kates
Linda McClenahan is one of the five women featured in "Their Own Vietnam," a documentary directed by Nancy Kates.