Doc Shorts
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shareFour documentary shorts reveal personal stories and experiences from serving on the frontlines to coming home. Films include: XVII Carvings (2019 GIFFSD Official Selection), BY MY SIDE (2023 GIFFSD Official Selection), Soldiers’ Stories (2021 GIFFSD Official Selection) and A Place of Honor (2025 GIFFSD Official Selection).
Some films contain graphic violence and sounds of gunfire. Viewer discretion advised.
In this program
XVII Carvings
Directed by Jesse Larvick, Manny Marquez
Marine Corps veteran Anthony Marquez is on a quest to create a memorial for the 17 fellow Marines that his unit lost in Afghanistan. Anthony is doing this by carving with chainsaws a “Battlefield Cross” for every Gold Star family affected by that loss. He then hand delivers the carvings to the families. To some, this may just be folk art…to Anthony it’s his new mission in life, to honor the fallen.
BY MY SIDE
Directed by Vicki Topaz, Wynn Padula
The three veterans and their families bravely share their pain, fear, and the difficult realization that they’ve lost time and love that they may never get back again. All three found hope where no one had looked—in the heart of a faithful service dog.
Soldiers’ Stories from Iraq and Afghanistan
Directed by Jennifer Karady
The film chronicles the intricate and intimate process between artist Jennifer Karady and one of her subjects, former Army Specialist Lucero Morales,
A Place of Honor
Directed by Vanessa Roth
A Place of Honor recounts the lived experiences of veterans and Gold Star families from before, through and after the Vietnam War.
