Greetings! I hope everyone is having a great summer! We had
trouble getting our newsletter out in April, so please forgive some of the repetition
you might read here. Thanks to
The Sprint Foundation and supporters like yourselves,
we’ve been busy on this end with
Operation Military Brat screenings, Military Brat
Library donations, and our new “BRATS” workshops.
We also have a couple of wonderful announcements!
I apologize for the delay. It seems the entertainment business is still
clinging to its old distribution methods and there aren't many options out
there for independent filmmakers, without giving away the farm. Fortunately,
YouTube started a program that's just perfect for grassroots efforts
like ours! You can rent the film online for $9.99 for 24 hours (45% goes
to YouTube, 55% goes to Brats Without Borders). All proceeds go directly
to the nonprofit to support our other programs, like Operation Military Brat
and the new BRATS Workshops!
We're still hoping to broadcast the film in the U.S., and to find a fair
retail distribution deal, but until then, you can buy or rent the film
online. Armed Forces Network rebroadcast the documentary everywhere but
the U.S. on their Family Channel last April. Hopefully, there's an
American television station that thinks the lives of military children
are worth acknowledging and exploring!
"BRATS" Wins Founder's Choice Award at 2010 G.I. Film Festival!
In May, I traveled to Washington, DC to attend the 2010 G.I. Film Festival,
the only festival in the country that celebrates the successes and sacrifices of
the American military through the medium of film. "BRATS: Our Journey Home" was
one of the select films chosen to screen this year, and BRATS was fortunate enough
to also win the Founder's Choice Award for the film the founders of the festival
thought deserved special attention!
It was a very moving experience. I met so
many wonderful people - fellow filmmakers, brats, soldiers, and spouses. There
were celebrities there - ABC News co-anchor Bob Woodruff, Glenn Close, Gary Sinise,
and others. In fact, Major Laura Law, one of the festival's founders, announced at
our screening that journalist Bob Woodruff took the time to personally watch the
"BRATS" film and said he loved it and had never seen anything like it!
I was particularly moved by a documentary called "Honor in the Valley of Tears," directed by Eric Dow, which
explored the first-hand account of Congressional Medal of Honor recipient David H.
McNerney's experience fighting in the Central Highlands at the height of the
Viet Nam War. My father fought in that same area with the 173rd Airborne
Brigade. I also really enjoyed a short film by two brat filmmakers -
Keva and Karen
Keyes - called "Letters From Home!" Please do whatever you can to support
this fine festival and our fellow brat filmmakers.
"BRATS" Workshops a Resounding Success!
One of the reasons I made the "BRATS" film was to
figure out who I was and where
I was “from.” Now, my goal is to take what I've learned and pass it on to as
many brats/TCKs and their families as possible, as well as the folks who work,
live with, and care for those brats/TCKs. To that end, I've put together a
"BRATS" Workshop under our educational
outreach program, Operation Military Brat.
The BRATS Workshop explores the military brat and/or TCK experience from the
child's point-of-view, in order to help brats thrive, not just survive. So the
young brats coming up now don't have to waste 20 years trying to figure it all
out like I did!
Since the beginning of the year, I've presented BRATS Workshops from the
Officer's Wives Club on Barksdale Air Force Base to the JE Williams Middle School in
Huntsville, Alabama, to the Eglin Air Force Base Library in Fort Walton, Florida.
In March,
Dr. Paulette Bethel and I were invited by Drs. Rebecca Powell and Grace
Yeuell of the chaplain's office on US Army Garrisons in Germany and Italy to
present similar workshops to parents, teachers, clergy, and medical personnel.
I'll never forget the 16-year-old military brat who came up to me afterwards and
told me she didn't know how to express her feelings, then spent the next 45
minutes expressing her feelings! It was wonderful. Apparently, the workshops
have already made a difference in many children's lives. If you'd like to
schedule a workshop or support our efforts in this area, please let us know by
contacting us at info@bratsfilm.com!
BWB Donates More Military Brat Libraries!
Another part of Operation Military Brat is the
Military Brat Library program, a
one-of-a-kind collection of books and films that celebrate and explores the
life of a military child. With the help of the Sprint Foundation, Maj. Gen.
(Ret.) Bryan and Marlene Hawley (and their sons Scott and Chad), the Berlin
Brats Alumni Association, the Karlsruhe American High School Alumni
Association, and retired DoDDS teacher and principal Marlene Knudson Koenig,
and many of the authors of the books and films (myself, Mary Wertsch, Michael
Ritter, Scott Hawley, Steve Dickenson, Ruth Van Reken, and Patricia Stallard),
we have donated seven Military Brat Libraries to the Eglin AF Base Library,
the Landstuhl Community Library, the USAG Baden-Wuerttemberg Chaplain's Office,
the USAG Vicenza Base Library, and public libraries in Washington, DC, Providence,
Rhode Island, and Shreveport, Louisiana. If you'd like to support this
program, please let us know by
contacting us at info@bratsfilm.com or
go ahead and donate
online!
Berlin Brigade Interview
Just in case you didn't see it in April, The Berlin Brigade
is a website run by fellow brat David Guerra that's dedicated
to all those who served in West Berlin from 1945 to 1994. David interviewed
me earlier this year and here it is! It's long, but we hope you find it
interesting.
Operation Military Brat 2010 Tour Dates
Here are some of our upcoming broadcasts and screenings. Once again, we want to thank
The Sprint Foundation and all our other donors for the generous support
that makes all this possible!
Reston, VA - August 5-7, 2010 (1-4 pm on the 5th and 7th, and
9:30am-12:30pm on the 6th -
Overseas Brats Homecoming - FREE SCREENINGS of "BRATS: Our Journey Home" and
"BRATS RAW: Kristofferson & Schwarzkopf" - Hyatt Regency Reston,
Reston Town Square, VA
Helping Other Brats - Humanitarian Assistance Needed
In Burma
Since retiring from the Army after 30 years, Retired Colonel Tim Heinemann
(the father of "brats") has dedicated his life to providing humanitarian
assistance around the world through his nonprofit organization,
Worldwide Impact Now (WIN). Tim is
currently helping Burma's ethnic minorities who are in a decades-long
life-or-death struggle for freedom.
Because they live on top of valuable natural
resources and nations profit from business with Burma, little has been done to
help these people or stop their genocide. For many, murder and rape have
become a way of life. If you'd like to help or find out more, please visit
Tim's websites at www.worldwide-impact-now.org or www.burmaincrisis.org.
Shipping & Set Specials Continued
Our holiday specials were so popular, we've decided to extend them
further into the year! If you buy "BRATS: Our Journey Home" and "BRATS RAW"
together, you'll receive a special set discount. And if you spend
over $65.00, you'll receive
free shipping and handling* (*first-class domestic shipping
only).
And don't forget to check out our famous
BRATS buttons - on sale for a limited time. They're great
conversation starters! Wear one to work or school, or hand them out at MWR
centers, teen clubs, and youth group meetings. Say it loud -
you're brat and you're proud!
Participate In Our Brats Study!
If you haven't already, don't forget to
fill out one of our questionnaires. We're in
the process of putting the data we've gathered for the past 10 years into the
largest qualitative database about the long-term effects of "growing up brat." And
we're collecting new research about three areas that have been
overlooked for the most part: brats/TCKs and race, trauma, and abuse. It's
not about judging... it's about understanding. It's about building on our
strengths and ameliorating some of the challenges. And we can't do it without you.
Spread the Word - Join BWB's Facebook, MySpace, and Forum
Again, none of this is possible without the support of people like The Sprint
Foundation and our fellow brats and those who love and care about them. If you
can help out this year, we do appreciate it.
Here's to spreading joy and helping others in 2010!
Kind regards, Donna Musil, Executive Director
Brats Without Borders, Inc.
Brats Without Borders, Inc.
P.O. Box 3096
Eatonton, GA 31024
478.968.0102
www.bratsfilm.com
www.bratswithoutborders.org info@bratsfilm.com
A 501(c)(3) educational organization helping military "brats" and
"third-culture kids" of all ages reach their full potential.
