Coming to PBS’s Independent Lens tonight, Monday, May 29:
FARMER/VETERAN
Directors:
Alix Blair and Jeremy M Lange
Premiere:
Dallas 2016
Select Festivals:
New Orleans, Big Sky Doc, Cucalorus, Sidewalk, Hot Springs Doc, Brooklyn
About:
An Iraq War veteran finds solace in farming more than from the scores of meds he is prescribed.
Alex is a 32 year old retired US Army Staff Sergeant suffering from PTSD who has turned to farming a small plot of land with his fiancee and eventual wife, Jessica. Shaken after three tours of duty in Iraq, he confesses to having psychotic thoughts, worries about harming the incredibly patient and supportive Jessica, and harbors delusions about his time in the service. Although the couple, and Alex in particular, initially take to farming, its challenges – and those of his mental health concerns – start to catch up with them. Blair and Lange sensitively and compellingly capture their subjects, and the difficult transition from soldier to civilian.
what (not) to doc 