[dropcap]O[/dropcap]n the heels of weeklong screenings in New York City and Los Angeles, Not Yet Begun to Fight, an unconventional look at the impact of war and the journey to recovery, will air on Montana PBS on November 9 at 7pm, and nationwide on PBS’ World Channel at various times November 11, 12, 16 and 17.
Not Yet Begun to Fight has sold out numerous screenings across the country, has won a variety of festival awards and has received high critical praise, including 3.5/4 stars and “Two Thumbs Up” from the Chicago Sun-Times. It was also selected by Roger Ebert as one of 12 feature films shown at his annual film festival Ebertfest.
Corporal Erik Goodge
Not Yet Begun to Fight focuses on five warriors who join retired Marine Colonel Eric Hastings for a week of fly-fishing in Montana through the Warriors and Quiet Waters Foundation. Hastings, who flew missions “high above the death and destruction” in Vietnam, returned home to Montana in 1969 battling dark dreams. His solace was fly-fishing: “When I came back from combat, I found I needed relief, and the more I went fly-fishing, the more I knew I needed more of it,” Hastings said. “It became an absolute desperate physical and mental need, and I had to do it, or I was going to kill someone.”
Montana-based Directors Sabrina Lee and Shasta Grenier shadow Colonel Hastings as he reaches out to a new generation of traumatized combat veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Through the Warriors and Quiet Waters Foundation, he leads five remarkable, intense and vulnerable young men (three marines, a soldier and a Navy SEAL) to the quiet waters of Montana. His mission is to help them find their way through the space between the war they have just left behind and the new battles they face.
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“The hardest thing, and this probably goes for just about any wounded warrior out there, is having to learn every little thing all over again,” said Elliott Miller, a Navy SEAL who lost the ability to speak and now communicates with the automated voice of an iPad. “Only this time, where you were once an able, barrel-chested freedom fighter and proud, now you are broken and weak and humble. And so it just adds a whole new level of difficulty to it.”
Hastings knows too well that the war is never over for those who fight. On the rivers of Montana, with a fly rod in hand, he shares the balm that soothed his wounds. “Fly-fishing is a series of opportunities for hope,” he says. “This river healed me.”
Based in Bozeman, Montana, the Warriors and Quiet Waters Foundation brings nine groups of wounded warriors to Bozeman each year, May through October, for six days of fly-fishing and therapeutic recreation. The organization outfits them with everything that they need to fly fish for the rest of their lives, hosts them all together in a family setting and has professional outfitters teach them to fly-fish, taking them out on area rivers and on a guided trip through Yellowstone National Park. After the trip, many of the wounded warriors head back to the hospital or Wounded Warrior battalion. The Not Yet Begun to Fight filmmakers produced this film independently from the organization, interested in sharing the stories of the wounded warriors’ journey once they are home from war.
Not Yet Begun to Fight will run on MontanaPBS at 7pm on November 9 and nationwide on the PBS World channel on and around Veteran’s Day. PBS World air times are: November 11 at 6pm and 11pm; November 12 at 7am and 1pm; November 16 at 3am; and November 17 at 11am. More information about can be found by visiting http://worldchannel.org/programs/episode/not-yet-begun-fight/
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To learn more about the film, its filmmakers and to watch a short trailer, visit the website at www.notyetbeguntofightfilm.com. For interviews or more information, contact Corinne Garcia at 406-579-4888, corinnegarcia@montana.com.
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