Island Soldier
A story that follows Micronesian soldiers serving in the U.S. Military from one of the most remote islands in the world to the front lines of war in Afghanistan.
- Filmmaker(s)
- Nathan Fitch
- Category
- Full-Length Film
- Subject Matter
- Military, Family, Politics & Government
- Region
- Micronesia
- Length
- 60 Minutes
- Year
- 2017
- Website
- www.islandsoldiermovie.com
ISLAND SOLDIER is a documentary that interweaves the personal stories of Micronesian soldiers serving in the US military at high rates per capita, and the experiences of their families back home in the islands. We follow their journey from one of the most remote islands in the world to the front lines of war in Afghanistan. These non-US citizens mostly serve in the infantry and have extremely high casualty rates, dying at a rate five times higher than any US state, per capita. Through the odyssey of the Nena family from the island of Kosrae, the film humanizes the repercussions of America’s foreign wars, and the changing fabric of a small island nation caught in the tides of international politics, on the brink of economic and environmental collapse.
Check your local listings for the broadcast premiere on America Reframed on November 13 at 8 p.m. on World Channel. Click here to read the press release.
Nathan Fitch - Director
Nathan is a filmmaker and visual journalist based in Brooklyn, and is currently working in the video department of The New Yorker. A member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective, Nathan’s award-winning work has been published by The New York Times, TIME magazine, The New Yorker, ESPN, and NPR, to name a few. Nathan holds an MFA in documentary storytelling from Hunter college, where he was the recipient of the prestigious Welfare and Scholarship fund. Nathan was also awarded the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism, and a Picture of the Year International award. Nathan served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Micronesia and has an enduring fondness for Breadfruit.
Bryan Chang - Editor
Bryan is New York-based filmmaker and editor. He is a member-owner of Meerkat Media, a film collective and production company specializing in independent documentary and works for clients such as HBO, MTV Networks, TIME Magazine, and Google. He has worked in post-production at the Onion News Network and The Discovery Channel. His editing on two TIME Magazine documentary shorts "Amnesia and a Camera" and "Breach of Faith" recently won first place awards from Pictures of the Year International and the PDN Photo Annual. He was the lead editor on the critically-acclaimed feature documentary, “Narco Cultura.”
