‘From The Mekong to Montana’ traces one effect of the Vietnam War on an American woman. Diane Steffan married her college sweetheart in 1970. More than ten years later her husband suddenly developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from his service during the war. Their life together crashed into the chaos of violence and alcoholism, which eventually claimed his life. Fifteen years after her husband’s death, Diane visits Vietnam to see for herself the country that changed her life.

Interviews with survivors, experts, and advocates mixed with footage from wartime newsreels and propaganda films tell the story of the Korean Comfort Women who survived sexual slavery during World War II and continue to fight for an official apology from the Japanese government. Now in their 80s and 90s, the surviving “Comfort Women” recount their personal experiences and articulate their demands for compensation and acknowledgment. “Forced into ‘Comfort,’ Fighting for Apology” traces the origin of the comfort women system from the invasion of China to the end of the war. Set to a haunting score, the film portrays the anger of the surviving women and their advocates against a Japanese government waiting for the women to die.

A romantic ‘feel good’ experimental short, ‘Certain Green’ tells the story of an older woman’s lifelong quest for the perfect color green. On the advice of a psychic, our heroine searches from Florida to the Rocky Mountains, and along the way, learns that sometimes a certain green is found where you least expect it.

Notes on the film
I was reading a few anthologies of micro-fiction and non-fiction when I came across “Rhapsody in Green” by Marjorie Sandor. I loved this story because it was all about color, and how our lives are a search for something perfect that may not exist.
I started bringing my Super16 camera to Captiva, Florida during spring break. I started shooting everything I could find that looked like it should be green, but was not. Shadows of leaves on the ground, plants at sunrise and sunset that have turned inky black. One Spring we were on Captiva just after a hurricane had trashed the island. The shot of the garbage truck driving past the small restaurant (actually a little store) was shot that Spring. (The store was closed in order to repair all the hurricane damage). The shots of Johanna in front of the bulletin board are actually composites — I shot the store in Florida and Johanna in a studio at Montana State University in front of a blue screen.

Taubman Sucks is the story of Hank Mishkoff, a web designer from Plano Texas, who created a website celebrating the construction of a new mall in his neighborhood. One day he received a letter from a lawfirm representing the mall’s owner, claiming that he was violating their client’s trademark. When they filed a lawsuit against him, Hank registered a series of internet domain names ending with “sucks.com.” He used these sites to document the case, and the treatment he was receiving.

Hank fought the lawsuits all the way to the Appeals Court. After several setbacks, he was ultimately victorious. His case is now the precedent establishing rights for people who use the web to protest, complain, or gripe. This richly visual documentary tells Hank’s “David vs. Goliath” story using an entertaining and humorous style. This is a story where the little guy finally does come out on top!