BRATS: Our Journey Home (Individual license)

$19.99
7 ratings

The First (& Only) Real Documentary About Growing Up Military

Narrated & Featuring Songs by Kris Kristofferson

Written & Directed by Donna Musil

U.S. military brats share intimate memories about their unique childhoods - growing up on military bases around the world, then struggling to fit into an American lifestyle with which they have little in common. Narrated and featuring songs by Kris Kristofferson. Interviews include the late General Norman Schwarzkopf, authors Mary Edwards Wertsch and Stephanie Donaldson-Pressman, and brats of all ages, races, and branches of service.

2006 / United States / 91 min / English / Color & BxW / Stereo / Digitally Mastered / Not Rated / Documentary / Closed Captioned



WINNER, Best Documentary, Best First-Time Director, Southern Lens Award, Founder's Choice Award, G.I. Film Festival

Featured on CNN's This Week at War and NPR's All Things Considered with Debbie Elliott, and broadcast on Armed Forces Television in 178 countries (outside the U.S.). Official selections in over 20 film festivals, from Anchorage to Atlanta to Hot Springs to Santa Fe.

"Brats does most everything you'd want a good documentary to do -- it informs us about a corner of the culture we've overlooked, lays out the good, the bad and the unhappy about this lifestyle and changes the way we look at these people and the world their country makes them and needs them to live in differently."
Roger Moore - Orlando Sentinel (FL)

"Oh, my gosh. You took most of my feelings and had other people say them. I never wanted the movie to end!!! It was the most wonderful trip HOME!!! Thank you forever and ever..."
Katie Villani, Military Brat

"Your film moved me a great deal when I saw it and how could it fail to move a brat. I still am shocked that I moved 23 times by the time I got to Beaufort when I was 15 years old. ... You did all of us a great service with your film and I think it will be a great help to military brats who are growing up today… Great love and congratulations."
Pat Conroy, Author, The Great Santini, The Prince of Tides

"... be prepared to be catapulted across time and lost in thought in the most fundamental of ways… The film ought to be required viewing by any brat (and probably their parents) before they leave high school and start making their own life decisions..."
Bill Kirk, Military Brat

"No other documentary better depicts the social and psychological impact on children and adolescents at the intersection of two power social institutions—the military and the family."
Dr. Morten Ender, Professor of Sociology, United States Military Academy, West Point

"Wow... makes the hair stand up on my arms, and my breath catch in my throat... In some ways BRATS opened some old wounds, and healed others. It made me feel as though I have a ‘place,’ and it is a rich and beautiful one."
Laurin A. March Griffith, Military Brat

…a beautiful film... very, very well made and… a must for each and every American who ever lived under these circumstances... this is not an easy topic... the filmmakers have done an excellent job of laying out the major issues... We should all support this film in the most aggressive way possible."
- John Hardy, Producer, Erin Brokovich and Ocean's 11

"BRATS explores this generations 'silent crisis': why so many children were sad and confused while appearing to be tough, cheerful and confident. Donna Musil challenges conventional expectations regarding the children of military members ... Her documentary serves as a testimonial to the thousands of families caught up in raising their children through a toughening process that drives their true emotions underground. ... Parents and teachers everywhere should be exposed to this material."
- Marlene Knudson, DoDDS Teacher & Principal

"...powerful... illuminating... compelling... at the heart of this fascinating documentary is the universal need for belonging... and what it means to be American in ways that most of us will never understand..."
- Doug Norris, South County Independent (RI)

Click here for more reactions and more reviews!


INDIVIDUAL STREAMING OPTIONS:

3-DAY STREAM - $4.99 (30 days to click "play" - 72 hours once "play" is clicked)

UNLIMITED STREAMING - $19.99 (streaming only - not downloadable)

BUY THE DVD HERE!

For Individuals Only (non-theatrical/commercial/tv/cable/closed-circuit/satellite/internet)!

TO PURCHASE GROUP/INSTITUTIONAL LICENSES (Educational, Corporate, Library, Reunion, etc.), email info@bratsourjourneyhome.com.


FILMMAKER'S STATEMENT

The idea for a non-fiction film about military children took root back in 1998. I was a labor-lawyer-turned-writer feeling a bit out of sorts and "different" from my fellow Americans, but didn't know why. Then one day I discovered I was not alone. There are literally millions of us military BRATS scattered around the world and more are being born every day. We are raised in a separate and distinct culture that affects us deeply in both positive and painful ways. Making this connection to my culture gave me a sense of belonging I had never experienced. This was empowering to a "little girl" who had moved twelve times on three continents, attended three high schools, and lost her father, an Army officer, by the time she was sixteen years old.

Today, I have a film about a group of people whose only "hometowns" are each other. We have more in common with the military children and "global nomads" of other countries than with our fellow citizens. And that is my vision - that this film might be a spark in a global fire of self-awareness and belonging - that from the ashes of war might rise a nation of children committed to peace.

Donna Musil, Writer-Director, BRATS: Our Journey Home

P.S. from Donna: "People ask me why I don't make another BRATS film. The reason is simple. Very little has changed, with regard to the everyday life of brats (and TCKs). The benefits, challenges, and emotional impact are the same. We're still pretty much invisible and with a few exceptions, our needs are ignored. After 20 years of working in this field, I now believe the best way for brats and TCKs to live their most fulfilling lives (as children and adults) is to understand and celebrate our culture (which overlaps, but is not the military culture) and to help each other when we need it. I hope one day this changes, but for now, at least we have each other."

Find out more about" the filmmaker here!

To schedule a speaking engagement, email info@bratsourjourneyhome.com.

Donna Musil and a dedicated team of volunteers has screened the BRATS film, exhibited the UNCLASSIFIED museum exhibit, spoken, and conducted art camps and workshops at over 100 locations around the world, including: USAA, West Point, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, University of Denver, National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, American Sociological Association, U.S. Navy Memorial, Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Programs, and dozens of other theaters, universities, conferences, military bases and schools, alumni reunions, churches, and people's living rooms.


SUBJECT AREAS

Children, Youth & Families; Psychology and Social Work; Sociology; Military Family Studies; Anthropology; Ethnic Studies; History; International Relations & Global Issues; Peace & Conflict Studies; American Studies; Education; PTSD


FIND OUT MORE ABOUT BRATS WITHOUT BORDERS!

  • UNCLASSIFIED: The Military Kid Art Show (a traveling museum exhibit about military brats, young and old)
  • BRATS Clubs (for children and adults)
  • Our Own Private Battlefield - a 10-year documentary-in-progress about the intergenerational effects of combat PTSD on military children, and how one Marine family used art to heal the wounds of war
  • Truman's Kids - the first documentary-in-progress about the long-term effect on military children of President Truman's 1948 Executive Order integrating the United States military
  • The BRAT Art Institute
  • BRATS Educate-the-Educator and Teen Transition Workshops

TO DONATE to BWB, click here!

I want this!
Watch link provided after purchase
Copy product URL

Ratings

5.0
(7 ratings)
5 stars
100%
4 stars
0%
3 stars
0%
2 stars
0%
1 star
0%
$19.99

BRATS: Our Journey Home (Individual license)

7 ratings
I want this!