"Ask Not," the documentary produced by Johnny Symons, which discusses DADT from two perspectives, will premiere at the SF International Film Festival on 26 April. The film documents the Call to Duty Tour from 2006 (in which a group of young gay veterans toured the country, speaking to over 10000 people on college campuses (and to over 100,000 people on radio and TV interviews) about DADT. Their theme was essentially this: "I'm a gay soldier (marine, sailor, airman); my military buddies knew I was gay and didn't care. I want to serve my country in the military; why won't they let me serve with honor and dignity?" Here's a link to their website: http://calltodutytour.org/. You can see and hear some of their individual stories here: http://hglc.org/military/Call_to_Duty.htm

The other perspective of the film documents the efforts of the young, gay civilians from SoulForce Right to Serve. These men and women visited recruiting stations around the country, sincerely trying to enlist but being turned away because of DADT. Here's a link to their website: http://www.soulforce.org/application.php?application=se...rve%22&button=Search

Both the Call to Duty Tour and Soul Force were cover stories in The Advocate.

The film will be aired on television this summer on a PBS special. (PBS funded the documentary). It will also be shown next month at the Seattle International Film Festival and at the Ft Lauderdale/Miami GLBT Film Festival, and at the New York City LGBT Film Festival in June.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dupontgaf,

That's going to prove to be very interesting.

Can't wait.

Dang, I'm going to be away for 3/4s of this summer (various military bases, vacations)

Do they have a date as of now when they will show it?

Coolada,

Here's some info on the various screenings:

ASK NOT
http://www.asknotfilm.com
Ask Not is a rare and compelling exploration of the U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The film exposes the tangled political battles that led to the discriminatory law, and profiles charismatic young activists determined to abolish it. As wars in the Middle East rage on, Ask Not reveals personal stories of gay Americans who serve in combat under a veil of secrecy.

UPCOMING SCREENINGS
San Francisco International Film Festival - World Premiere
Saturday, April 26th, 12noon, Castro Theatre
Monday, May 5th, 1pm, Sundance Cinemas Kabuki
Tickets on sale now: http://www.sffs.org

Ft Lauderdale/Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival - Opening Night Film
Thursday, May 1st, 7:30pm, Parker Theater
Tickets on sale now: http://www.mglff.com

Seattle International Film Festival
Thursday, May 29, and Friday, May 30, 2008
http://www.seattlefilm.org

NewFest: The New York LGBT Film Festival
June 5-15, 2008
http://www.newfest.org

View the Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbmCYSaHm2U

Join ASK NOT Groups:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=12137228137
MySpace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.vi...e&friendid=247864372

Get the Soundtrack:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/arnoldnorman

Order the Book:
http://www.palmcenter.org/nathanielfrank

Further info on Ask Not:

As part of the Call to Duty Tour segment, there is footage on the Flags on the Mall project, in which the Human Rights Campaign, Log Cabin Republicans and SLDN were participants and co-sponsors, along with Servicemembers United (the former Call to Duty Tour).

I just finished watching an advance copy of Ask Not. It is phenomenal - it is by far the best film yet produced on DADT; beautifully written and edited, with an original sound track written especially for the film. It will likely bring tears to your eyes.

There are three stories interwoven through the piece: 1) The Call to Duty Tour -- a group of young, gay veterans touring the nation, speaking about their experiences in the military and letting America see and hear exactly who are gay troops, something most people are unaware of; 2) The Right to Serve movement from SoulForce, a group of young gay civilians who want to serve in the military but are obviously disqualified under DADT because they won't lie about their sexuality -- they visit recruiting stations and are turned away, on camera, to make the point; 3) a patriotic active duty gay soldier with the pseudonym "Perry," who is shown leaving his friends in San Francisco just before deploying to Iraq; then many scenes of him in Iraq, recording his thoughts on his service to the nation and his thoughts on the war -- of course his face and name tag are blurred out, as is unit affiliation patch on the sleeve of his uniform -- Perry's last scene in the film is him on leave from the war, standing at the WWII American National Cemetery in Normandy, France -- in the rain, silently saluting a grave of an unknown soldier, and then kneeling in prayer.

The credits are also worth watching, as they contain the photographs of many current and former gay troops, including many of the current SLDN staff members and advisory board members (JDK, you're one of them).

Just returned from the premiere of this movie in San Francisco. The theater was packed; good response; great Q&As.

BTW, the gay soldier with the pseudonym "Perry," whom the film shows in much detail, is now back from Iraq, out of the Army, and suffering from PTSD, like so many other Iraq War vets. His friends say he misses the Army, but he obviously can't return to it in his present state of mind.

Wish this was more available to the general public.

It'll be on PBS television this summer -- I'll put up the info when I have more precise date and times.

can't understand why they would screen it in San Fran....... That is one City with a very negative (in recent years)view and stance of military, as a whole.

Attempts to cancel Fleet Week, refusal to allow USMC Commercial filming, petitions to remove Blue Angels from being allowed to fly over the same space that private aircraft are allowed to ........ it goes on and on!

ANYONE should be allowed to serve, IF they feel they are called to do so. Period!

quote:

Originally posted by dupontgaf:
I just finished watching an advance copy of Ask Not. It is phenomenal - it is by far the best film yet produced on DADT; beautifully written and edited, with an original sound track written especially for the film. It will likely bring tears to your eyes.

There are three stories interwoven through the piece: 1) The Call to Duty Tour -- a group of young, gay veterans touring the nation, speaking about their experiences in the military and letting America see and hear exactly who are gay troops, something most people are unaware of; 2) The Right to Serve movement from SoulForce, a group of young gay civilians who want to serve in the military but are obviously disqualified under DADT because they won't lie about their sexuality -- they visit recruiting stations and are turned away, on camera, to make the point; 3) a patriotic active duty gay soldier with the pseudonym "Perry," who is shown leaving his friends in San Francisco just before deploying to Iraq; then many scenes of him in Iraq, recording his thoughts on his service to the nation and his thoughts on the war -- of course his face and name tag are blurred out, as is unit affiliation patch on the sleeve of his uniform -- Perry's last scene in the film is him on leave from the war, standing at the WWII American National Cemetery in Normandy, France -- in the rain, silently saluting a grave of an unknown soldier, and then kneeling in prayer.

The credits are also worth watching, as they contain the photographs of many current and former gay troops, including many of the current SLDN staff members and advisory board members (JDK, you're one of them).

I am? I don't remember submitting anything for it, but I am definitely glad they did.

JDK, I think they got the photos from the GLBT History Museum exhibit in San Francisco last year titled, "Out Ranks."

http://www.glbthistory.org/news/05_16_outranks.html

Here is a letter describing some of the reaction to viewing Ask Not -- interestingly, it makes many of the points we've discussed in the threads on DADT - and it reflects many of the misconceptions about the DADT law, particularly from conservatives or people who have no idea about what it's like to live under such a policy: The letter is addressed to Johnny Symons, who made the film Ask Not:

Hi Johnny,

I'm not sure if you remember me. I worked in the publications department of the San Francisco International Festival that just wrapped, and I wrote up a couple of little blurbs about your film Ask Not for our daily newsletter. I've moved on to another festival now, but just wanted to share a little story with you about how your film is making an impact even on folks who haven't seen it.

My family, god bless them, are all retired military, card carrying Republicans and devout Christians. I am most certainly none of those things. We're very close, but needless to say, we do our best to avoid any topic that might come back around to religion or politics. And they all live in East Texas. After the festival I took some time off to go visit them. They had seen the website for the SF fest and one day my Mom asked me about your film. She was curious about what the issue was. She said to me, Well, isn't the policy working out just fine? In her mind, and I think in many people's mind, the policy is a good thing, and in some sort of way any gay person who wants to serve should feel lucky that the policy even exists and allows them to enlist.

So I started talking to her about what you bring up in your film and just a few of the things that Fred Fox, Aaron Belkin and Al Steinman talked about on stage at the Castro.

I told her about the percentages of folks in the military who had been polled regarding their knowledge of someone in their unit that they assumed was gay, or knew outright was gay. And that although the numbers are huge, they all still manage to do their jobs without being consumed by homophobia.

I told her about the patriotic kids, who want more than anything to enlist, but who refuse to closet themselves and are subsequently denied by the military. And yet, the military is so desperate for recruits they allow felons to enlist.

One point that came up that day at your screening really seemed to hit home with her. I asked her how hard she thought it would have been during her time in the military if she had felt compelled to keep her marriage a secret. Although her sexuality had nothing to do with her job in the Air Force, the support and love of her husband was, and is, a huge part of her life. How can we deny someone the comfort of their loved ones when they are risking their life to serve their country?

And then I talked to her about a personal experience I had a few years ago, and I think this is a huge reason why your film meant so much to me. My younger sister and her husband are also both ex-military, both having gone through the Air Force Academy in Colorado. Each year she was there my parents and I would go up together to visit her one weekend in the fall. My sister partied pretty hard while she was there and I loved going out with her and her cadet friends even though I was always sort of the novel oddity from San Francisco. The tattooed, pierced, bisexual sister. One night one of her friends who had been hovering around me for a few days sort of cornered me in the kitchen of a house party. She was this cute little skater girl who was in her second year at the Academy. She looked at me with these huge brown eyes and in a tiny little voice came right out of her closet. She told me she couldn't tell any of her friends because she didn't want anyone to be compromised, but that she had to tell someone. She talked to me about the girls she dated and her gay friends back home and just seemed so relieved to be able to have a normal, uninhibited conversation.

Of course, years later I asked my sister about her and she said that everyone knew, no one cared but they also never talked about it or let on that they knew. It just all seemed so pointless.

And of course, I told my Mom about Perry and the way in which his sexuality factored into his service. That it didn't. That there is this misconception that any gay person in the military is unable to disassociate his job from his sexuality, but the reality is that, gay folks are just like straight folks on the front lines. They fight with the same dedication and suffer the same traumas.

I must have talked without taking a breath for more than 20 minutes. I wasn't sure if she knew what to do with all that information. But when I was finally done she looked at me and told me that she honestly had not had any idea about any of what I had told her. So she hadn't been coming from a place of discrimination or prejudice, she was just unaware of the reality. And I swear, she said that I had opened her up to a completely different side of the issue and that I had changed her mind on the validity of the policy.

So there you have it. Your film is working to change people's minds even when they haven't seen it. Your film opens up the reality of the issue.

I want to tell you that you've made an amazing film that I'm sure is continuing to impact audiences in profound ways. And Thank You!
I'm anxiously awaiting your Independent Lens airing so that I can call everyone I know and tell them to watch it.

Thanks for reading my little story, your film meant a lot to me and I just had to let you know.

All the best,

I think I've said this before, but I think all the gay groups should get together (SLDN, HRC, PFLAG, etc.) and fund a documentary. The documentary would focus on a straight person who is married and on active duty in the military. They would have to follow DADT as if they were both men (or women)

Stealing from Seawitch's list from another thread:

- No rings
- No pictures
- No phone calls
- No letters
- No conversations about them, or even the fact you are married.

etc. etc.

Then we see how they deal with it.

Would be amazing to watch.