Luminaries from Hollywood and the Military to Honor American GIs at the 3rd Annual ‘GI Film Festival’

Award-Winning GI Film Festival to Showcase 47 of the World’s Best Military Films May 12-18 in Washington DC

ARLINGTON, Va., April 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — GI Film Festival co-founders Brandon Millett and Major Laura Law-Millett announced today the line-up for the Third Annual festival, which will showcase the world’s best military films and feature special appearances by luminaries from Hollywood, the military and Congress. The festival will run from May 12-18, 2009 at the prestigious Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC and other DC area venues, including the National Archives and the Russell Senate Caucus Room.

The award-winning GI Film Festival is the first and only film festival in the nation dedicated to honoring American soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines through the medium of film. (See www.gifilmfestival.com for more information.) Highlights of the GI Film Festival include:

• 47 documentary and narrative premiere films from the nation’s top independent and studio filmmakers, including active duty GIs and military veterans;
• World Premiere of Citizens United Production’s Perfect Valor, featuring former Senator Fred Dalton Thompson; produced by David Bossie (Border Wars);
• GI Film Festival red carpet premiere of HBO’s Taking Chance, starring Kevin Bacon;
• GI Film Festival red carpet premiere for “Wounded Warriors” of MGM/UA’s Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise;
• Congressional Reception at the Russell Senate Caucus Room honoring military veterans in Congress. Scheduled guests include: Senator John McCain and Medal of Honor recipient Senator Daniel K. Inouye;
• Presentation of the GI Film Festival’s “GI Spirit Award” to actress Karri Turner;
• VIP reception featuring the launch of the new USO national publication, On Patrol;
• VIP receptions featuring celebrities, top military leaders and warriors, and filmmakers.
• Invited guests include: Kevin Bacon; Kelsey Grammer; Faizon Love; John Ratzenberger; and Tom Skerritt; as well as General Eric Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs; Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; General Richard B. Myers, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Gen. George W. Casey, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army.

“The GI Film Festival provides a unique opportunity to not only support the American warrior, but to participate in a meaningful and inspirational cultural event,” said GI Film Festival co-founder and President Brandon L. Millett. “It is possible to sit through the entire slate of GI Film Festival films and experience the full range of human emotion. Shocking combat films, patriotic tear jerkers, popcorn action films, historical documentaries; we will screen them all.”

In only its third year, the GI Film Festival has become the most significant venue for the screening of military films and it has achieved some notable successes. One 2007 GI Film Festival premiere, Operation Homecoming, was a finalist for an Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary. Last year’s GI Film Festival “Best Feature Documentary,” Brothers at War earned a theatrical distribution deal from the prestigious Samuel Goldwyn Films and is now in theaters. Another award-winning offering from 2008, The Last 600 Meters, will release in theaters and air on PBS in 2010.

Tickets for GI Film Festival premiere films are available for $10. Tickets for primetime events, which include film screenings and receptions, are available for $50. Full festival passes are available for $250 and include access to all film screenings and primetime events on Thursday through Sunday.

Corporate sponsors for the 2009 GI Film Festival include, among others: Target Corporation; TriWest Healthcare Alliance; America’s Huey 091 Foundation; USO International; Families United; MGM/UA; HBO, Inc.; American Military University, Discovery Communications’ “The Military Channel” and American Airlines, the official airline of the GI Film Festival.

For more information, or to request media credentials, please visit www.gifilmfestival.com. VIP passes and single event tickets now on sale.

SOURCE GI Film Festival