5Q's w/Edward Nachtrieb "A Flash of Green" Director

#1: Can you describe your movie and why somebody should see it in less than 140 characters?

A family discovers grandad is a World War II hero who survived critical battles against Imperial Japan. Features newly discovered footage.

#2: What do you want the Borrego Springs Film Festival audience to know about your film that isn't obvious from its title?

The memoir "A Flash of Green" blew me away with its depiction of a regular guy thrust into the teeth of World War Two. Because his story brings the conflict into a human-scale, the film brings an important perspective on the war that I have not yet seen. We were also able to find rarely, if ever, seen footage in the National Archives that will change your entire impression of the war in the Pacific and the people who fought in it. One incredible thing I've learned while sharing the film is how veterans' families often find parallels to their own experiences.

#3: What is your movie making background? Tell us about yourself.

I have a long, hyphenated relationship with filmmaking. I'm a journalist, photographer, writer, producer, and director/cameraman and have been involved in creating and producing documentaries, television series, and public service outreach campaigns for over 30 years.

I started out as a photojournalist for Reuters News Pictures in Asia in the 1980s, covering stories throughout Asia, including the Philippine "people power" revolution, political unrest in Korea, and refugees escaping war in Sri Lanka. As Reuters Chief Photographer in China, I smuggled film out of Tibet, helped uncover previously unreported unrest in Xinjiang, and led a photo team that covered the pro-democracy movement from the first student protests to the bloody crackdown in Tiananmen Square.

Back in the US in the 1990s, I ended up in New Mexico and formed a production company focused on television commercials and public service documentaries and outreach programs.

When I moved to LA in 1997, I began working in television as a writer, producer, and director. I was an Executive Producer for an incredible show that was buried in the aftermath of 9-11 called "Small Shots" for TNN/Spike and I then ended up directing field comedy for The Jimmy Kimmel Show before moving on to be Supervising Producer and Director for over 60 episodes of the Travel Channel's John Ratzenberger's Made in America among other gigs.

These days I'm still developing television formats and some indy feature projects while nurturing other documentary projects with strong social relevance. For example, a few years ago, I produced "All the Way Home: Bravery on the Home Front" which was screened for the House Veterans Affairs Committee in Washington DC and helped raise money for Veterans' support groups around the country and "A Measure of Justice" about justice at the International Court for the Former Yugoslavia in the context of the siege of Sarajevo.

#4: What was the biggest lesson learned in getting your film made?

Well, this film, at its heart, is very focused on the McCandless family experience but ended up having a wider resonance for audiences. It seems like an aphorism, but it really it's true. You can tell a big story by just focusing on one part of it. In this case, the microcosm is Charles's memoir about his unique experience, the larger picture is what it was like for all the individuals who went to war against tyranny in 1941.

#5: What does the future hold for your film and you?

We'll keep taking this film out to festivals and try to find a broadcast home for it somewhere. If not, we have opportunities to put it on a streaming service. Ideally, I hope to do more stories in collaboration with families who will allow me to explore their archives and share what I discover. I think there are deep truths about ourselves to be found in there. Big stories told through focused exploration.