Experiencing Interruptions?

SOLDIER

SOLDIER focuses on Daniel Krug: a heroic firefighter, father of five, SWAT trainer and armored combat enthusiast. Daniel is also a former sniper, with ten years of combat, security, rescue and recovery experience in Iraq. And over the past decade, he's lost 11 of his close military friends - and almost lost himself - to PTSD.

  • Justin Zimmerman
    Director
  • Justin Zimmerman
    Producer
  • George Hage
    Music
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    22 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    April 1, 2022
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Blackmagic
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Wyoming International Film Festival

    Best Documentary Short Film
  • Gig Harbor Film Festival

    Director's Choice - Best Short Film
  • Eastern Oregon Film Festival

    Best Short Documentary
  • Veterans Film Festival

    Best Short Film
  • Centre Film Festival

    Short Documentary Gratitude Award
  • Sidewalk Film Festival
  • Tallgrass Film Festival
  • West Sound Film Festival
  • Klamath Independent Film Festival
  • Longleaf Film Festival
  • Fresh Coast Film Festival
  • Lake County Film Festival
  • Ethnografilm Paris
  • Carrboro Film Festival
Director Biography - Justin Zimmerman

Justin Zimmerman, MFA in Film, is a nationally recognized writer, director and professor. His narrative and documentary work has appeared in almost 200 film festivals across the globe and has been broadcast on national public television, where he won two international television awards. He's also been the recipient of multiple grants and fellowships, he contributed a story to the Eisner Award-winning graphic novel Love Is Love, and his script and comic work has been optioned on multiple occasions. You can see more of Zimmerman's personal work at his website: www.brickerdown.com.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

SOLDIER couldn’t be more timely. Trauma and PTSD plague veterans, and the suicide rates for both veterans and active duty personnel are outpacing those of the general population - an alarming shift. But the story goes much further than just that.

Daniel wrote this to me early on, and it's worth repeating here. "This isn’t just a story about war… or being a veteran. This is a story about suffering through trauma. This is about a world of people who silently struggle through the pain of PTSD. It’s about those of us who get up, focus our sights on the horizon… and soldier on."

I felt that SOLDIER was a story that not only deserved to be told... it NEEDED to be told. And that's why I made this film through COVID - using strict set protocols and regular check-ins - 100% independently throughout 2021 and into 2022.