Private Project

Too Good to be Forgotten

In 1943, my dad was only 21 years old when he graduated from University of Minnesota and joined the U.S. Navy. Before he shipped off to World War II, he purchased 2 cameras, a 16MM silent motion picture camera and a 35mm still camera. Thus, he began his war journey as an U.S. Navy Officer and a young indie filmmaker onboard 2 Patrol Craft in the Pacific. Lieutenant (junior grade) John Bystrom (decease) WWII film archive sat until April of 2019 when Andy Bystrom, CAPT, U.S. Navy, retired (son) completed his film vision. All Abroad!

  • Andy Bystrom
    Director
  • John Bystrom
    Director
  • Andy Bystrom
    Writer
  • Andy Bystrom
    Producer
  • John Bystrom
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Andy Bystrom
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Carolyn Bystrom
    Key Cast
    "Herself"
  • Patrol Craft Interviewees
    Key Cast
    "Themselves (7)"
  • Crew of Patrol Craft 1135
    Key Cast
    "Themselves"
  • Crew of Patrol Craft 1137
    Key Cast
    "Themselves"
  • Pacific Islander
    Key Cast
    "Themselves"
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    30 minutes 58 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 12, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    11,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Afghanistan, France, Germany, Guam, Japan, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Federated States of, Papua New Guinea, United Kingdom, United States
  • Language:
    English, German, Japanese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digtal and 16MM
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Compton College
  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
    Los Angeles
    United States
    June 29, 2019
    Yes, as a 4 plus minute film
    Part of LACMA's Veteran Make Movie Program
  • Culver City Film Festival
    Los Angeles, CA
    United States
    December 8, 2019
    World Film Festival Premiere, 6 plus minute filmte
    Official Selection
  • Golden State Film Festival
    Los Angeles, CA
    United States
    March 1, 2020
    Yes, as 8 plus minute film
    Official Selection
  • Great Lakes International Film Festival
    Erie, PA
    United States
    September 24, 2020
    Online Event
    Official Selection
  • Copa Shorts Film Fest
    Maricopa, AZ
    United States
    November 7, 2020
    Online Event
    Official Selection
  • Glendale International Film Festival
    Glendale, CA
    United States
    October 15, 2020
    Online Event
    Official Selection
  • FairWinds Film Festival
    Online Event
    United States
    October 3, 2020
    Online Event
    Official Selection
  • Four Corners Film Festival
    Farmington, NM
    United States
    September 16, 2020
    Online Event
    Official Selection
  • Will Rogers Motion Picture Film Festival

    United States
    November 4, 2020
    Online Event
    Selection
  • Marina del Rey Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    October 9, 2020
    Online Event
    Best War Documentary
  • Ogeechee International History Film Festival

    United States
    Merit Award
  • Defiant Arc International Short Film Festival

    United States
    Online Event
    Semi Finalist Documentary Short
  • American Documentary And Animation Film Festival and Film Fund
    Palm Spring, CA
    United States
    No, Online March 2021
    Selection
  • SoCal Film Awards
    Huntington Beach, CA
    United States
    Winner, Award of Excellence Documentary Short
  • San Diego Movie Awards
    San Diego
    United States
    June 18, 2021
    San Diego
    Won - Award of Merit for Best Short Documentary Short
  • American Golden Picture International Film Festival
    Jacksonville, FL
    United States
    June 20, 2021
    Online Event
    Won the Yearly Audience Award for Best Documentary and July, 2020 monthly Award for Best Short Documentary
  • Moorpark Film Festival
    Moorpark, CA
    United States
    Selection, TBD screening date due to Covid
  • DaVinci International Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Honorable Mention
Distribution Information
  • None
Director Biography - Andy Bystrom, John Bystrom

LT (jg) John Bystrom (Deceased)
Directed/Filmed the WWII Film Footage and Photographs
and
CAPT Andy P. Bystrom (Son)
Retired U.S. Navy Supply Officer
5073 College View Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90041
Email: andypcww2@gmail.com
C - 323-841-4805

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

“Too Good to be Forgotten” was completed March 2023. I am now so happy with the historical storytelling of this documentary. The movie is a personal Navy Documentary on World War II and Korean War Patrol Craft Sailors. This film has rare WWII and Bikini Atoll color film and photographs of the Pacific war zone taken by my dad, Lieutenant (junior grade) John Bystrom (deceased) and the historical sea stories from Patrol Craft sailors now in their 80s and 90s. My film is dedicated to the 50,000 Patrol Craft Sailors who served this country that are too good to be forgotten. Welcome Aboard!

After over 3 years of research and talking with many experts, I can say that my dad’s WWII home movie footage is over 75% percent of all operational WWII Patrol Craft footage in existence. I believe the Bikini Atoll footage is the oldest surviving film footage (color) of the atoll. The Hawaii Luau footage includes the famous Ray Kinney Band and Hula Troop. In addition, most of the photographs were converted from 35MM slides and look like they were taken yesterday. This movie truly has one of a kind historical WWII film footage and photographs.

It is exciting to work with my dad’s WWII footage and photographs taken when he was only in his early 20s and so alive. It is like getting to know him again. My dad, John Bystrom was a Professor at the University of Hawaii and passed away over 30 years ago. He is buried in Hawaii at The Cemetery of the Pacific, Punch Bowl. I know he would have loved this movie.

I started this movie in April 2019 as a participant of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art “Veterans Make Movies” program (8 weeks). I continued my film education at Compton College, Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 with Professor Aaron Dowell. He has been my teacher/advisor through the whole process of making this movie. Starting as a novice with zero film background, I had to put in a lot of hard work into this movie to ensure that I captured the role Patrol Craft played in our history. I couldn’t have done it without the support of my instructors, family, friends and Patrol Craft veterans. To date, I funded the movie myself at a direct cost of about $10,000 with my dad's WWII film expensives adding at least another $1,000 ($10,000 in present dollars) to this film's total cost.

Making this movie has and is a lot of fun. Presently, my movie stands as a completed film. However I continue to research the additional footage/photographs/letters from my father’s archives. These stories need to be told and preserved for history. The fact is that if I do not tell some of these Patrol Craft stories they would be forgotten.