Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Wilmington, NC - A Veterans Day screening of Broken Brotherhood: Vietnam and the Boys from Colgate, the most recent documentary from Lou Buttino, award-winning filmmaker and chair of the University of North Carolina Wilmington Department of Film Studies, will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 11 at Kenan Auditorium on the campus of UNCW. The North Carolina premiere of the documentary is free and open to the public.

The film is autobiographic, powerful and evocative. In the film, Buttino, a former conscientious objector, and Brian O’Donnell, a Vietnam veteran, once best friends and college roommates at Colgate University, agree to meet after 35 years of not speaking because of the war. Reaching back and out to each other, Buttino and O’Donnell find both reconciliation and healing.

The film also looks at other sons of Colgate and their daughters and sons, those who were for and those who were against the war – fastened, conflicted and divided by the choices and the disappointments that era engendered but seeking understanding and peace.

“Films can entertain, provoke and inspire. This one is about healing. Healing can help bring wisdom. I hope we will find wisdom regarding the Vietnam War and release from the divisiveness that it inspired. Wisdom is one of the things we never got from the Vietnam War,” Buttino said.

Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo will host the event and introduce Buttino, who will present the film. Following the film, a brief conversation with Buttino and O’Donnell moderated by Carol Pilgrim, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of psychology, will consider how this era changed each man; how their experiences from Vietnam forward, especially their shared experience making this film, brought each new insight and perception, understanding and acceptance.

In recognition of Veterans Day, WNET-TV, PBS's flagship station in New York, will broadcast Broken Brotherhood at 1 p.m. on Nov. 13.

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Dr. Buttino may be contacted at 910.962.7141.