Chelsea Lupkin
It’s easy to become sensitive to the topic of war, considering today’s global political climate and how hard it is to avoid such subject matter thanks to social media. It’s harder still to turn a blind eye to those frequent Facebook posts that may reveal images that are far from wholesome. Yet with the seemingly endless trending topics and despite all of the heated debates, there are not many films, let alone short films, that tackle the subject – particularly between the United States and the Middle East. For this reason, among many others, Jesse Gustafson’s student film from Columbia University, is a stand out. A finalist of the 42nd Annual Student Academy Awards, Day 39, follows a young soldier on his first tour in Afghanistan who is forced to assist a seasoned medic in his fight to save a mother and her breech baby on the battlefield.
A film that captures both the compartmentalization of being a soldier and a human being, Gustafson’s film is tension filled and full of life. As someone who has never been nor ever will be deployed, Day 39, opened my eyes to some of the chaos that is a natural part of being in a foreign country, not knowing the language, and depending on people that are not of your blood. For a 15 minute film, that’s not an easy feat. But for Gustafson, a veteran himself, it’s no wonder that the story felt so authentic.
There’s a wonderful juxtaposition between life and death as well as joy and sadness in Gustafson’s story that is conveyed by standout performances. The amount of growth that we are able to witness from the young soldier is gripping and by the film’s final scene there’s a feeling of tangible numbness that’s altogether eerie.
Gustafson reaffirmed my feeling after watching to the end: “…I wanted the audience to understand that once you’re impacted by an experience like this, the mission still continues and the things you experience will be a part of you forever.” It’s a natural reaction to fight something so traumatic in such a way and you truly feel your gut wrench for how the soldier must be feeling inside.
The film looks and feels like it’s shot on a distant location, but Gustafson revealed that the interior was a built set on Columbia University’s sound stage in Harlem, while the exteriors were filmed on the land owned by the Zia Nation in New Mexico. Moving on to even bigger productions, Gustafson is currently working on his first feature length film, THE BASE, starring Cam Gingandet. The film is currently in post-production and set to premier in 2017. We’ll be sure to keep an eye out!