Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam

Director: Bill Couturie
Screenwriters: Bill Couturie, Richard Dewhurst

Institute History

  • 1988 Sundance Film Festival

Description

One might consider the academy Award-winning documentary by Peter Davis, Hearts and Minds, the first great documentary film about Vietnam; Couturie’s new film is, without question, the other. In one and a half hours, we are presented with a comprehensive history of America’s involvement in Vietnam as told in the words of the soldiers who served there, through dramatic readings of their letters home by celebrities, and in footage and commentary from NBC’s news archive and other sources.

The film also makes extensive use of music from the period. With tracks by The Band, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Jimmie Hendrix, Elvis Presley and Bruce Springsteen, director Couturie has created a heart wrenching experience that appears to be effortless.

— Mitchell W. Block

Screening Details

Sundance Film Festival Awards

Credits

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