Independent Lens
Man Bites Shorts
Combining humor, insight, and brevity, six short films explore love, basketball, bicycles, and what it means to be a man.
Red White Black & Blue
In a secret battle that cost thousands of lives but was never revealed to the American public, the Japanese army invaded Alaska in June 1942.
- Series
- Independent Lens
- Premiere Date
- November 6, 2007
- Length
- 60 minutes
Director
Tom Putnam
Tom Putnam has been named one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine and is a recipient of over a dozen screenwriting and short film awards, including the IFP Fast Track Award. His previous short films include Broadcast 23 (Sundance 2005) and Tom Hits His Head, an official selection of more than 200 film festivals and one of the most… Show more
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- Man Bites Shorts
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The Film
In June 1942, less than a year after Pearl Harbor, the Japanese army invaded the remote Alaskan island of Attu, in preparation for a larger advance into Canada and the lower 48 states. Although thousands of soldiers died in the ensuing battle, the American public was not informed of the attack for fear that widespread panic would occur.
Sixty years later, Red White Black & Blue escorts veterans Bill Jones and Andy Petrus back to the wind-swept terrain of Attu. The 80-something-year-old men confront ghosts from their pasts as they retrace their steps over a former battlefield littered with unexploded bombs, collapsed buildings, and crashed airplanes.
Through intimate interviews with Bill and Andy, the film explores what it means to be a soldier then and now. And for Bill, that means continuing the battle — even at the cost of his own peace of mind.
