Troop greeters film headed for festival
2/2/09 | 14 comments

Troop greeters film headed for festival


South by Southwest to screen movie
By Jessica Bloch
BDN Staff

Aron Gaudet spent years filming the troop greeters at the Bangor International Airport for a documentary.

Now Gaudet is set to give the troop greeters their world premiere.

“The Way We Get By,” a documentary film about BIA’s troop greeters and directed by Old Town native Gaudet, has been accepted to the South By Southwest Film Festival — also known as SXSW — one of the major competitive festivals.

“I think among festivals it’s considered one of the top places where you can premiere [a film] in the U.S.,” said Gaudet, who now lives in Massachusetts. “It’s definitely an internationally respected festival.”

SXSW, which is held in Austin, Texas, runs March 13 to 21. The dates of the premiere and subsequent screenings have not been announced.

Gaudet and producer Gita Pullapilly found out last week the film had made it into SXSW, but the news was announced Monday. The news has sunk in for the two, but they’re still excited, especially because SXSW was their top choice for the premiere.

“To us, it’s a really exciting opportunity for the film,” Gaudet said. “South By Southwest was our No. 1 option because we felt like the location [in] Texas was perfect for a place to launch the movie. There are a lot of [people involved in the military] there, and it’s a very patriotic state. I think they’ll really connect to the movie.”

The film focuses on the lives of local troop greeters Bill Knight, Jerry Mundy and Gaudet’s mother Joan Gaudet, who have found meaning in welcoming hundreds of thousands of troops who have passed through Bangor International Airport on their way to and coming home from military service.

A 93-minute, rough-cut version of “The Way We Get By” was shown at The Strand Theatre in Rockland as part of last September’s Camden International Film Festival. The film is 80 minutes, not including credits, which was the filmmakers’ goal for length.

Gaudet, Pullapilly and other members of the film team plan to be in Austin for question-and-answer sessions. The featured troop greeters will probably not travel to the festival because of their age and health, Gaudet said.

“The Way We Get By” has been accepted by other film festivals in Cleveland, Florida, and Philadelphia. Gaudet and Pullapilly found out Monday the movie will also be shown at the Independent Film Festival Boston. They’re also excited about the film getting into the military-themed GI Film Festival held in May in Washington, D.C.

“They usually get some pretty exciting people there, senators and congressmen,” Gaudet said. “You never know who might be at a screening.”

The filmmakers also are hoping to plan some Maine showings in April.

For more information on the film, go to www.thewaywegetbymovie.com or look for the film on MySpace, Facebook and YouTube.

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Comments
14 comments on this item
On 2/2/09 at 10:09 AM, tina28 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
On 2/2/09 at 10:31 AM, DanTechWriter wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

The troop greeters perform a wonderful and heartfelt service. I know one greeter - a Vietnam veteran - who's determined to show positive support to today's veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, a selfless sentiment far different that the cold, even rude, return he received back in the 1960's. I hope this film will be shown in Maine and availble for purchase.

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On 2/2/09 at 12:04 PM, RevGerald wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

War and killing will end when the glorification of slaughter ends.

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On 2/2/09 at 12:09 PM, RevGerald wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

So far the illegal, immoral US invasion of Iraq has resulted in approximately 1 Million Killed, 4.5 Million Displaced, 1-2 Million Widows, 5 Million Orphans. What kind of adults will those orphans become?

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On 2/2/09 at 12:38 PM, PabMainer wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Rev take your war rantings someplace else....this is about good people actually doing something productive during a bad situation....

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On 2/2/09 at 12:55 PM, BucksportMom wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

CONGRATULATIONS!

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On 2/2/09 at 1:00 PM, BucksportMom wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

How can the rest of us see this film?

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On 2/2/09 at 1:58 PM, Mainerinexile2 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Good reverend, you are doing what to help the situation, but throw around negative comments. How very Christian of you. Maybe you should go look in a mirror, or better yet, go and greet those men and women as they come home or go and do the dirty work that has to be done to keep this country free. Would you do it? Probably not.

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On 2/2/09 at 6:59 PM, Bangorian wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Calm down people and take off the rose colored glasses. The war in Iraq is an event that we should collectively be ashamed of. If our leaders (and we, by default) had acted more responsibly and less out of fear, the troop greeters would be engaged in a different hobby. That would be just fine by me.

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On 2/2/09 at 7:55 PM, Amazed wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Hurray for the Troop Greeters!!

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On 2/3/09 at 7:22 AM, motherofasoldier wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Thank you troop greeters for all that you do any hour ,day or night you are oftentimes the last face that they see at home for a long time..Keep up the good work.Reverand (if you are one)Im sure they could use another chaplain over there.If you cant stand behind our soldiers stand in front of them.I hope that I have an oppurtunity to purchase this film.God bless our soldiers

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On 2/3/09 at 7:40 AM, joknee1960 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

As a former "Bangorian" ,who now lives in Houston,TX, I couldn't be prouder of our Troop greeters. I have had the opportunity to greet some of our troops at BIA. The troops need our love and support even if we don't agree with the war. Remember they are putting their life on the line so that we can continue to live in a free society. I hope to be able to go to Austin when the film is shown. I will keep you all posted. May God bless our troops and the United States of America!!

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On 2/3/09 at 8:30 AM, Bangorian wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I'm not sure that I understand the link between fighting in Iraq and our "freedom". Iraq never threatened our "Freedom". We threatened theirs.

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On 2/23/09 at 9:38 PM, militaryMP wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Dearest motherofaslodier....thank you mom for being so supportive. And thank you to the troop greaters your amazing people!!

And to REVGERALD....why dont you get a clue about what your talking about before you make a complete idiot of yourself. I AM AN AMERICAN SOLIDER! I stand for the people of this country and give you that very freedom to express the JACKED-UP opinions that you so truly believe in. Why dont you study up on military tactics eh???? Because we dont engage with enemy UNLESS ENGAGED UPON!!!!! We follow the orders of our superiors and if that means fighting with others to defend the freedom you have to sit on you butt and make ridiculous comments when you know nothing about the topic you are commenting upon then maybe you shouldnt watch the news and listen to he said she said crap that formulates in the media and experience the situation first hand. One last piece of advice.....GET A CLUE NOT OTHERS OPINIONS.

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