‘Films for Heroes’ includes work of Monroeville director
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A Monroeville filmmaker’s award-winning portrayal of a veteran struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder is among the short features selected for a Nov. 12 showing.
In observance of Veterans Day, “Films for Heroes: Locally Made Military-Themed Films” takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Strand Theater, 119 N Main St., Zelienople.
Gateway High School graduate Donnie McDonnell won accolades for directing and starring in “The Ending of Thunder,” one of six films to be screened.
From its opening, which focuses on a terrified soldier wounded in combat, “The Ending of Thunder” unfolds as a flashback, with the memories haunting a man who appears to be willing to take his own life in response.
“The last couple of years, this story isn’t limited to veterans,” McDonnell said in a 2022 interview. “This could be anybody.”
Admission to “Films for Heroes” is free. Donations will be taken to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, which serves veterans, caregivers and families of military personnel who incurred a physical or mental injury or illness on or after Sept. 11, 2001.
Other “Films for Heroes” selections, all of which have won awards:
• “Truce,” directed by Chris Niespodzianski. A soldier returns home from Vietnam and is having a tough time adjusting to life after war, years before PTSD was “discovered.”
• “A Ranger’s Way,” directed by Scott Danzig of Sneaky Ghost Films. An army ranger tries to record his suicide note while receiving video calls from the dead.
• “Fire,” directed by Samuel Diggs of Aloysius Pictures. Two homeless veterans are fighting to survive a cold winter’s night.
• “Onda,” directed by John Swanson of Lohengrin Productions. In a small Midwestern city, a desperate, unemployed factory worker goes to a bridge high over a river to “fix” all his problems. Once there, he meets someone who changes everything, almost.
• “Odyssey,” directed by Robert Scott of Cajun Shamrock Productions. In the wake of a global pandemic, a young soldier struggles through a hostile landscape to reunite with his wife.
For more information, email scott@sneakyghost.com.