BRATS: Our Journey Home (2005)

Description

Legendary singer/songwriter Kris Kristofferson, the son of an Air Force general, leads us on a heartfelt journey into the strange but interesting life of an American military "brat." Based on poignant and provocative interviews with adult brats of all ethnicities, including General H. Norman Schwarzkopf and author Mary Edwards Wertsch, BRATS: Our Journey Home is the first non-fiction film to explore this peculiar subculture from the child's point-of-view. What it's like to: - move twelve times before you graduate from high school... - feel like an outsider in your own country... - go to an integrated school twenty years before the civil rights movement... - grow up in a paradox that is idealistic and authoritarian, privileged and perilous, supportive and stifling - all at the same time... And how it affects you as an adult when you leave that environment and struggle to "fit in." Featuring songs by Kris Kristofferson and never-before-seen archival footage from post-war Germany and japan, BRATS: Our Journey Home is a gripping documentary from start to finish "with universal dimensions" (Betty Nicholas, Retire DoD Teacher) that "should be seen by everyone concerned about children" (Marlene Koenig, Retire DoD Principal).