Andrew Carroll War Letter Documentary "Behind the Lines" Streams on Major Platforms

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Annette Bening narrates the film featuring Laura Dern, Michael C. Hall, Gary Cole, and Common.

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The documentary BEHIND THE LINES, produced by Sypher Studios, will be released by Matter Collective on Amazon, Apple+, and YouTube on October 22nd. The 88-minute documentary is narrated by four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening and features an all-star cast including, among many others, Oscar winner Laura Dern , SAG Award winner Gary Cole , SAG Award winner Michael C. Hall , SAG Award winner Kelvin Harrison Jr., Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy winner Paul Walter Hauser , DeWanda Wise , Dylan Spouse, and the musician and actor Common, who has won three Grammy Awards, an Oscar, a Primetime Emmy, and a Golden Globe Award.

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From director John B. Benitz comes a feature-length documentary about New York Times bestselling author Andrew Carroll's decades-long search for the most extraordinary war letters ever written. The film's release will also coincide with the launch of a new effort by Carroll called Operation Post War to focus on finding and saving letters and emails by the '9/11 Generation' of Troops, Veterans, and Their Families.

After a traumatic fire destroyed Andrew Carroll's home in 1989, including all of his family's personal memorabilia, Carroll became passionate about preserving history, particularly war-related correspondences. Carroll's war letters project was officially launched on November 11, 1998, in a column by 'Dear Abby' that ran in newspapers across the country. Since then, Carroll has traveled to all 50 states and 40 nations— including three war zones (Iraq in 2003, Afghanistan in 2003 and 2007, and Ukraine in August 2022) to seek out what he refers to as 'the world's great undiscovered literature, letters tucked away in attics, closets, and basements, just waiting to be found.' Over the past 30 years, Carroll has helped to locate and archive more than 250,000 war-related letters and emails from every conflict in U.S. history, and his mission continues.

Carroll's journey is chronicled in the film, along with readings of letters by the world-class actors, as well as commentary provided by prominent military historians and veterans. The result is a uniquely vivid and human account of the war experience, documenting not just what war looks like, but what it feels like.

• the letter that started it all, a graphic account by Andrew Carroll's cousin, who, on April 21, 1945, walked through the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald and described to his wife what he saw

• a letter by a Black Union soldier to his former master, who still had his daughter in bondage, and warns him that he was coming to rescue her

• an unintentionally amusing letter by a German housewife in World War I expressing to her husband's commanding officer that she needed her husband to be granted a short leave home 'for the satisfaction of [her] natural desires'

• a dramatic letter by an American sailor trapped inside a ship at Pearl Harbor during the invasion and, writing to his sister, he details the attack (fortunately he survived)

• a heartbreaking response by an American soldier in Korea to a 'Dear John' letter

• a letter by an American soldier in Vietnam confiding to his parents that he had killed someone in battle and how it deeply affected him

• a humorous letter by a bored Merchant Marine in the Gulf War, who, writing to his brother, mimics the radio transmissions of the various nationalities around his ship

• a handwritten description to her family by a young woman who was at 'Ground Zero' and barely survived the 9/11 terrorist attacks

• a poignant email by a South Korean-born orphan who was adopted by an American couple and joined the U.S. Army in honor of all of the U.S. troops who gave their lives to save his country

• letters of friendship and encouragement by American school children to Ukrainian children, which Carroll hand-delivered to a bomb shelter in Ukraine

Overall, the correspondences range from graphic descriptions of combat and intimate expressions of love and longing to even humorous accounts and, perhaps most surprisingly, profound reflections on hope and reconciliation.

'Most important,' Carroll says, 'the majority of the letters and emails remind us of the many sacrifices made by our troops, veterans, and their families.'

'I believe we have a moral and human obligation to listen to the voices of these people,' states the film's director John B. Benitz, 'those who have served and also by those most touched by war, and if we do truly listen, they may well hold the power to help heal and bring us together.'

BEHIND THE LINES will coincide with the launch of a new effort by Carroll to focus on finding and preserving the letters and emails by the '9/11 Generation' of troops, veterans, and their loved ones. Carroll believes that their service and sacrifice is as honorable as the generations who have come before them, and although he already has found thousands of their correspondences (several of which are in the film), especially with the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Carroll wants to raise awareness about the importance of what they wrote to ensure that their voices and stories are also preserved forever.

Based on two New York Times bestselling books by Andrew Carroll (War Letters and Behind the Lines, both published by Scribner), Behind the Lines is directed by John B. Benitz (Children of the Struggle, The Power of the Actor), a recipient of the Library of Congress Lavine/ Ken Burns Prize for Film. Along with Carroll and Benitz, the film is produced by Bryce Cyrier (HBO's U.S. Against the World, Friend Thing, After Death), Jason Pamer (Anima, Love Meets in the Sunshine, After Death) and Jens Jacob (Cancer Alley, Scarecrow) of Sypher Studios, and Garland Hunt Jr. (Experience Yosemite, Tutankhamun: Enter the Tomb). Executive Produced by Dave Lopez and Kerry Patton.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/BEHIND-THE-LINES-Documentary-to-Release-on-Streaming-Platforms-20260918)._