Iraq War Veterans on Healing and Activism — New Doc Film THREE TOURS Available from Third World Newsreel
Winner of the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism
Three Tours is an award-winning 50-minute long documentary film that captures the lives of three U.S. military veterans, Nicole Goodwin, Ramon Mejia & Ryan Holleran, as they work to heal their wounds and battle with PTSD resulting from their deployments in Iraq. The film follows their transformation from U.S. military-trained soldiers to agents of change advocating for proper mental health treatment of veterans and an end to unjust wars.
Nicole Goodwin, Ryan Holleran, and Ramon Mejia are three U.S. military service members who deployed to Iraq after 9–11 to fight in the “Global War on Terrorism.” Nicole and Ramon served in Iraq during “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” the initial invasion in 2003, while Ryan deployed during “Operation New Dawn” at the end of the war in 2011. Three Tours is a documentary film that captures the lives of these three veterans as they work to heal the wounds and battle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) resulting from their direct experience with the traumas of war. Told through their own voices, Three Tours documents their profound transformation from U.S. military trained killers to agents of change advocating for proper mental health treatment of veterans and an end to unjust wars.
The film captures the personal journey of each of these veterans, as they work to heal their wounds — through activism, writing, teaching, and religion. Ramon, a Marine veteran, converted to Islam which became his vehicle to finding inner peace. Ryan, an Army veteran, became an activist with Iraq Veterans Against the War and Under the Hood Café, two anti-war veterans organizations. Nicole, an Army veteran, found healing through writing and sharing her poetry about her experiences in Iraq. All three veterans come together through their shared experiences, desire to tell their own stories, and activism. Each of these veterans embarks on their personal journey seeking inner peace, restoration of their humanity, and forgiveness for taking part in an unjust war.
The film takes place at a time when military suicide is at an all-time high, surpassing combat deaths in 2012. An estimated 50% of returning veterans suffer from PTSD or Traumatic Brain Injury, and 60% of women have experienced sexual assault. Because only .5% of the U.S. population is fighting these wars, it’s far removed from the American people’s daily consciousness. It’s against this sobering backdrop that these stories take place. At its core, Three Tours is about three veterans who are struggling with deep pain and regret for what they’ve done, and are working to find a way to heal those wounds.
“Through three intimate portraits of veterans, Three Tours reveals the true costs of the U.S. military’s practices and policies for those who serve. The film takes an unflinching look at the moral injury and psychological damage inflicted on the soldiers who are on the ground in America’s wars. These brave veterans’ stories are a powerful indictment of militarism and call to find better ways of managing conflict and taking care of our most vulnerable on both sides of conflict. This film is an excellent tool for opening up dialogue with high school and college students, and a potentially transformational resource for veterans, their families and those who work with them when they come home.”
- Kelly Anderson, Filmmaker and Chair of the Film and Media Department at Hunter College
More information about the film: twn.org/film.aspx?rec=1532
About filmmaker Betty Yu
Betty Yu is a multimedia artist, filmmaker, photographer and activist born and raised in NYC to Chinese immigrant parents. Ms. Yu integrates documentary film, new media platforms, and community-infused approaches into her practice, and she is a co-founder of Chinatown Art Brigade, a cultural collective using art to advance anti-gentrification organizing. Ms. Yu has been awarded artist residencies and fellowships from the Laundromat Project, A Blade of Grass, International Studio & Curatorial Program, Intercultural Leadership Institute, Asian American Arts Alliance, En Foco, and Santa Fe Art Institute. Her work has been presented at the Brooklyn Museum, Queens Museum, Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival, Tribeca Film Festival’s Interactive Showcase, the 2019 BRIC Biennial; Old Stone House, Squeaky Wheel Film and Media Art Center and in 2018 she had a solo exhibition at Open Source Gallery in New York. In 2017 Ms. Yu won the Aronson Journalism for Social Justice Award for her film “Three Tours” about U.S. veterans returning home from war in Iraq, and their journey to overcome PTSD. She holds a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, a MFA in Integrated Media Arts from Hunter College and an International Center Photography New Media Narratives One Year Certificate. Ms. Yu teaches video, social practice, art and activism at Pratt Institute, Hunter College, and The New School, in addition she has over 20 years of community, media justice, and labor organizing work. In the Fall 2020, Betty had her curatorial debut as she presented Imagining De-Gentrified Futures, an exhibition that featured artists of color, activists and others along with her own work at Apex Art in Tribeca, NYC. Betty sits on the boards of Third World Newsreel and Working Films; and on the advisory board of More Art.
In addition, she has over 20 years of community, media justice, and labor organizing work. Ms. Yu’s social justice organizing recognitions include being the recipient of the Union Square Award for grassroots activism and a semi-finalist of the National Brick “Do Something” Award for community leadership in NYC’s Chinatown. Her work has received media coverage in outlets including New York Times, HBO VICE News Tonight, i-D Vice Media, Art Forum, ARTNews, Sinovision, Hyperallergic, La Belle Revue Art Journal & Studio International. Visit Bettyyu.net.
About Third World Newsreel
Third World Newsreel (TWN) is an alternative media arts organization that fosters the creation, appreciation, and dissemination of independent film and video by and about people of color and social justice issues. It supports innovative work of diverse forms and genres made by artists who are intimately connected to their subjects through common bonds of ethnic/cultural heritage, class position, gender, sexual orientation, and political identification. TWN promotes the self-representation of traditionally marginalized groups as well as the negotiated representation of those groups by artists who work in solidarity with them. Visit twn.org.
