Documentary takes sobering look at women veterans

Chagrin Documentary Film Fest to include sobering look at women veterans
Published: Tuesday, October 02, 2012
By Clint O'Connor
The Plain Dealer

The problems of women soldiers who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan are addressed in the new documentary "Service: When Women Come Marching Home." It tells their stories of lost limbs, homelessness, psychological issues, sexual assault and how they can get help.

The film, produced by two former Clevelanders, will be featured in the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival, which kicks off Wednesday and runs through Sunday.

Director Marcia Rock and composer-writer Patricia Lee Stotter, who were classmates at Shaker Heights High School in the 1960s, collaborated on the project.

"I had previously created a theater piece about widows of Vietnam veterans who had committed suicide, and woke up to the issue of PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder]," said Stotter. "I started working with veterans and using theater as a way to heal them." That led to creating a Facebook group for women vets to share information. About three years ago, she re-connected with Rock, whom she had worked with previously, and they started sketching out plans for "Service."
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