Veterans put their own war stories on film

Irked by Hollywood's portrayals of the Iraq and Afghan conflicts -- don't get them started on 'The Hurt Locker' -- five veterans will offer their cinematic perspectives.

For years, they have cringed at Hollywood's portrayals of the Iraq and Afghan wars. And don't get them started on the inaccuracies in the Oscar-nominated film "The Hurt Locker."

Now, five veterans have been offered a chance to make their own documentaries about the consequences of the wars for them and for those around them.

Commissioned by Brave New Foundation, they will produce and direct short films on topics including the Muslim experience in the U.S. military and veterans making the transition from the battlefield to the college campus.

"What we are hoping to do is to get . . . a perspective we may not have seen, or that we see very infrequently, and that is the direct perspective of the veteran," said Richard Ray Perez, executive producer of “In Their Boots,” a Web series on the wars' effects in the U.S.

That perspective is readily available in print. One of the veterans, Clint Van Winkle, 32, of Phoenix has published an unflinching account, "Soft Spots: A Marine's Memoir of Combat and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder." But because a film is more difficult to produce, most war documentaries are the product of civilian filmmakers.

Although their subjects vary, the filmmakers share a desire to challenge the stereotypes about veterans.

"It's almost a cliche. I'm a vet with PTSD," said Van Winkle, who plans to take up the subject again in a film about a friend wrestling with survivor's guilt after escorting home the remains of a fellow Marine.

"But I'm not on the street. I went to school. I have two degrees. I'm a functioning person, but I have issues."

Chris Mandia, a former Marine from San Pedro, was one of the first Iraq veterans at Los Angeles Harbor College in 2004.

"When I told them I was a vet, they thought I was talking about [treating] animals," he said. "There was a young girl who was this hippie type, she asked me: 'Have you killed women and children?' "

Mandia, 29, has won a coveted scholarship to the USC School of Cinematic Arts. He wants to tell the story of other veterans struggling with the same experience.

"I hope I can help them not to be ashamed to be a veteran," he said. "They are going to college. That means something."

The filmmakers also hope to provide a more realistic portrayal of the military than is typically found in Hollywood fare.