Download the Director's Statement here (150.4K)
For at least five years
whenever I saw the three iconic Freeport Flag Ladies I kept telling them: “Somebody has to
make a movie of you gals”. And
then, on the Monday morning after Bin Laden was killed I knew it would be me,
and the making of One Tuesday Morning began.
Now,
after more than 18 months of chronicling and documenting the amazing ten-year
mission these women continue to pursue, we have told a remarkable story of what
Bill Nemitz, Maine’s most-prominent columnist, calls “pure patriotism.” We are
honored to invite viewers on this remarkable journey with us, where we meet bus
drivers and Senators, Generals and peace activists, and soldiers, Gold Star
Mothers, and veterans.
At
the center of this truly heartwarming documentary are three tireless, retired
women on a mission who have redefined the term “flag-waver” through countless
hours of sacrifice. How many hours? Well, for starters, they have stood on a corner
in Freeport for 1 hour – no matter the weather -- every single Tuesday morning
since September 11th, 2001. To add to that achievement, they have
travelled 4-hrs round trip an average of once a week during the last decade,
during which time they have given lucky pennies and hugs to over 100,000 men
and women who were passing through Bangor, Maine on the way to war zones. Mixed
in with that, they have become state and national heroines who every week
travel to some group or school in Maine which has invited them to speak about
the flag and about what the American Spirit is all about.
One
Tuesday Morning is like no other recent documentary that has discussed either
the attacks of 911, the two costly wars that have followed, and how these
experiences have transformed our nation. For while this film touches on issues
of patriotism, heroism, and commitment, it really boils down to love: of
country and neighbor and soldier. As one mother of a wounded soldier says in
the film: “It’s just full-out on your sleeve love.”
As
a director it has been a challenge to fight stereotypes, and fortunately, the
Freeport Flag Ladies are so wonderfully unique and full of that hard-to-define
American Sprit that their story obliterates the stereotypes our culture often
tries to pigeon-hole people into. Yes, they very much support our troops, but
they also are peaceful patriots who abhor war. Yes, they wave “Old Glory”
perhaps more than any Americans you could find, and yes, they always dress in
red, white, and blue in public, and yes, they sometimes cry when they sing
patriotic songs or say the Pledge of Allegiance. Buy you know what? Their
selfless example of service and remembrance has inspired thousands of fellow
citizens to stop, to ponder, and to appreciate anew the freedoms and possibilities
for good available to everyone who lives under the star-spangled banner’s wave.
For
me personally, as a former New Yorker living in Maine, making this film has
provided me the opportunity to not only honor and remember the victims of 911,
but also to re-connect with the city my children were born in. A very central
spine in this story follows a piece of steel from the World Trade Center, from
death in 2001, to resurrection in 2012, in Freeport. Over 1,500 communities in
the US and around the world were awarded pieces of Trade Center steel, and this
is the first documentary which chronicles a story that happened in all 50
States. Watching that steel be welded into a monument for the Maine victims of
911 – and to be able to capture it on film for future generations -- has been
one of the greatest privileges of my life.
Another
aspect of this film which I am very proud of is that it is most-probably the
first documentary (that I am aware of) to use historic footage of the events of
911 in New York City from both the New York City Police Department and from
images taken by NASA on the morning of 911. (It was only in September, 2011, that this footage was made
available to the public). In addition to that, we conducted an exclusive
interview with the Maine Air National Guard commander whose refueling tanker
crew was the first to be called into battle just minutes after New York was
attacked. His description of watching those towers burn and fall from above is
powerful.
The
main challenge of making this film was keeping up with the Flag Ladies! One day
we would drive up to Bangor to film them greeting hundreds of troops, then the
next day we’d head down to New Hampshire to see them put stitches in the
National 911 flag. During our months of production we filmed attended Memorial
Day and 4th-of-July parades, followed them up School Street to the
post office as they wheeled care packages for troops, and attended long
meetings where they and a small group of Freeport residents planned an
elaborate 3-day celebration to commemorate 911. Getting good audio was a
constant challenge, as perhaps half the film was shot on busy Tuesday mornings
“On The Hill” in Freeport, while buses and cars honked as parents sped to work
and school.
Lastly,
the excellence this film achieved could not have been reached without the
masterful work of our Music Supervisor and my co-Producer, Tom Acousti. Not
only did he translate my vision of using traditional patriotic songs, but in a
new way, into great sound, but he also wrote a fantastic theme song and gave
generously of his music repertoire for other background songs. I will be very surprised
if his work does not win some sort of award. His enthusiasm and professionalism
raised this film from very good to amazing.
It
was a dark day when the United States was attacked in 2001. These three average
women from Maine who have done something extraordinary have been a remarkable
testament to the truth that sometimes darkness brings out your true colors.
Walter Skold
