The Girl Who Wore Freedom - USA/FRANCE
Directed by Christian Taylor
THE GIRL WHO WORE FREEDOM brings us to Normandy, France. Once an idyllic landscape, Normandy had succumbed to German invaders who overran its farms, its manors, its countryside.
Here we meet Dany Patrix, Maurice Lecoueur, Henri-Jean Renaud, and others, who recount their unique relationships with the Allied forces who liberated Normandy on June 6, 1944. The journey from occupation to liberation, to acceptance and forgiveness to gratitude and pride, is explored through interviews with French survivors and American veterans in this powerful, personal film that tells stories handed down over two generations.
We visit Brecourt Manor, the site of the battle between the men of Easy Company - known as the Band of Brothers - and a German battery. We hear from the children of D-Day, who were cared for by American soldiers after their families were killed in the onslaught. We explore the nature of war, of forgiveness, of gratitude through interviews with French survivors and American veterans.
We travel today’s United States with Flo Plana, who seeks out the men of the 101st Airborne Division to collect and curate their stories for the Utah Beach D-Day Museum. We meet veterans like Ceo Bauer, Brad Freeman, and Bob DeVinney, who recount their experiences and the relationships they built over the summer of 1944.
Normandy itself is now a living war museum, with shrapnel on the beaches, bullet holes in its walls, and blood staining its church pews. Those that were there have vowed never to forget the lessons of World War II and to pass down the value of freedom to their children and their children’s children.
The film closes on contemporary D-Day celebrations of remembrance and gratitude, where French citizens of all ages celebrate those who were and are willing to defend freedom because they, the people of Normandy, know all too well that freedom is not free.