Festival seeks to help veterans, civilians learn about one another

Sometimes, a divide can separate military veterans and civilians. That’s why events such as the inaugural Columbus Veterans Film and Art Festival can help.

“I am excited to provide veterans, their families and civilians a safe space to come together around film and the arts and learn about each other’s experiences,” said Alexander Davis, director of development for the Gateway Film Center and a co-organizer of the event. “We know that art is a very healing and restorative thing for many people but especially for veterans.”

The event will take place Saturday and Sunday at the Gateway Film Center.

One of the movies, the documentary “The Veterans’ Project,” interviews wounded veterans about their experiences and their struggles with physical and emotional wounds.

The film’s director, Todd Fredricks, knows about What: The Columbus Veterans Film and Art Festival Where: Gateway Film Center, 1550 N. High St. Contact: 614-247-4433, www. gatewayfilmcenter.org Showtimes: Saturday — 1 p.m., “Thank You for Your Service”; 4 p.m., “The Veterans’ Project”; 7:15 p.m.: “Scrap Heap,” a one-man live performance by Kevin McClatchy. Sunday — 1 p.m., “Served Like a Girl”; 4 p.m., “Leave No Trace” Admission: free

the veterans’ experiences: A physician and associate professor in the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine at Ohio University, Fredricks has served as a doctor with National Guard units in Ohio and West Virginia since 1991. A colonel, Fredricks has been deployed three times to Iraq and once to Kosovo.

“We’ve got about 19 million American veterans,” Fredricks said. “They’re around you every day; they faithfully served their country when called. … They’re not asking for special recognition, they’re just asking that you approach them with at least a passing interest.”

Davis said the idea for the event came from a meeting conducted by the Greater Columbus Arts Council about serving veterans through arts.

At the meeting, Davis leaned over and pitched the idea to the woman seated next to him, Heather Seymour, a social worker at the Chalmers P. Wylie Veterans Outpatient Clinic, who operates the clinic’s Veteran Arts Initiative and is co-director of the film event.

Once the idea was approved by VA officials, funds were raised from community groups and an anonymous donor. Seymour surveyed veteran colleagues and community groups for movie suggestions.

“We wanted to make sure it wasn’t something we as civilians were doing for veterans, but something veterans had a voice in,” Davis said. “We wanted to make sure the movies were selected by and with the veterans community and not something done without their participation.”

The event will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday with a fallen comrade ceremony open to all attendees. (Children are welcome to attend either the ceremony or a cartoon program.) The festival will encompass four movies, and a one-man play inspired by a real-life veteran will be performed. A discussion will take place after each program.

A pop-up art exhibit will feature works by veterans, and photographer Stephen Takacs will display tintype works — photographs made using a metallic process — of veterans.

Resources available to veterans will also be discussed. Admission to all events is free.

Neither Davis nor Seymour served in the military, but both have