Chaplains Under Fire, an independent documentary film by Lee Lawrence and Terry Nickelson, played to a packed theater at the Newseum during its April 30, Washington, D.C., premiere.
Shot over three months in 2007 in Iraq and Afghanistan, the film examines the role of military chaplains through the eyes of the troops they serve and also explores the delicate church/state balance inherent in being both a soldier and a priest.

Lawrence and Nickelson funded their own travel, were transported around Iraq and Afghanistan by the U.S. military and – most unusually – retained full editorial control of the film.

“They met 30 chaplains – we have footage of all of them,” film editor Andrea Hull said. In addition to the 450 reels of film they brought back, the pair shot stateside footage of family members and interviewed the major figures in the First Amendment debates over the chaplaincy.

Editing began in November 2008 and wrapped in October 2009. In early 2010, the film was the Remi winner at the 43rd Annual World-Fest Houston International Film Festival.

“Military chaplains do very difficult things in very strange circumstances,” Lawrence said of the decision to make the movie. “We wanted to see them where the rubber hits the road.”

The film portrays the anxiety, frustration, fear and often grinding boredom of being a soldier in a war zone. It is in turns beautiful – an opening scene shows a baptism in the Euphrates River – and tender, as soldiers comfort each other like puppies after the death of a colleague, kissing the helmet propped on an upright gun and caressing each other as they kneel before his empty boots.
In the field, the chaplains make their rounds, praying and joking with the troops, visiting soldiers struggling with grief and survivors guilt, praying over the wounded and dead. Back home, the families describe their worries and fears, and lobbyists of various persuasions debate the First Amendment issues with passion.

“We operate out of what we believe, and that is the deepest part of a person,” said Navy Chaplain Ben Sandford, who appeared in the film, during a panel discussion after the screening. “I think it also captures that we deeply care about these people. We love these people.”

The key challenge in editing the hours of “emotionally and intellectually compelling footage,” Hull said, was “to allow everyone’s voice to be heard as clearly and cleanly as possible, so we could really begin to understand what different people believe.”

It is only then, she said, that people with different views can truly begin to have a discussion that does not take place in a “different time/space continuum.”

“There are a lot of ideas in this film,” she continued later, sipping jasmine tea in her serene apartment near St. Columba’s (where her sister is a longtime parishioner).“It’s not a film that’s driven by a personality… it’s episodic. There’s no ‘voice of God’ in it. It’s just the voices of the people themselves, talking.

“In this film we’re trying to set out as clearly and honestly as we can different positions. First, how do we want chaplains to be treating these young people; second, how do we address this particular issue, religion, in the public square?

“In this increasingly pluralistic military, how do we ensure the free access of religion, or the freedom to identify yourself as having no religion? … We saw that this issue was part of the larger culture wars. That’s how the film came about.”

The filmmakers felt a deep responsibility to tell the stories of the people they encountered: “Not necessarily the way they would tell them,” Hull said, “but to get their music – that every voice be included with its integrity.”

Religion is your world view, she explained – even if you are an atheist. “So you can’t leave religion behind. In the most fundamental sense, that’s who you are. The free establishment of religion is America’s gift to the world.”

But there is always a fine line to walk: The tension between church and state. The call to minister but not convert. The need to hold firm to one’s beliefs but respect the different beliefs of others.
“We met a lot of chaplains, and some of them still have a lot of the country preacher in them.” Nickelson said. During the filming, “one, very gently, tried to convert me. I said: ‘Are you prosthletising me?’ He said: ‘I can’t do it with the troops, but I can do it to journalists!”
The film is designed to spark discussion and Hull encourages interested parishes to hold screenings.

“We want it to go to the largest audience possible,” she said. “We think it’s for everyone. For people involved with the military, the ministry, and for people who live in a world in which there are many different beliefs.”

Learn more about the film and view an excerpt at http://www.chaplainsunderfire.com/ The film costs $20 for an individual copy, $150 for small group use or $295 for institutional use. Hull is available to speak to groups and can be reached at andrea@chaplainsunderfire.com.