The GI Film Festival San Diego returns to the Museum of Photographic Arts at Balboa Park May 6-11. This year the festival includes 21 films that will be screened over five days, closing with an Awards Celebration. Film themes this year highlight the transition home from war, personal accomplishments, post-traumatic stress, military homelessness, resilience, and healing invisible wounds that occur after service. Also planned are creative and experimental films that celebrate humor, wit, and romance.
For almost a decade, the GI Film Festival San Diego has highlighted over 260 films created by international, U.S., and San Diego County filmmakers. The festival has drawn in a diverse audience of more than 11,000 people, bridging the gap between military and civilian communities with a curated selection of unique and compelling films.
Nominated for Best Local Film, “Long Live Xander the Great” is created by returning Spring Valley residents Devin Scott, director, and his wife Jeanne Scott, producer.
Devin and Jeanne Scott’s films have been selected for the GI Film Festival San Diego in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, and now 2024. Devin Scott is a multi-Emmy Award winning filmmaker and co-owner of American Dream Cinema LLC receiving regional, national, and international awards for writing, producing, editing, direction, cinematography and directing. Jeanne Scott is a U.S. Army veteran.
In creating this film, these long-time festival filmmakers brought in South Bay director, writer, and actor Jordon Jacobo. Raised in San Ysidro, Jacobo now lives in Imperial Beach. Jacobo is known for the television mini-series “Jordan Loves,” and television series “Soldiers of Misfortune” as part of his directing portfolio.
“Long Live Xander the Great” is showing at MOPA on May 10 at 8 p.m.
Devin Scott said this is another one of their found-footage films.
“We go to swap meets, estate sales and buy up a bunch of super home movies from people. Then we digitize them and make a film out of them. Recently, people have been giving us their old home movies because they like the idea and want to be incorporated into a story,” he said. “This film, we sat with actor Jordan Jacobo, a local talent, and Jeanne, Jordan, and I sat together and watched around 15 hours of home movies. We all talked about different experiences we had in life, what we thought the footage meant, and we came up with a story.”
Scott said “Long Live Xander the Great” is a story about a son and his father.
“And looking back and screwing up in the 70s with this man who was a larger-than-life figure,” he said. “The film is about that time in our life when we grow up and mature and realize that our parents are not the invincible heroes that we thought they were, but are just people with hopes, and dreams, and flaws of their own. It is something that we all go through.”
Scott said they have won three awards in past years with the GI Film Festival and that it is always an honor.
“It is a great outfit and a great group of people who are supporting San Diego, and supporting the military in San Diego,” he said. “This festival gives us filmmakers a platform to show our films locally. There are not that many film festivals in San Diego, and it is really hard to get into a film festival because there are so many different films made. I would say tens of thousands of films are going through the film festival circuit at any given time. The fact that the GI Film Festival supports us, and we support it, is really great. They also support many other local organizations related to the military. It is a place to get together and enjoy stories of the military. San Diego being such an important military town, I think that is unique.”
Jacobo said he is a South Bay person through and through. His father was in the National Guard.
“Growing up in the South Bay you naturally associate with military people,” he said. “In San Ysidro, my neighbors next door and across the street were both in the military, and here in Imperial Beach I live almost across from the Navy Seal Training Center.”
Jacobo said he narrates the film and met the Scott’s through film circles here in San Diego, specifically because they had both worked with KPBS.
“I am the narrator of the film, the main character,” he said. “I think that the GI Film Festival is important for a city like San Diego. It is such a military town, and it is so important for the voices of service people to be heard and their stories to be told. These are stories that often get overlooked. I know many people take the military for granted. It is good to remind people that they are hardworking people. They go to work. They go out to keep us safe and protect this nation. I think it also helps us realize the struggles of the average service person. Their everyday life. Things they must go through, and what they experience.”Founder and President of Film Consortium San Diego Jodi Cilley said this festival is important to this region, with seven major military bases, and the largest population of military veterans and service members in the country.
“It makes sense that we have the largest military film festival in the U.S. here in this city,” she said. “It’s important to tell stories of our veterans, to help people understand the experiences of veterans and active-duty service members’ triumphs, challenges, successes.”
For more information, visit www.gifilmfestivalsd.org.
