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Lioness - Movie Review

Women Veterans Speak Out About Combat

About.com Rating 4.5

By , About.com Guide

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Lioness, a documentary by filmmakers Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers, profiles a group of courageous women soldiers who were deployed to Iraq as support personnel--mechanics, cooks, and clerks--but found themselves in actual combat situations. Known as Team Lioness, they are the first generation of American women to return home as combat veterans, and their debriefing in this film is enlightening.

Support Soldiers Put Into Combat

U.S. policy forbids women from serving in military units whose primary objectives are direct ground combat, yet in Iraq, women soldiers sent to support the troops, were sent into combat alongside Marines in violent counterinsurgency battles. How did this happen? And, what are the consequences?

Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers' revealing documentary profiles five women soldiers who served together in Iraq. Sent to the war zone to work as mechanic, clerk and engineer, the women found themselves among the first group of women -- known as the Lionesses -- to be sent into direct ground combat. Their stories and candid comments illuminate the emotional, psychological and physical effects of war from a uniquely female perspective.

Presented in cinema verite style, this must-see film is a gripping and heartrending look at how war effects soldiers and their families.

DVD Special Features

  • Exclusive, Never-Been-Seen Footage
  • Update: Team Lioness On Capital Hill
  • Trailer
  • Filmmaker Biographies
  • The Changing Role of Women In The Military

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Film Details:

  • Lioness
  • Directors: Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers
  • DVD Release Date: October 27, 2009
  • Running Time: 82 mins., plus DVD extras
  • Parental Advisory: Content advisory for parents
  • Country: USA, various cities
  • Language: English
  • Company: Docurama Films
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