The film “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” which follows a 19-year-old soldier and surviving members of Bravo Squad during a media-intensive homecoming, will be shown at Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday, April 27, as part of the continuing “Dialogues on the Experience of War” series.
The screening, which will take place in the university’s John M. Pfau Library room PL 5005 at 10:30 a.m., is free and open to military veterans, military dependents and the public. Parking at CSUSB is $6.
Following the film there will be an opportunity for the audience to share their impressions and reflect on their own personal experiences.
“Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” directed by Academy Award winner Ang Lee and based on the novel by Ben Fountain, focuses on Lynn and his fellow soldiers who return home for a victory tour after a harrowing battle during America’s war in Iraq. Through flashbacks, culminating in a spectacular halftime show during a Thanksgiving Day football game, viewers are shown what really happened to the squad in Iraq, which contrasts the realities of war with America’s perceptions.
The film screening is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities “Dialogues on the Experience of War” grant, which Cal State San Bernardino received in 2016.
Under the direction of Jennifer Andersen, CSUSB professor of English, the grant is being used for the project, “From Ancient Greece to the Contemporary Middle East: Dialogues on the Experience of War.”
The program includes readings, viewings and discussions on classical literature and the Greek-Trojan wars in dialogue with letters, articles, literature and documentaries about more recent conflicts. Events have been held at CSUSB, San Bernardino Valley College and the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus.
Visit the “Dialogues on the Experience of War” website for more information, and follow it on Facebook (search @DEW.CSUSB) and on Twitter, @DEW_CSUSB_SBVC.