All across America and around the world, this
is Veterans Radio. This is Veterans Radio. Good
day. I'm Jim Fossone. I'm the Officer of the
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you're going to find it informative. We want
to welcome to Veterans Radio today a documentary
filmmaker Mark Selim. Mark, welcome to Veterans
Radio. Well, thank you very much. Well, you have
an interesting documentary that you've just finished
and it's Making its rounds a little bit. We'll
talk to it. It's called a salute to our World
War Two Generation. Let us not forget and I had
the opportunity to view it and I thought I got
to talk to Mark first off film documentary and
what we do on Veterans Radio is kind of the same
thing. You're telling a story. How did you get
attracted to this particular story and which
you've put out through Bending River Films? Sure.
The initial concept came probably about eight
years ago. My mom happened to be in a respite
center recovering from a foot surgery and we
were in the common space and there was a gentleman
there who happened to serve in World War II.
He served under Patton and he and I got into
a conversation and the next thing you know two
hours later my mom already back in her room.
I was just enticed immensely and thought my goodness
there's got to be something I can do to not just
share a story about the war, but share the stories
of our veterans. And it wasn't a year later that
I was at an event in downtown Plymouth. They
have a Memorial Day event every year, which is
fabulous. And they had six or two veterans get
up that day and speak for about five minutes
each about their encounters and experiences at
World War II. And I said to myself at that time,
I have got to do something. to pay tribute to
these men and women. So it was at that point,
in fact, that was Memorial Day of 2019 when I
made a commitment in my mind to start working
on that film. And we did so later that year.
Well, let me explain to the audience that Mark
comes at this with a lot of digital media experience.
He has a... undergrad and master's degree from
Eastern Michigan University and for a long time
has been in the digital marketing space through
a company called Highway Media. But that's sort
of a different focus than being the... Coming
up with this concept yourself and being the motivating
guy who's got her? Find the people to interview
put the stories together make make the thing
go from a to Z in a coherent fashion Had you
ever done this before? Yeah, we had just finished
actually in 2019 the end of that year a film
called Plymouth Michigan a rich history And that
was my first experience in doing a full feature
It was originally not intended to be a feature,
but it inevitably became a feature film and had
great success. So we had to go through that process
of, you know, determining how do we build a full
length story. We interviewed 19 people for that
film and had to do a plethora of research to
find assets such as photograph headlines and
old films that represented the history of climate.
So I did have the initial experience of producing
the film of that nature, but it's still not a
time. So it was still a new adventure for me,
and this one was much bigger than the Plymouth
film. Well, this thing really has got great individual
stories by World War II veterans, by women who
supported the effort. I'll get you to walk through
all of that. But a really unique hook on this
that I want you to explain is you got involved
with a high school teacher and That kind of runs
from the beginning to the end of the film Tell
us what that approach was and how you settle
out. This is the way to make it something different
than the If there is such a thing ordinary documentary
You know, the one thing I wanted to make sure
that happened in this film to start was to make
sure that this story was not about the war itself,
but it was about the impact of the war on the
lives of our veterans before, during, and after
their service. So that's one of the big separating
factors for the film. But beyond that, we wanted
to make sure that it shared stories in unique
ways as well, not just from their perspective.
but also from the perspective of family members.
We interviewed nine or 10 of their children.
And one additional thing that came to our minds
was, how do we get this film in the hands, in
the eyes of our youth? Because as that stunt
title says, let us not forget, we do not want
the youth of our country to ever forget what
this generation did for us. So we were trying
to come up with a method to to really get them
involved. I mean, it was just early last year
in 2025 when we decided to reach out to the Plymouth
County Community Discourse System, which would
do a lot of video content for them, and say,
hey, listen, we want to get a high school class
involved. In fact, they've got to give Keith
Field some credit for this, right? A lot of credit
for this. It was his idea to try to follow this
class through that semester. That's what we did.
In the school semester of 25, we followed this
class. And we assigned them a project. We told
them, we want you to follow these real -world
students. And then we took them on a field trip
and showed them what it was like to be at the
Drake Lakes National Cemetery, what the museums
were like. And then the culmination of this all
came to the memorial day parade of this last
year where we marched in the parade with the
veteran they were following on a poster board
in their hands. It was really interesting that
approach or vehicle for the film because we often
say here on Veterans Radio, we're telling veteran
stories, we're telling history that they don't
teach anymore. They never taught in our schools.
for the high school kids to delve into a particular
veteran or related subject. They're not really
studying the war as much as they're studying
about, God, these kids were the same age as my
older brother, maybe, who go off and how it shapes
them. So it was really interesting to see how
you were. teaching history and working with the
class to do that. So kudos on that. You mentioned
Keith Fahmy. Let's bring him in a little bit
on this. So Bending River Films is a collaboration
between yourself and Keith Fahmy, who's a recognized
documentary filmmaker here in the Metro Detroit
area. How did you guys come together? Well, strangely
enough, early 2024, they had a lot of people
that said, hey, you should reach out to Keith.
Maybe he can help you finish this film. You know,
we were struggling to find the funds to finish
the film. And I said, you know what, if I can't
do this on my own, I'm not going to worry about
it. And it just so happens that Keith reached
out to me and we sat down and I broke the ice
a little bit. And I said, so, you know, what
is it you're looking for? And he said, well,
he says, you know, I'm starting to get up there
and age and I'd like to have and it's kind of
lonely working on my own. He goes, and I've heard
your name a lot, you know, in the Metro Detroit
area. And I just thought, hey, maybe we can connect
and talk about working together. So I said, well,
maybe we can. And we spent the next six to eight
months meeting for breakfast quite often, talking
about ideas. And it just seemed to be the right
fit. So. By late 2024, you know, we formed Benning
River Films and decided that we were going to
make this a kind of a partnership for the films.
Highway Media still is around, but Benning River
Films now is our collaborative effort as a partnership.
And our goal is to make anywhere between four
to six films on average per year and potentially
also some. some series for PBS. These are all
going to be PBS documentaries. They fit really
nicely into that format. Let's go back and talk
about the people you interviewed. You can do
it by individuals or segments, because as I said
earlier, you've got some veterans, you've got
some women, Rosie the River types, you've got
some family members, kids of veterans. So talk
to us how you found them and then put them all
together. Well, I started the I found them pretty
quick at least the first few When I was at that
Memorial Day event, so even though it was in
my mind I quickly introduced myself to the MC
of that event Krista McKinley and she was an
absolute valuable invaluable asset to us in helping
us connect with Probably eight to ten veterans
of the 24 that we interviewed And from that,
you know, it helped us to start to create, you
know, some some leeway into saying, hey, here's
something we've got. So we produced a trailer
and now we started to showcase this to organizations.
We were getting letters of support from state
representatives and mayors and and organizations
all over Michigan. So having all that was a real
big benefit. And then we started to realize that
we wanted to hit each and every branch. So besides
the four major branches, we also wanted to make
sure that we tackled the branch of the Tuskegee
Airmen. And that was maybe the most difficult
to find, because even though we had two of them
alive and well, to an extent, five years ago,
they weren't so willing right at that time to
speak. It took a few years, but we finally got
Lieutenant Colonel Harry Stewart to participate.
And then the last piece of the puzzle was our
Montfort Port Marines, which I had never heard
of that division, but we flew down once we heard
about it and made some connections. We flew down
to Camp Lejeune in Jackson, North Carolina, and
we filmed an event. for these gentlemen. They
were basically the first black Marines in this
nation's history before they integrated. And
then we did three interviews while we were down
there for a couple of days. That's one of the
things that I think is interesting because in
this, what, hour and a half documentary film,
you're able to touch on different things like
the waves for point Marines, Tuskegee Airmen.
each of the branches of service, POWs. You touch
on all of this in a way that hopefully inspires
the person watching to go, I want to go learn
some more about that. Was that a little bit of
the intention? Without a doubt. And, you know,
I think anytime I watch a documentary, and I'm
always looking for great documentary films, I
want to be, I want three things to happen to
me when I watch a film. I first want to be inspired.
I hope that the film is inspirational and makes
me feel a certain way, whether it's joyous or
even somber. I secondly want it to be very informative
and I want to be able to learn from what I've
watched. And then lastly, I want it to be able
to initiate something within me in a response.
Now, whether that response is to go out and learn
more, or to share it with others, or to become
more active in a particular community, then I
think that's important. And based on that theory,
and I've had that mindset for many, many years,
even doing marketing videos, I basically transfer
that to the documentary world. And that was certainly
a purpose. And I'm glad that you recognize that.
Yeah, no, and some other things you touched on
that I thought, OK, that's what I want to see.
One of the things you touched on was the Great
Lakes National Cemetery, because I don't think
most folks understand how respectful, if you've
served, you have a place you can be buried where
you're going to feel the respect of your service.
And another was the Michigan Heroes Museum. Most
states, Michigan included, have really active
military museums and organizations that try to
keep this history alive, but they have a hard
time getting the word out. So you touched on
those two things again that, wow, that's kind
of outside the normal bandwidth. Were there areas
that you wanted to get to but just couldn't because
of limitations? Well, when you ask that question,
you say, were there areas we couldn't get to?
Well, that you said, I'd like to include this,
but I can't find somebody or I'd like to include
this, but I've run out of time or those sorts
of things. You know, I think documentaries never
end the way they start. I will say that for both
my Plymouth film and this feature. And Keith
has told me that's happened basically with all
the films he's produced. You know, you have a
vision in your mind. but it evolves, it becomes
its own little entity, an organism, right? So
you find that it develops these different branches
and you might find that one of those branches
really take you in a direction that you really
find to be much more beneficial than the other
ones you were going down originally. So when
it came to, let's say those two places, they
just happened to stem from that whole educational
component. where as we were building that story
with the with the students, we realized that
my goodness, why don't we take them somewhere?
You know, they were they were happy to be in
the classroom, but to take them on that field
trip was a was a whole other ball game for them.
And and yeah, it opened the rise, you know, as
you saw, maybe in the end, we interviewed a couple
of them there and a few of them afterwards to
get those feedback. And it really had an impact.
I would hope it would also inspire some teachers
along the way to see maybe what they could do
in their classrooms to bring history a little
bit more alive and respect for veterans more
alive. I know you've got a stop at we're coming
up to and I don't want to run out of time here.
Tell us a little more about Bending River Films,
how people can find it and follow, and also tell
us a little bit more about how they might be
able to see this documentary, which is titled
A Salute to Our World War II Generation. Let
us not forget. So tackle both of those before
we run out of time. Sure. So yeah, Bending River
Films, I think I'd mentioned earlier that, you
know, we're working on several more projects
this year, and we're excited about those. All
PBS supported. And, you know, we're always looking
for support. You know, they range from one is
on the train history of Michigan called All Aboard,
the Great Lakes Train History. We're doing another
one called Laid to Rest. a Michigan cemetery
story. And we're going to be looking at the culture
of dying and the different unique cemeteries
and all the rituals that take place. And a number
of other things, you know, farm to table about
farmers and agriculture and the food we eat.
So BendingRiverFilms .com is a website where
people can go and they can certainly learn about
any of these five, in fact, six films. The newest
one, based on this World War II film, we are
doing now a tribute to Just the Rosies. And that
one is called Women of War Homefront Heroines.
And that one is going to hopefully be completed
this year as well and released later this year.
So if there are individuals out there who want
to learn more about that or how they can support
that, that will be on our website. Well, I think
probably by the time you edit it. Good, good.
If folks want to see these films, you've mentioned
a couple of times they're on PBS. I know they're
on the Detroit PBS. But talk about distribution
of the film. Yeah, so basically the World War
II film, A Salute to Our World War II Generation,
is available on DVD and Blu -ray. And we also
have a streaming version. I don't know if you
have a way of adding that to your... do your
thing, but I don't have it in the top of my head,
but at BenningRiverFilms .com we have the information
about the films, and it should lead them to where
they can order the DVD, but I could probably
find that here in the next minute or so too while
we're chatting. Well, we really found this interesting.
We recognized and knew some of the people who
helped. funded as executive producer or community
leaders, some of the individuals who were highlighted
in conversation with you through this documentary
film. But as I said, it has a much broader appeal,
I think, and I think it shows hopefully to folks
in the nation, hey, don't let these men and women
disappear from the face of the earth without
capturing their stories and capture the stories
of their kids. And even their grandkids were
great grandkids who were in school and maybe
need to study it a little bit more. So it was
a very, very well done and high quality film.
I recommend it to all our veteran radio listeners.
OK, Mark, did you find the code you were looking
for? I did. I did. And thank you very much. I
appreciate that. So the site is, if people want
to write it down, so it's Bending River Films
with an S. bendingriverfilms .company .site,
S -I -T -E. is where they can order a Blu -ray
or DVD of the loop to our movie. That's excellent.
We really appreciate the time you've given us
today on Veterans Radio, and we hope folks will
go to your website, bendingriverfilms .com, to
learn more about this story, but others that
you're working on, stories that inspire, and
then go to bendingriverfilms .company .site.
in an opportunity to order the documentary film.
Mark, we really do appreciate the time you've
given us today. Yeah, my pleasure, Jim. Thank
you so much for having me. And I want to thank
everybody for listening to Veterans Radio today.
I am Jim Fossone. It's been a pleasure to be
your host. I'm a veterans disability lawyer at
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