Soul Patrol Moves Beyond the U.S. After Its November 6 Opening
Soul Patrol, a documentary that won the U.S. Documentary Directing Award at Sundance, opened in U.S. cinemas on November 6 through Kino Lorber. The film begins its international rollout on November 13 at DocHouse in London, according to Deadline.
The film is directed by J.M. Harper. It profiles military veterans who served on Team 2/6, which Deadline describes as the first all-Black U.S. special operations unit in Vietnam. Special operations units are small teams that carry out missions behind enemy lines, and this one served during the war.
The film mixes archival moving and still images, many of them never seen before, with contemporary interviews and reenactments. Its story started with a book. Ed Emanuel, who served in the unit, published his memoir Soul Patrol: The Riveting True Story of the First African American LRRP Team in Vietnam in 2003.
Harper said he called Emanuel about the book, and it took six years to earn his trust. After that, the two held a standing call every Friday, lasting two to three hours each, to develop the story.
The reunion at the centre of the film was shot at a hotel in South Carolina. Veteran Lawton Mackey died two weeks before that shoot, and his death is part of the film's history.
Harper and Sam Bisbee are joined by producers Danielle Massie, Peter Bittenbender and Nasir Jones. Their names sit alongside the director's on a project that took years to reach cinemas.
For audiences in London, the DocHouse screening on November 13 is the next date on the calendar. Further international dates have not yet been announced.
