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Friends or Foes

Synopsis: 

Against the backdrop of WWII, a German sniper of the AfrikaKorps and a U.S. Combat engineer find themselves the sole survivors of a battle in the North African desert. They must reluctantly join forces to escape a marauding band of desert nomads and the unforgiving desolation of the Sahara desert. During their odyssey, the German relates the destruction of his country due to following their corrupt politicians. He regrets not stopping them before it was too late. It's a specter from the past that sadly parallels many aspects of our society today. The German soon realizes his own government is the real enemy of his people and struggles to find the courage to stop them.

The story jumps two years forward to the European theatre of war. The German stands up to the Nazis and saves hundreds of Jews from their impending demise.

In the final scenes, the US Combat engineer is unknowingly saved by the German sniper but the American shoots the German initially not knowing who he is. Upon discovering what he's done, before the German dies, he asks the American to find his wife after the war and give her the message that he loves her and was sorry he was unable to keep his promise to return home alive. The American must reluctantly comply with his request and face what he has done.

The German character is a man of faith who believes in God but initially lacks courage to do what he knows is right by standing up to the evil of the Nazis. The American is a courageous man but is bitter and jaded and sees little value in life and lives day to day with no direction. Through his interaction with the German who is initially his enemy, he is influenced in a positive way by his example.

The script has two main themes. One is the story of a corrupt government and politicians who destroy a country and the regret of a citizen not stopping or opposing them until it was too late.

The second theme woven throughout the story is that of a man of faith and the positive influence his convictions have on his life. While it's a war genre and not overtly religious, it has many religious undertones and subtext that show how one man's life is better and more fulfilling because of his beliefs. Sadly in today's world, many of these traditional Christian-Judeo principles that our society is based on and our founding fathers believed in are being destroyed. This film is about the struggle between good and evil, corrupt politicians, sacrifice, courage, and ultimately forgiveness.

To garner attention for the feature script, I wrote, produced, and directed a short film based on the feature which contains basic elements of the full length film. Many have noted the feature script is much more entertaining and powerful but the short film (called Tapferkeit, the German word for bravery), has played at numerous film festivals worldwide and won many awards. There is a large segment of the population who love their country and are frustrated seeing it destroyed by inept and corrupt politicians regardless of party affiliation. Many people also subscribe to the tenants of their religion and are tired of seeing those beliefs mocked, ridiculed, and banished from the public square. This film supports the values of a large viewing population that this movie would appeal to and whom many production companies ignore.

Runtime: 
113 Pages
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Directors:
Writers: Tim Quinn
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Student project: No
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First-time filmmaker: No

Total votes: 289

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