Aaron Davidman is an actor, director and playwright who lives in Haines part-time. The idea behind his movie “American Solitaire” started with the local community theater.
“In the summer of 2021 … this character first appeared as solo performance, and I read it in the Chilkat Center lobby … And we packed the lobby, and I read this play called ‘Ghost Town Bardo.’ That was some of the seed, the beginning of the narrative that then became this screenplay and turned into a film, not a play,” Davidman said.
“American Solitaire” follows Slinger, a recently returned veteran, who must navigate life after deployment.
Davidman is not a veteran himself. He said he talked with veterans and professionals who work with veterans to inform his content.
“I interviewed all kinds of people all over the country,” Davidman said. “…And that’s what led me to think about the veteran as this archetype in our American culture who holds the most moral authority to really reflect on guns, and gun culture, and gun violence in our country. Because they’re the professionals. They’re the ones who are trained … properly around all safety protocols.”
Davidman said one former U.S. Army captain from Tennessee had a big impact on him.
“He really made an impression on me. His politics weren’t what you would think,” Davidman said. “He just seemed to have a really layered relationship to all these different issues, not black and white.”
Davidman said his movie is not a political statement. It’s a story about growth and survival.
“I didn’t set out to make a political movie,” he said. “…I was really interested in the veteran and exploring the journey of the veteran in his reintegration to civilian life and his journey to heal from his own wounds, both physical and mental. And within that context, reflect on some of the threads that American gun culture presents to us. And so it’s sort of through the personal that you get to some of these bigger, more universal issues that our is culture facing.”
So, how is the veteran community reacting to the movie? Davidman said well enough that the movie has been nominated for several awards at the GI Film Festival in San Diego. And he said many veterans who have viewed the movie appreciate the “subtle representation.”
“Veterans don’t often see [that] because of the often bombastic treatment in war films, or these big grandiose, very dramatic portrayals of military experience,” he said. “…This film, it’s a quiet film … It’s a subtle film. And I think that kind of quiet struggle that many veterans go through in their reintegration back into civilian life has been appreciated.”
Davidman said the movie is appropriate for mature teenagers and older. It debuts in Haines on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Chilkat Center for the Arts. Skagwegians can view the show on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Skagway School. And the Southeast run ends in Juneau on March 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the Gold Town Theater. Davidman will be at each screening for a question and answer session.
For transparency, Davidman serves on the KHNS Board of Directors.