Our Sergeant (Kate Nowlin) returns home to a small town after a third tour with the Marines in Afghanistan. Unable to sleep and wracked by anxiety, it is clear that in addition to the scars she bears on her torso, Our Sergeant carries unseen wounds. When a homecoming party provokes her into an explosive outburst, Our Sergeant has nowhere to turn, and so she runs deep into the North Woods. But she cannot out run her own heart of darkness and the pristine wilderness becomes fraught with peril. "Blood Stripe" explores a relatively new character to both U.S. policy and to movies–a fully-combat-participatory female soldier. Co-filmmakers Remy Auberjonois and Kate Nowlin (the pair co-wrote the film, while Auberjonois directed and Nowlin stars) deftly feminize the warrior archetype while building the story to an emotional crescendo, bringing the impact of post-traumatic stress into sharp focus.
