Return Belong Prosper
Single screen installation, 34 minutes, 2023

Displaced from a culture that they can’t return to and frustrated with the one they are in, three Veterans imagine, paint and make real, a new world of kindness and compassion for fellow Veterans, and their community. Remarkable, insightful and gently surprising Return Belong Prosper was co-created with the Veterans. One of three films produced for a unique, two-year research project Stories in Transition working with three veteran charities to explore the role of arts, sport, and culture activities in supporting military-to-civilian transition. Capturing a sustained relationship of deep listening and dialogue, Dave, Steve and Darren offer us alternative understandings of the Veteran experience. Their stories emerge through their own creative process and rather than making the film for or about their artistic community, they include them, creating a new imagined community, repositioning their past narratives and forging new identities with which to move forward. The Stories in Transition Project is a multi-disciplinary research collaboration between Anglia Ruskin University, University of Exeter, Manchester Metropolitan University, and University of the Arts, London and is funded by The Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Film festival selections for competitive international shorts: