https://www.film-shorts.tv/wpress.cfonseca160/blog/2021/06/07-filmmaking-post/

“An American Story”

This is a screenplay idea. (Original story idea).
My idea. (Though, potentially, a fairly common one).

Retelling (in documentary style) of 09.11.2001 . The re-telling of the horrible day from USA perspective. (Contextual foundation, for the narrative that follows).

And it goes like this:
A newlywed woman. Married, recently, before 9-11 (Flashback sequence of their wonderful wedding day).
She is in the army. Show flashbacks of training; and enlistment.

We then return to the present-day narrative, as she is deployed. Her husband and child say goodbye for the time being.

Afghanistan deployment. Follow her life as a soldier there. Viewer becomes acquainted with the drug-war elements to the war there. Her morale begins high, but declines over time. We follow a narrative of her experiences – with fellow soldiers; and an assignment in which she is tasked with talking to a young Afghan boy, who with the help of interpreters, is to gather information about establishing a joint- operation, local, school establishment.

She’s then re-deployed, in 2013, to southern California’s US Border Patrol after conclusion of her specific Afghan mission.

We follow her fighting of the drug cartels’ infiltration(s) of our southern border (between 2010-2018). Briefly insert documentary of (‘El Chapo’ arrests and extradition 2017). (Use documentary of the elusive but successful raid; followed by extradition and conviction 2019.) Documentaries always inserted for context.

Through this experience and story-line, we cut away from documentary for context back to her husband and only girl’s life without her, elsewhere in southern CA. Brief segments about the little girl’s difficulties in school.

We see the difficulties that the single father is having; and that her daughter is having.

Show experiences of the husband’s religious discrimination in the workplace for being a devout (though, not church-going) Christian, his getting fired unfairly, their going on welfare, and daughter continuing to experience troubles in school. At home, the dad and daughter have a very loving relationship yet both are clinging to one another in their struggle.

In parallel to the intensifying drug seizures [alternate between documentary clips and the fictional-though-credible narrative weaving], the daughter is experiencing more severe emotional problems. Severe depression also; and decline in her school-grades.

We briefly see foreign reel news about the mass migrations having occurred in Europe. Followed by, a “catch and release” incident in California that our main character is party to. One week later, our main character soldier receives her discharge. She returns home. But, it’s too late. Her daughter committed suicide, just days earlier. Having returned home to her husband; they embrace in tears after their sparse conversation about what has happened – complete with mixed emotions of every kind. While they are together again, their life is not what it was hoped to be.

The movie ends with them standing, embracing, and sobbing to one another in each other’s arms. Tragic realism, combined with historically-accurate news documentary clips; and, narratives buttressed by historical accuracy.