TATTOOED UNDER FIRE

In the heart of Central Texas lies the city of Killeen–– home to Fort Hood, America’s largest military base. Across the street is River City Tattoo Parlor, a place where many of the war-bound and returning soldiers go under the needle, share their secrets and confess their deepest fears. TATTOOED UNDER FIRE looks at the unconventional work of tattoo art as an affirmation of personal identity while weighing the human and cultural cost of a futile war.

Nancy Schiesari trained as a painter and cinematographer in England and has an MFA from the Royal College of Art in London. Her full-length documentary HANSEL MIETH: VAGABOND PHOTOGRAPHER premiered on Independent Lens, the Australian Broadcast Corporation, and is currently airing on TV Ontario. Nancy also has more than twenty years experience as a Director of Photography on over 30 documentaries and feature films broadcast for England’s Channel 4, BBC in London, ABC, National Geographic, and PBS. She was nominated for a 2002 Television Emmy for outstanding cinematography on THE HUMAN FACE (producer John Cleese). Among her work as cinematographer is Bennie Klain’s WEAVING WORLDS - HOW THE WEST WAS SPUN, to air on PBS in 2008, and Pratibha Parmar’s and Alice Walker’s WARRIOR MARKS. She teaches Filmmaking and Cinematography at the University of Texas at Austin where she has been a Professor for twelve years.

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TFPF 2005 RECIPIENT

$3,500 for production

TFPF 2008 RECIPIENT

$5,000 for post-production & distribution