Conflict Now

Winner of the first Salisbury University Future Film Makers Film Festival (FFMFF), Conflict Now is the surrealist, timeslipping short about a young unnamed man and his journey through a strange land: Viet Nam.

Filmed largely from a first person perspective, the story is that of political struggle within the self: should one, knowing the faults of the past, continue down the same path?

As the man travels through TV-land via the nightly news, he sees some thematic comparisons between two separate conflicts: the War in Iraq and Viet Nam. He experiences up-close-and-personal combat deep in the south Asian forests, seeing the carnage and heroics first-hand, only to wake up back at home in college, his roommates questioning his choices.

Wars are fought for questionable reasons, with both good and bad intentions. The film attempts to lack a bias, in an effort to ask its viewer one question: Should the call of duty arise, “Are you ready to go?”

With influences from Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and Jacob’s Ladder, Conflict Now takes the viewer on a wild trip between two possible worlds, leading to their synchronized conclusion.

Starring
Scott Evans as the Sargent/Recruiter
Ian Hunewill as the V C
Kara Paffenbarger as the Vietnamese Girl
Mateo Samper as the Interviewer
Dylan Hintz as the Roommate/Hippie Soldier
Thomas England as The Anchorman
Matt Horst as the Interviewee
and introducing
Chris Snyder as “Private” / Student

Directed by Dylan Hintz. Made in Salisbury, Maryland. 2007. 7 minutes and 31 seconds.
Filmed on location in Pemberton Park.