When Sgt. Nathaniel Harris was serving in Afghanistan, he grew accustomed to being filmed by photojournalist Danfung Dennis, who was embedded with Harris' unit, part of the U.S. Marines Echo Company.
So when Dennis asked if he could document Harris' recovery process after he was injured and returned to North Carolina, Harris agreed.
"I had already been in extremely hostile and dangerous situations with him," said Harris, a Yadkinville resident who was born in Winston-Salem. "He contacted me and wanted to know if he could come up. He started filming, and just kept going with it."
The documentary, "Hell and Back Again," is making its Winston-Salem debut in a special screening Tuesday night at Aperture Cinema.
Footage from Dennis' time with the troops is juxtaposed with footage of Harris after he returned home to Yadkinville and deals with the everyday stresses of looking for a parking space at Walmart or placing an order at the Cook Out drive-in. In one sequence, footage of him storming a possible Taliban stronghold alternates with scenes of him back home, playing a military video game that is glossier than the reality of war.
"It was filmed over, basically, several months, right after I was released my first and second times from the hospital," Harris said by phone from Camp LeJeune, where he is stationed. "I was in and out of surgeries and rehabilitations throughout those times."
Harris was badly injured in a firefight with Taliban forces on Oct. 23, 2009, and returned home for treatment in November.
The film follows the first few months of his recuperation, with his wife, Ashley, at his side. The two met in eighth grade and dated through high school, when they were attending Forbush High.
Ashley Harris said she was also comfortable with the idea of being filmed.
"I just kind of went into it as, this man was in the war with my husband and the Marines, and if the Marine Corps trusted him, I should, too," she said. "At first you're nervous with the camera around all the time."
The film focuses largely on the obvious physical injuries, which led to Harris needing to use a walker, and will likely result in him having a limp for the rest of his life. But his recovery has now shifted to different issues that arose from brain injuries he sustained due to blood loss.
"He will always be battling these issues for the rest of his life," Ashley said.
They are now back at Camp LeJeune, where Harris, who turned 28 last month, is working with the Wounded Warrior Battalion East. "Luckily, I've had a good team to work with me," he said. "They do a tremendous job."
There are some scenes in the documentary that the Harrises wish weren't included, such as a sequence of Nathaniel waving a pistol around in his car back home. He felt the scene doesn't make it clear that he was joking around and had been careful to make sure there was no ammunition in the weapon. But overall, they said they are happy with the results of the film.
"What I hope the film helps convey is the support system, being the family members and the wives," Nathaniel Harris said. "My wife has had to change her life as well … she has become a full-time caregiver and nurse.
"I'm glad the film is out there so that it shows some of the battles that we go through. ... I feel the film does that and gets out a lot of different messages, and shows to everyone what we all go through — that we go to war and come home, and it's difficult. It's war."
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