“After Mars” is a 42 minute partly animated documentary that reflects upon on the Second World War, weaving personal accounts from veterans, civilians, and war letters— revealing the experiences, effects and often their traumas. It includes interviews from tank crewman that served with Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians), Bomber Command, and civilian experiences – including that of a German-Canadian woman, Ute Dilger who witnessed the war as a young girl in Nazi Germany. The title comes from a poem written during the war by Frances M. Miller, a Canadian Field Ambulance nurse. The war letters were written by a RCAF crewman, Stewart Bishop who took part in bombing runs over Germany. All of the five veterans featured in the film including Bud McLean, Val Rimer, Father Robert Greene, Bob o’Connor and John Clarke have sadly passed on due to their age but the filmmaker is grateful to have been able to capture and share some of their stories with a larger audience.
Special thanks goes to Eric Boudreau and Thomas Dudley for volunteering to help me make this film.
Please note that some areas of the film are not appropriate for young viewers and there are some disturbing scenes of the Bergen-Belsen Nazi concentration camp at about 32:40 to 33:10 mark that may not be appropriate some viewers.