Sunken Roads: Three Generations After D-Day
Documentary Feature (First Run Features)
Don McCarthy was 20 years old on D-Day, when his infantry division landed on Omaha Beach in 1944. Don and the other veterans who survived D-Day will someday soon have passed into memory and legend. This realization inspires 20-year-old filmmaker Charlotte Juergens to join Don and seven other D-day vets on a journey to France - a commemorative pilgrimage to Omaha Beach for the 70th anniversary of the invasion.
The vets come to see Charlotte as a granddaughter, trusting her with their stories as they confront the trauma that still haunts them 70 years after the war. In capturing their lives, Sunken Roads offers a new, intergenerational perspective on D-Day, presenting the memories of 90-year-old combat veterans through the eyes of a 20-year-old woman.
Press Highlights
MSNBC - Andrea Mitchell
“The film is extraordinary.”
New York Times
"Charlotte Juergens accompanies D-Day veterans to Omaha Beach in a documentary said to take an essay-film approach akin to the work of Agnès Varda or Ross McElwee"
Niagara Gazette
“Juergens’ filmmaking style is classic cinema verite: the cinema of truth. There is no artifice. There are no special effects. She’s never intrusive. She holds her camera at a soft angle. She lets her subjects control what the lens and in-camera microphone will discover. Their faces are iconic.”
Saturday Evening Post
"In a disarmingly sweet film that is part historical documentary, part home movie, Juergens provides the men with a chance to make one final plea that the world not forget the things they did and saw."
JumpCut
“[Juergens] manages to capture an innate gentleness and twinkly-eyed mischief in all of these men... Sunken Roads brings a hugely personal touch to such a massive moment in history. It is, at times, a very emotional watch.”
Alliance of Women Film Journalists
“Sunken Roads is an exploration of memory. Juergens’ mellifluous voice serves as escort as she not only describes the current and historic events but also analyzes her own ceremonial responses and familial connections.”
ScreenFish
“A key question might be, what happens to the history when generations come along that are far removed from such important events? Juergens was able to absorb that history into her own life to keep it alive a bit longer.”
Flip Side Reviews
“Juergens creates an easy intimacy among these men and women, herself and the viewer, which keeps this humane exploration from turning maudlin.”
Filmmaking Honors
Theatrical Release (November - December 2021)
Live theatrical release of Sunken Roads at the Cinema Village Theater in New York City and the Laemmle Royal Theater in Los Angeles.
Virtual Cinema Release (November - December 2021)
Virtual Cinema streaming release of Sunken Roads in New York City, Los Angeles, San Rafael CA, Tallahassee FL, Buffalo NY, Corvallis OR, Salem OR, Vancouver WA, and Great Neck NY.
Kanopy Release (October 2020)
Streaming release of Sunken Roads on the educational platform Kanopy.
Normandie - World War II International Film Festival (June 5 - 7, 2020)
Sunken Roads awarded the prize for Outstanding Feature Documentary.
Gene Siskel Film Center “Stranger Than Fiction” Series, Cleveland Museum of Art Film Series, Carmarthen Bay Film Festival, Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, G.I. Film Festival (2019 - 2020)
Sunken Roads chosen as an official selection. Some of these screenings were postponed due to the pandemic.
National WWII Museum, National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum (June 4 - 8 2019)
Invited to screen Sunken Roads as part of these museums’ commemorations for the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
U.S. 29th Infantry Division (September 2014)
Granted honorary membership in the U.S. 29th Infantry Division in recognition of the veteran oral histories captured in Sunken Roads. This film focuses on veterans who served in the 29th Division and preserves their intimate memories of the D-Day landings and the impact of P.T.S.D. on their lives.