After Fire

After Fire centers on three female veterans in San Antonio, a city with a high percentage of retired military personnel. Collectively, female veterans suffer from high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and military sexual trauma. Valerie is a social worker, Roberta is a support group facilitator, and Laly is a trauma recovery specialist. Between them, they served for 45 years. During that time, Valerie and Roberta both experienced sexual assault. Over the course of filmmaker Brittany Huckabee's documentary, they file MST (military sexual trauma) claims with the Veteran's Affairs department. These claims are denied more often than not, and one woman has better luck than the other, but they support each other along the way (Valerie even encourages Roberta to speak out about her experience, something she initially resisted). Although Valerie helps others as part of her job, she believes that she also deserves help, specifically in regards to mental health services. A former bodybuilder, she relieves stress by working out, but when she decides to return to competition, this makes her husband uncomfortable. Laly bears an additional burden, because her husband has long deployments abroad. "I chose my family over the military," she explains about her retirement. She finds support in a Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter (even if the participants are mostly older men), joining the group's efforts to lobby politicians in support of VA funding. By the time the credits roll, all three women appear to be on the right path towards healing. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)