We’re excited to share the news that we’re officially starting to distribute The Donut Dollies far and wide. Starting today, the film is now available via DonutDollies.com and Vimeo.  

To access the film, first click the “buy” button. You’ll then be prompted to join Vimeo (quick, free and necessary for security purposes). Then, enter your payment info to buy the film, and you’ll be able to download or stream the film and watch it any time you want.

Throughout our successful film festival run we continued our work to present a fuller picture of the Donut Dollie’s story by creating bonus materials.  In addition to our award-winning 87-minute film, you will have access to over 35 minutes of featurettes, plus a 14 minute photo montage all from previously unseen interview footage, photos, film and memorabilia.

Please help us spread the word and tell the world about The Donut Dollies!  You can easily help our film get recognized on Vimeo by clicking the heart button to add to our likes. 

Please note: If you are a Donut Dollie, please contact us directly at memories@donutdollies.com for a FREE digital download of the film and all of the bonus features.  This film is for you and we thank you for your service!

We’re also putting finishes touches on the DVD release, and will be sending those out early in the new year. If you’d like to buy a DVD, please contact us at list@donutdollies.com and we’ll contact you when the DVDs are available.

Thanks so much for your support and encouragement throughout this labor-of-love journey. It means the world to us.

With gratitude and warmest wishes for a healthy, happy holiday season for all,

Norm, Jess and Jim

Access the film via our website:

DonutDollies.com

or

Access the film directly via our Vimeo sales page:

vimeo.com/ondemand/thedonutdollies

P.S. – At the 3:46 mark you’ll hear the song “Donut Dollies, We Thank You” written specifically to honor these courageous women.

At the October 28th screening of the Donut Dollies Documentary at the Red Rose Film Festival in Lancaster, PA, Donut Dollie Bobbi Lischak Trotter (Vietnam 1970-71) joined co-producer Jim Gardner for a Q&A session  moderated by Scott Lentz.  This discussion covered a lot of facets of the Donut Dollie’s story, including how a year in Vietnam impacted and provided a path leading to Bobbi’s service in the military.  

We hope you enjoy this Q&A and we ask you to share it with family, friends and veterans who would be interested hearing the Donut Dollie’s story directly from one who served.  We thank Bobbi for sharing her story, Scott for MC’ing the event and Ryan Shank and his team for including The Donut Dollies in their film festival.

You may remember our post from a couple weeks ago on the news article spotlighting veteran Jim Roberts’ 50 year attempt to identify two Donut Dollies who visited him at Dong Xoai, Vietnam in 1971 –  (read here – bit.ly/WaPoDDArticlePt1).  We’re happy to share that his quest to identify the 2 women in the photos he took that day has a happy ending, as he was finally able to virtually meet the two Donut Dollies he met long ago.  You can read this heartfelt story by following the link below.  We thank Manuel Roig Franzia of the Washington Post for sharing this story. 

This article came be viewed by following the link below:

http://bit.ly/WaPoDDArticlePt2

We’d like to share this interesting article written by Manuel Roig Franzia for the Washington Post.  We know that there’s numerous stories like this and we hope that the goal of reconnection can happen.  Or at least their names are learned and these women can be personally honored for what they did in this specific moment to bring a sense of home to these servicemen.

This article came be viewed by following the link below:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/vietnam-mystery-photos-donut-dollies/2021/11/10/983727e4-3ca9-11ec-a493-51b0252dea0c_story.html

The Donut Dollies Documentary will be taking part in a special virtual, online showcase of four veteran-related films.  The showcase is titled “Walk With Us: Stories of War and Connection” and will take place November 9th – 16th at https://watch.showandtell.film/watch/walkwithus. The Donut Dollies Documentary will be taking part in a special virtual, online showcase of four veteran-related films.  The showcase is titled “Walk With Us: Stories of War and Connection” and will take place November 9th – 16th at https://watch.showandtell.film/watch/walkwithus

This showcase will feature 10-minutes of scenes from the “Donut Dollies Documentary”, as well as “Dog Walk Home” – a story of three veteran families who take in highly-trained service dogs who help them with the struggles of PTSD; “Walk With Frank” – a story of a Vietnam veteran who was injured in-country and challenged by the ensuing personal struggles, who found art to be the way to make his path in life; and “Jimmy In Saigon” – the story of a man who lost his Vietnam veteran brother who died mysteriously in Saigon after his service and the search for the truth.

We’re honored to be part of this showcase, which will bring attention to each of these films, as well as providing much needed fundraising to be put towards completion funds.  In addition to the 10-minutes of scenes from each film, there will be an introductory video and for our film, you’ll hear from the members of our team who are proud to be part of our labor of love project by bringing the Donut Dollie’s story to light.  

Following the showcase on Tuesday, November 16th at 5 PM (Pacific), there will be a Zoom Q&A with all of the films’ directors moderated by Vietnam veteran, award-winning author and friend, Doug Bradley.  Follow the link for more details on each film.  We hope you’ll join us for this showcase 

For those around the country who were not able to watch the live interview on WWLP’s Mass Appeal show, we’re sharing the link with you to watch it.  Mass Appeal co-host Patrick Berry interviewed Donut Dollie Dorset Anderson (in her Donut Dollie uniform) and her son, Norm Anderson, the director of the Donut Dollies Documentary.  

Some of the topics they spoke about include: why Dorset decided to join the Red Cross SRAO program; how her best friend, Mary Blanchard Bowe were in the same training class, but were sent to different bases during the year they served; what the Donut Dollies did when they went to visit the men; why Norm decided to make this film about his mother and the Donut Dollie’s story; and how the name Donut Dollies came to be.  

We’re glad to be able to share this interview with you and ask that you share it with family, friends and veterans to help spread the Donut Dollie’s story.  

Gratefully,

Norm, Jess and Jim

WATCH VIDEO HERE

We’re excited to announce that Norm Anderson, the director of the Donut Dollies Documentary will be interviewed live on WWLP channel 22’s Mass Appeal show (Springfield, MA) this Thursday, Oct. 28th, sometime between 11 AM – noon.  Mass Appeal is hosted by Patrick Berry and Alanna Flood, and focuses on stories from the Western Massachusetts area.  There may also be a special guest joining Norm, so watch for that.

The Donut Dollies Documentary began as a son’s loving tribute to his mother and the women who chose to join the Red Cross program Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas (SRAO).  The mission of these women was to bring a sense of home, caring and friendship to the brave soldiers on the front lines of the Vietnam War.  They were lovingly referred to as Donut Dollies.  Norm will talk about this labor of love project and share what it meant to bring this little known story to the screen in honor of the women who served in a combat zone.

If you are in the Western Mass area, please tune in to WWLP channel 22 or log onto www.wwlp.com/watch-live for possible viewing outside of the local area (Eastern time zone).  

Later that evening the Donut Dollies Documentary will be screening as part of the Red Rose International Film Festival’s “Unforgetable Series” in Lancaster, PA (Thursday, October 28th @ 7 PM – see previous post for ticket details).  We’re honored to be nominated  for Best Documentary and People’s Choice awards by the RRIFF.  

As you can see, Thursday will be a busy day.  Excitement is building and we’re glad we can share it with you.

Gratefully,

Norm, Jess and Jim