ATHENS, Ohio –– This weekend a statewide film festival hosted Uptown will highlight a local filmmaker’s work and screen her groundbreaking documentaries.
On Sunday, March 29, Athena Cinema will participate in Ohio Goes to the Movies, a state-wide series of film showings celebrating Ohioans’ contributions to America’s film industry — “actors, directors, writers, composers, locations, and topics, shown in cities and towns across the state,” the series’ website says.
The series is in its first year and is scheduled to run through October.
For filmmaker Robin Smith, her screening at Athena Cinema as part of Ohio Goes to the Movies will be an artistic homecoming.
At 75 years old, Smith splits her time between Washington, D.C. and Athens. Two of her documentaries – “He’s Only Missing” and “Letting Go” – will be shown Sunday to celebrate the state-wide series and Vietnam Veterans Day. A reception with the Emmy-award winning filmmaker will be held at 6 p.m., followed by the film.
Smith’s mother was from Nelsonville. Her father, Colonel Robert N. Smith (USMC), a Marine Corps fighter pilot, was drafted to serve in Vietnam in 1968.
“Mom moved us here, to her home in Athens to await his return,” she said.
In 1969, her father’s plane disappeared over North Vietnam and he was declared missing in action. Smith was an Ohio University student then, from 1968 to 1972.
She got to work on his story. Her first film, “He’s Only Missing,” took 10 years to make and premiered in 1978 at the Athens International Film Festival.
“It was a turbulent time to be a student on campus eager to participate in conversations about resistance to war while my own father could possibly be a POW in the Hanoi Hilton,” Smith said. “Making the film was an opportunity for deep soul searching and is an integral part of the story.”
CBS bought the rights to the film, and Smith’s career at the news organization took off. Her family did not think they would find out what happened to her father.
In the 1990s, they were approached by the Marine Corps about a possible crash site.
“It took three years, but I was able to get CBS News to follow me to Vietnam as our family’s search for answers continued,” Smith said.
She documented that experience in her second film, “Letting Go,” released in 1995.
“Athens is the perfect place to showcase my films,” Smith told the Independent. The showing this weekend honors the “personal stories that we shared as a community,” Smith said.
“Many of the folks who will be in the audience this Sunday knew Mom, and supported us as a family during some very challenging years,” she said.
She added, “I hope everyone in the theater will think about the families in the wake of warfare, especially when they see the ‘Athens Honors Colonel Robert N. Smith’ banner hanging on Court Street.”
Ohio Goes to the Movies resources include an events calendar for future showings in different areas in the state, a database of Ohio movies, and a literary trail map showcasing Ohio authors in the film world.
