'Farmer/Veteran': Film tracing combat vet's path to new identity debuts Memorial Day on PBS

"Farmer/Veteran," a documentary that follows a combat vet as he builds a civilian life hatching chickens and raising goats in rural North Carolina, will debut on Memorial Day on PBS.

The film focuses on Army veteran Alex Sutton's past battlefield experiences, including multiple combat tours, and his current mental state, which moves from heightened awareness to "feeling zombified" because of prescription medication meant to keep him stable, according to the film's website.
 



"We want this film to call out our social responsibility to Alex, to all veterans returning home, that we must share in the burden of the long after-war," filmmakers Alix Blair and Jeremy Lange said in a news release announcing the project. "We do this by making time and space to receive their stories, compassionately meeting them wherever they are in their journey."

The film, which earned top documentary honors at last year's Brooklyn Film Festival, among other festival-circuit awards, will air as part of Independent Lens, PBS's weekly documentary series. The day after its May 29 premiere (10 p.m. Eastern), it will be available to stream online.