Catie Foertsch

In 2018, Catie was approached by two veterans – Travis Weiner (101st Airborne, Iraq 2005 & 2007) and Tommy Furlong (3/6 Marines, Afghanistan 2010). They asked her to partner with them to make a documentary film about the post-9/11 wars. As veterans, Travis and Tommy were shocked and disheartened by how little mainstream America knew about the wars and the costs to the men and women who fought them. They wanted to give veterans the opportunity to speak candidly about their experiences, and to educate the American public about the reality of war. At the time Catie was senior producer at DigiNovations in greater Boston, producing a wide variety of film and video projects for corporate, nonprofit and academic clients in New England, nationally and internationally.

Catie produced, directed and edited What I Want You To Know as an act of patriotism, to ask America to accept its responsibility to understand the effects of war on the young men and women we send to fight our wars - especially moral injury, an 'invisible' wound that has been implicated in veteran suicide, and that mental health professionals are only beginning to understand.

What I Want You To Know premiered at the Maine International Film Festival in July 2023, where it won the Audience Favorite Award. It has been screened by almost 30 universities, nonprofits and conferences, and has been praised by veterans as an amazingly powerful and deeply honest film, and one of the most important documentaries of our time.