Alum teams up to make documentary about military families

A little over four years ago, BETSY NAGLER, ’90, was struck by a photograph in the New York Timesof a serviceman’s young son playing on a swing set with his Flat Daddy — a cardboard cutout of his military father. Not long after, she was introduced through mutual friends to Nara Garber, a cinematographer who had been moved by the same image. Soon Flat Daddy, a documentary about the challenges faced by military families, was born.

“The film examines the issues facing military families by reporting on a quirky phenomenon that surfaced during the wars of the past decade: the Flat Daddy,” writes CORINNE PURTILL, ’02, in the January/February issue of Stanford magazine. “The cardboard look-alikes reside in military homes around the country, helping children, spouses and parents cope with the absence of a family member.”

Read the full story in Stanfordmagazine or watch the trailer.