AMERICAN VETERAN is Julie Cohen’s portrait of Army Sergeant Nick Mendes, who was paralyzed from the neck down by a massive improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2011, when he was 21. The film follows Nick through the five-year period after his injury—from the V.A. hospital bed to the fully accessible home where he now lives with his new wife Wendy, a medical caregiver he met in the hospital. Presented in an unflinching, closeup style, the film brings us into Nick’s world as he studies for a real estate license and learns how to excel in his new life.

In Person:  Director Julie Cohen