About the Project
Lioness is a documentary film about Army support soldiers who became the
first women in American history to be sent into direct ground combat. Without
sufficient training but with a commitment to serve as needed, these young
women ended up fighting in some of the bloodiest counterinsurgency battles of
the Iraq war. Lioness makes public, for the first time, this hidden history.
Told through intimate accounts, journal excerpts, archival footage, as well
as interviews with military commanders, the film follows five Lioness women
who served together for a year in Iraq. With captivating detail, this probing
documentary reveals the unexpected consequences that began by using these
Army women to defuse tensions with local civilians, but resulted in their
fighting alongside Marine combat units in the streets of Ramadi. Together the
women's candid narratives describing their experiences in Iraq and scenes
from their lives back home form a portrait of the emotional and psychological
effects of war from a female point of view.
