Help Us Finish Our Film
Your support and contributions will enable us to meet our goals and finish our film. Your generous donation will help the non-profits that we support.
About the Film
About the Director
"The Purple Heart" is a very personal project, directed by film industry veteran and tech maven, Cirina Catania, a former Hollywood studio executive and one of the co-founders of the Sundance Film Festival.
She is very proud of the fact that she is the daughter of an Army officer, as she says, an "Army Brat."
Cirina runs Catania Studios, traveling the globe to capture great stories about great people. She is the current host of OWC RADiO where you can listen to over 100 interviews with some of the world's most interesting and dynamic people.
Find out more about Cirina and see some of her photography and videography work here.
Synopsis
Two men, two generations, one code of honor.
Kionte Storey, born in Stockton, California, enlisted in the Marines to serve his country. He deployed to Iraq and then Afghanistan, where he was severely wounded when he stepped on an IED during a reconnaissance mission in Helmand Province.
Alfred Catania, a Sicilian-American, landed first-wave on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day with an all-Black unit under his command, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, was severely wounded in the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War, and stayed in the Army serving in Vietnam, perhaps the cruelest of all wars.
Two men linked by war and their Purple Hearts with a story to tell.
Cast and Crew
Cirina Catania, Writer/Director/Producer
Larry O'Connor, Executive Producer
Craig Ratcliffe, Camera Op, Stockton
Steve Carson, Asst Editor
Alicia David, PA-Research
Luis Barretto, BCam Pt. Loma
Interviewees:
Kionte Storey, Marine
Paula Williams, Kionte's Mother
Nancy Jacobs, Kionte's Sister
Derrick, Ripoyla, Friend, Fellow Marine
Nic Harsey, Marine, Helmand Province
Coming Soon!
Six years in the making, "The Purple Heart" is now in post-production.
The media has already noticed us, and thousands of people have signed up for advance notice and are anxious to see the film!
More ways you can help
Contact Us to Help with a Fundraising Screening
We will be hosting a series of special screenings for our sponsors and all those wonderful people who have helped finance production. Now that we are moving into post production, we need your help. Please contact us using the form at the bottom of this page. Subscribe to our newsletters. Share this site on Social Media. We really appreciate it!