WarnerMedia OneFifty and HBO Max have partnered to acquire Talia Lugacy’s independent feature This Is Not a War Story for a tentative release date in November 2021. Lugacy wrote, directed, edited, produced, and starred in the film. The film also features Sam Adegoke, Danny Ramirez, Brian Delate, and Frances Fisher.

The story tracks a ragtag group of combat veterans in New York whose anti-war art, poetry, and papermaking keep them together, despite the spectre of their friend’s suicide and the ever-crystalizing fact that healing from war is sometimes an impossible mission.

“This film is not only the product of years of research and the painstaking effort of our team, but a tactile representation of trust built with our veteran partners,” said Lugacy. “Being able to distribute our film to a wide audience has always been our dream and with our partners at OneFifty and HBO Max, we will be able to release our film with the same level of care that went into making it in the first place.”

This Is Not a War Story was a New York Foundation for the Arts grant recipient and has since played a number of festivals such as Cinequest, Woods Hole, and San Francisco Independent where it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. It will be featured at Dances with Films, Cinelounge Presents, Whistler, and more in the coming months.

Watch the trailer for This Is Not a War Story.