Exclusive: Perry Mattfeld and Joshua Caldwell on Mending the Line and Telling Important Stories

Colter (Sinqua Walls) is sent to a veteran’s affairs facility after being wounded in Afghanistan while deployed with the Marine Corps. He’s reluctant about the recovery process and wants to get back to work. It’s not until he meets Lucy (Perry Mattfeld) and a Vietnam Vet (Brian Cox) who teaches him to fly fish that he begins to connect and heal his trauma.

Also in the cast of Mending the Line are Patricia Heaton, Irene Bedard, Wes Studi, Julian Works, and Chris Galust. It’s written by Stephen Camelio and directed by Joshua Caldwell.

“It’s nice to start showing people,” commented Caldwell on the film recently playing at festivals. “Whatever festival you’re at, one of the greatest parts about being at the festival is seeing it with an audience. So that’s been a treat, and I think to get a chance to screen it with veterans and see their response has been special as well.”

Mending the line will next play at the San Diego Film Festival at 6:30 pm PDT on October 22, 2022.

Relationships to Mending the Line

“It’s pretty special that for the most part, everyone who was a part of this project had some sort of relationship to the subject matter,” commented Mattfeld. “Whether they are children of veterans or veterans themselves. I actually fell in love with fly fishing while making this movie. We had a legit coach come to teach us… so everything you see on screen is practiced and the real thing. And not only did I fall in love with the fishing aspect, but it was the cathartic therapeutic experience that is being on the water, and that’s a huge part of the movie as well.”

Having a relationship to the subject matter, as Mattfeld mentioned, rings true for Caldwell as he noted he’s been a fly fisher for years and has been intrigued by PTSD and its effects.

“I’m a fly fisherman and have been doing it for the last five years. A script about fly fishing doesn’t really come around often, but the other aspect of it that was very intriguing to me was PTSD. I had been doing research about that topic in relation to other projects now for a couple of years, and none of it found a home, but I thought it was really, really important. So the two of those subjects together, it combined with just a beautiful script… I just felt like I had to do it,” said Caldwell.

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Importance of Mending the Line

Mending the Line is an important human story that looks at war and the veterans that it affects. It’s not based on one specific story, rather, it captures many stories, as Caldwell explained.

“This isn’t really based on a specific true story, but it’s based on many true stories,” said Caldwell, also tying that to an organization named Warriors & Quiet Waters that partnered with them on the film. “They take post 9/11 combat veterans and treat them to experiences on the water… and they were really helpful with informing us what their process is and connecting us with veterans who have experienced this. It was really a big part of making the movie accurately and getting everything right.”

Caldwell continued, “I think we, as a collective humanity, have just come through an incredibly traumatic experience, whether directly or not, there’s a lot of stress there, and there are a lot of emotions that come up and a lot of impacts that you may not be fully aware of. So, I think this movie, it’s primarily about combat PTSD, but one of the aspects of Perry’s character is that she doesn’t have any connection to the military and she herself is experiencing trauma. Very few people will ever understand what the process of being in a combat situation is like, but we’ve all lost somebody, and we’ve all found ourselves devastated in many different ways… to me, it’s that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, that there are people out there, there are organizations, there is the ability to come through what you’re experiencing and continue to live for something. I think that’s really the message of the movie. Whether it is fishing, whether it’s family, whether it’s woodworking or surf, whatever it is, there’s a life worth living here no matter what you’ve gone through.”

“I totally agree. I’m also really proud of the vulnerability that we see on screen from some strong men as well. That’s something that everyone can relate to. Survivor’s guilt is kind of a big topic, but as Josh said, survivor’s guilt is not necessarily exclusive to veterans, and so there’s definitely a lot to relate to for any audience member,” added Mattfeld.

Mending the Line comes to us from ArtImage Entertainment, August Point Productions, and CKM Entertainment.