THE IRRITABLE HEART
TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE UNDERSTAND MARINES: MARINES AND THE ENEMY
EVERYONE ELSE HAS A SECOND HAND OPINION.
In the early summer of 2008, a decorated veteran left his Virginia home and headed south, driving towards his older brother to spend a handful of alcohol-fueled days in New Orleans. Marine Staff Sergeant Travis Twiggs, 36, had served five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. His brother Willard, once a maritime-logistics specialist, had worked construction since the hard days after Hurricane Katrina. Though two years older, Willard looked up to Travis, idolizing him as a kind of warrior hero, a real life Rambo. Together they formed a unit, and from Louisiana they headed West, disappearing amid the yawning chasms of the Mojave Desert.
When they reemerged days later in Arizona, they had just wrecked their car trying to jump the rim of the Grand Canyon.The saga came to a tragic end 48-hours later - a murder /suicide, a stolen Dodge Durango and a desolate stretch of Arizona highway.
The story of Staff Sergeant Twiggs, whose life plunged into darkness after two soldiers under his command were killed in Iraq, is one of mental illness, love and devotion…a veteran’s war within. A soldier’s duty to protect his unit is often an impossible burden. When that duty breaks down, trust often becomes the first casualty with blame and guilt debilitating. In some ways, that is the core of PTSD - a breakdown of social trust. Twiggs blamed himself for the soldiers’ deaths, and trust ceased to be a currency given or received except to Willard, the brother who would follow Travis into the depths of his unraveling. And yet that trust, the unit of two they formed as they disappeared into the desert, may have been the source of their downfall.
The Irritable Heart is their story: service mingled with sacrifice, the bonds of brotherhood strained to their breaking point and the mysterious final days culminating in a surreal tragedy.
FILM TEAM
RICHARD POLLER / Producer, Director & Editor As both a producer and editor, Rich has led projects with Associated Press, AMC Networks, The Food Network and Comedy Central. His first independent documentary, A Modern Hat Story, won the Director’s Choice Award at the Black Maria Film Festival and aired on PBS. His other films have been screened at the Newburyport Doc Film Festival, the Hot Springs Doc Film Festival and IC Docs Film Festival. The Irritable Heart, which received funding from The Paul Robeson Fund and the Puffin Foundation, marks his feature doc debut.
PETER TRILLING / Director of Photography Peter has been a Director of Photography for over 25 years capturing everything from the operas of Steve Reich to comedy segments for the Chappelle Show on Comedy Central. His feature documentary credits include Horn from the Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story, Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, A Life Outside, and Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman.
BEN GARCHAR / Editor Ben started his career as an editor with Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar on the Oscar nominated film, The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant. He’s been fortunate enough to have worked with many top filmmakers, including Alex Gibney and Laura Poitras. Ben edited the New York Times Op-Doc To Be Queen and films that premiered at Sundance (Kombit), Tribeca (This Time Next Year) & Full Frame (Remote Area Medical).
LILLIE MCDONOUGH / Composer Lillie is a composer and songwriter for films, television, and other media. Recently, she wrapped on Liberté: A Call to Spy, directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher and starring Stana Katic, which premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival. She also scored Radium Girls, which premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. Other credits include the documentary Sweetheart Dancers which premiered at the Big Sky Documentary Festival in 2019.
GABI FANG / Animator Gabi Fang is a New York based artist with a focus on character animation. A graduate of the Academy of Art in San Francisco, her highly acclaimed work has been featured by clients such as Viacom, Microsoft, Cycle Media and Rock Paper Scissors.
