Shane Matthews

Carving Joy
Film (short) by Reel Inspired Media (Documentary and Drama) Director, Producer In 1967, 17-year-old Scott Harrison doesn't want to be in the military, but he wants to do right by the country he loves. He applies to become a translator, hoping to help Vietnamese civilians in a country devastated by decades of war. Instead, he’s deployed to Con Thien, one of the most hostile outposts in country. To drown out his fear, Scott escapes to a fantasy mountain meadow with a spinning carousel. His soundtrack is a music-box rendition of Chopin’s Tristesse, a gift from his sister. Scott survives Vietnam, but once at home, he begins a battle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. As a form of self-healing, Scott begins carving wooden animals for a junked carousel, and brings his visions during the war to reality. The result is the Carousel of Happiness, a lasting memorial to the small music box that saved his life and the friends he lost.

Carving Joy Documentary Self-taught artist Scott Harrison, a Marine wounded in Vietnam, reflects on his decades-long effort to restore a historic wooden carousel and spread joy in his small mountain community by building a lasting memorial to the tiny music box that helped him escape the horrors of war.