About the Film

The Last Ring Home trailer

Appearing in the film, The Last Ring Home:

N. Victor Dial (son of Lt NM Dial and Lisa Porter Dial)
N. Minter Dial II (son of Victor Dial and Alix Estey)
Margy Pressey Wooding (daughter of Adm GW and Betty Lee Pressey)
Amber Steele (extended family on the Pressey side)

Find below film festivals, awards, endorsements and key scenes.

YOU CAN WATCH THE FILM ON VOD:

The film is available on:

On PBS TV:

See here for carriage on PBS/APT in the US (for May/June 2023)

 

The Last Ring Home is a 27-minute award-winning documentary film, directed by Josh Shelov [Green Street Hooligans (2005), Mayne Street (2008) and The Best and the Brightest (2010)], edited by Eastwood Allen (John Mayer - Someday I'll Fly) and produced by Minter Dial II and Eastwood Allen. Here's the IMDB listing for the film. It’s also been shown on History Channel in Australia and New Zealand. (See below for more details.)

FILM FESTIVAL SELECTIONS:

  • San Diego GI Film Festival, San Diego, CA, October 18-22, 2017 - Selected as BEST OF from the GI Film Festival (DC)

  • South Carolina International Film Festival, Columbia SC, September 2-5, 2016

  • GI Film Festival, Washington DC, May 24-28, 2017

  • Southern Shorts Awards, Roswell GA, April 14-15, 2017 - WINNER OF BEST DOCUMENTARY and BEST SCREENPLAY

  • Annapolis Film Festival, Annapolis MD, March 30-April 2, 2017

  • Ojai Film Festival, CA, November 4-11, 2016 - "Although The Last Ring Home didn't win an award, it was received very favorably by our audience, and all who saw it were quite moved."

  • Charleston International Film Festival, SC, November 2-6, 2016 - WINNER OF BEST FOREIGN FILM

TELEVISION PROGRAMMING

The Last Ring Home has aired on American public television stations, including World Channel and PBS, across the USA, on every Memorial Day weekend since 2016. If you feel so inclined, please contact your local PBS station to request that they air it again!

On November 11, 2016, the film premiered on television in the following markets:  

  • In Maryland on MPT2 (PBS)

  • In Philadelphia and Delaware Valley on WHYY (PBS)

  • In Australia and New Zealand on the History Channel

THEY SAID IT...

"It is a remarkable and well-told story...and gripping emotionally.”   – Bill Marrazzo, President and CEO of WHYY

"It's an incredible story. Well executed and moving.”   – Peter Winther, Director/Producer at Revelstone Entertainment

"I just watched through tears the story of your father’s bravery and the terrific horror of his last years. I agree with your son Minter this horror should not only not be forgotten but should come to light. We know how awful the Japanese prison camps were but to hear of the specifics of the hellhole ship makes it so real. He was a hero and you should be so proud to be his son.”   – Tina Sloan, actress [Guiding Light]

“It is very effective… Very moving…”   – Tom Luddy, co-Director of Telluride Film Festival 

OTHERS SAID THIS ABOUT THE FILM:

“It’s classily made." – Alex Connock, MD of ShineNorth TV

“Accurate, very moving, very well done. You have done a marvelous job of capturing the deep personal impact of the war in the Pacific. I am sure other families who were involved in that war, even though not involved in this specific series of events, will identify with many aspects of the story.” – John Littig, Jr., stepson of Doug Fisher, son of John Littig, Sr.

"It touched part of me that very few things in life have ever done. I was fascinated by it but very frequently had to pause it to take care of the tears that continued to pour out of me. The video was very professional in all aspects and hopefully lots of people will see it and learn about what war is all about and how it affects so many people. It was very interesting and should have universal appeal in its present form."  – Mac F, 79, U.S. Veteran

"I was impressed and moved by the dreadful experiences in the Philippines with which Lt. Cdr. Minter Dial was confronted during WWII. He obviously underwent these horrific events with great courage and perseverance. I think he is an inspiring example for those and their families who underwent similar horrible events in those years. Many of my compatriots who lived in the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) also suffered more than we can ever realize under brutal Japanese occupation... Men like them should absolutely not be forgotten. Toward this goal Minter Dial II made a great contribution, particularly to those families somehow affected by Japanese war atrocities, described in historic elements of Minter's story." -- Jan H. van Roijen, former Ambassador for the Netherlands to Indonesia, Israel, and the U.K.

"The film was very well made and looked professional... [I]t shows...the amazing story about the return of [Minter]'s Annapolis ring, which very sadly was stolen. What made the story very special for me is that the same thing happened to me, at least for a part. My father was also the victim of the way the Japanese treated their prisoners of war. He was killed in November 1944 on a Hell ship off the coast of Sumatra, one of the islands of the then still Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. ... My mother, younger brother and I spent the war in a Japanese concentration camp, where we were also treated very badly. Very little is known about this tragedy of the Hell ships... I want to pay a compliment to [Minter II] for making this film and telling about this infamous policy of the Japanese during WWII in the Far East." -- Aarnout Loudon, former CEO and Chairman of the supervisory board of AKZO Nobel, NV, as well as the former Chairman of the supervisory board at ABN-AMRO, NV.

The Last Ring Home

The award-winning book that provides all the background stories and greater depth to the documentary film shown on PBS and other television stations around the world.

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