“This life, as you live it at present and have lived it, you must live it once more.” Kino Lorber has revealed the first teaser trailer for the film titled Soul Patrol, a powerful documentary about African-American soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War. This doc first premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where it won the Best Director prize, and has played at many other festivals throughout the rest of 2026 as well. In the film Soul Patrol directed by J.M. Harper, the Vietnam War’s first Black special ops team reunites to share their untold story, uncovering a hidden chapter of American military history, and exploring whether reckoning with the past can bring peace to those who lived it. Opening on the war’s 50th anniversary, the surviving members reunite in a hotel that becomes a surreal liminal space, where memory, brotherhood, and unresolved trauma collide. Soul Patrol is not just another war story, but a reckoning – an intimate portrait of survival, memory, and the enduring cost of war on those sent to go fight it. View below.
Here’s the first teaser trailer for J.M. Harper’s doc film Soul Patrol, direct from Kino Lorber’s YouTube:
Winner of the Directing Award for U.S. Documentary at Sundance 2026 – Soul Patrol uncovers a hidden chapter of American military history by focusing on the Vietnam War’s first Black special ops team, an elite unit operating deep behind enemy lines. With unprecedented access to this once-secretive group of African-American veterans, Harper reconstructs their journey with an immediacy rarely seen in Vietnam War storytelling, using raw Super 8 footage, photographs & audio recordings from personal archives. Opening on the war’s 50th anniversary, the surviving members reunite in a hotel that becomes a surreal liminal space, where memory, brotherhood & unresolved trauma collide. As they reflect on experiences, the film interrogates the contradictions of fighting for freedom abroad – while facing inequality at home.
Soul Patrol is directed by doc filmmaker J.M. Harper, also a film editor & producer & cinematographer, and director of the other doc As We Speak previously, plus a few other short films. Produced by Sam Bisbee, Danielle Massie, J.M. Harper, Nasir Jones, Peter Bittenbender. This first premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and also played at DOC NYC. Kino Lorber releases J.M. Harper’s Soul Patrol doc film in select US theaters starting November 6th, 2026 this fall. For more info, visit their official site.
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