Image courtesy of the Arts Council for Long Beach.

This Thursday, a special free screening of the documentary “Served Like a Girl”, described as “engaging, honest and powerful” will be hosted by the Art Theatre and the Arts Council for Long Beach, the arts council announced.

“Served Like a Girl” gives its audience a candid look at how several American women transition from active duty to civilian life after serving tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, shedding light on the reality that many return to struggle with PTSD, homelessness, broken families, serious illness, physical injuries and the aftermath of military sexual abuse, according to the announcement.

The film follows these women as they participate in the “Ms. Veteran America” pageant, finding ways to adapt and overcome these debilitating challenges. Event founder and veteran Jaspen Boothe guides the participants to “leverage their experiences gained through competition to recover the parts of themselves and their personal identities they had lost on the battlefield,” stated the release.

“To be able to tell their stories and hopefully have some impact with these women—it became a mission for me,” director Lysa Heslov told PEOPLE. “We became a family.”

There’s also an accompanying soundtrack featuring never-before-heard songs by some of today’s top female artists, including four-time Grammy award-winner Pat Benatar performing “Dancing Through the Wreckage.” Sales from the album, which also features unreleased music from vocalists Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, P!nk, Natasha Bedingfield, Beth Lowen, Lykke Li, Willa Amai and more, will be donated to Final Salute Inc. in support of homeless women veterans and their children.

Women veterans are the fastest growing homeless population in the U.S at an estimated 55,000, according to Final Salute Inc.

The screening will take place at 7:00PM, followed by a Q&A with director Lysa Heslov, Hope Garcia, who served ten years in the Navy, and Executive Director of U.S. Vets Association of Long Beach Brenda Threat.

Those interested in attending are asked to RSVP through the evenbrite link here. For more information, check out the Facebook event page here. 

The Art Theatre is located at 2025 East 4th Street.

{FG_GEOMAP [33.77192369999999,-118.16699970000002] FG_GEOMAP}