What do you do when you’re stuck losing over and over again?

The film “Forever War” opens with John, a veteran soldier who receives a mysterious call from his former sergeant. After learning that the “local incident” he was dispatched to take care of is actually a “zombie apocalypse,” John finds himself strangely excited to live out his video game fantasies of shooting zombies. However, his dream soon becomes a nightmare: like in a video game, every time John dies, he starts the day over again.

Shana Figueroa, the writer and director of “Forever War,” and a 2024 Emerson MFA graduate, drew on her own experiences in the military. She joined the Air Force as an aerospace engineer in May 2001, only a few months before the Afghanistan War began. Her 20-year military career spanned the entirety of what became the longest conflict in U.S. history—a forever war.

“The bulk of my adult life was spent fighting a war that we ultimately lost,” Figueroa said in an interview with The Beacon. “It’s hard to describe how profound an effect that has on your self-worth as a person.”

After 20 years of fighting for what she considered a “futile” cause, she decided it was finally time to pursue her dreams. She retired from the Air Force in Aug. 2021—coincidentally, the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan that same month—and chose to study film at Emerson College.

“Forever War” was her MFA thesis film, and has been making its run in the film festival circuit. The short film will be screened at the Brattle Theatre this Friday, as part of the 2025 Boston Underground Film Festival.

For the longest time, Figueroa believed she would spend her life working as an engineer. She studied aerospace engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, but to pay her tuition, she applied for an ROTC scholarship, which came with a mandatory four years of service.

“It’s a high risk, high reward kind of thing,” Figueroa said. “You give them some years of your life, and they’ll throw money at you for college.”

After four years, she decided she could handle a few more years of service to save for retirement. When she reached the 10-year mark, she thought, “Well, I’m already halfway to retirement—why don’t I just stay?”

However, Figueroa’s true passion was always storytelling. In 2010, while she was still working for the Air Force, she began a writing career—she was able to land a publishing deal and wrote seven novels before she retired from the Air Force. However, she realized a life of writing would be too solitary and decided to try her hand at filmmaking.

As an outsider entering the film world, Figueroa approaches her career as a constant cycle of meeting new people and building relationships. One of her most notable creative partnerships is with Masoud Arabkouchehkhatibi, a fellow MFA student who has worked as the cinematographer on her films. In turn, she helps produce his own films.

“Because I’m on the older side of people who normally get into the business, I don’t have a lot of time to fuck around,” Figueroa said. “If I want to make a film, I have to get it done—I can’t wait around for the right opportunity, because it’ll never come.”

At the end of “Forever War,” John decides to forgo his mission. He drives past the zombies and finds himself on an abandoned ranch, deciding to begin making a life for himself. One day, a woman stumbles upon his ranch, unafflicted by the zombie virus. He shelters her and they form a bond, eventually starting a family amidst the ongoing apocalypse. On his deathbed, he lies staring at his wife and children, staring in disbelief at the life he was able to make…

…then he starts the day over again.

Figueroa’s story doesn’t have such a bleak ending. Alongside her husband, who followed her around the country for 20 years, she settled in his hometown of North Attleborough, Massachusetts. Together they have two daughters, who are sometimes forced to star in their mother’s films. So while her work as a writer, director, producer, and editor keeps her busy, Figueroa finally feels like she’s in a battle worth fighting.

“Why would I do things I don’t want to do just for money when this is the point in my life where I’m supposed to be enjoying myself?” Figueroa said. “I thought I would be an engineer forever, then a set of circumstances came up where I had the opportunity to do something different—it’s never too late to take a different path in life.”