I liked how the film tackled issues of gender and sexuality.

Can she survive the war-and her fellow soldiers-to be reunited with her lost love? I give Finding Josephine an 'A' for effort, but a 'D' for history. Every moment threatens to expose her secret. Along the way, Josephine falls in with a small group of soldiers, including a gruff old man named Tally Simpson (Boris McGiver), a sadistic sergeant named Sturgill Marks (Jessejames Locorriere), and a boy named Whit (Matthew Alan Brady). Her journey takes her all the way from the back roads of Tennessee to the trenches around Richmond, Virginia. Unable to bear her loneliness, she disguises herself as a man and enlists in the Confederate Army, where she hopes to find him. Josephine Robison (Alice Coulthard) works on her family farm, while her husband John (Mitch Eakins) is off fighting in the 3rd Tennessee Regiment.

Feek inter-spliced their personal story with the film, topping it out at 81 minutes. The film was originally supposed to be released in 2016, but the death of his wife postponed it.

Finding Josephine is framed by the director's personal story about how love letters he allegedly found in a farmhouse in Tennessee led him to write a song that sparked the love between him and his future wife, who tragically died of cancer. In many ways it's a typical love story, but the film tackles issues of gender and sexuality during the war, topics usually avoided in this genre. Written and directed by country musician Rory Feek (cowritten by Aaron Carnahan), Finding Josephine (2019) purportedly follows the true story of Josephine Robison, who disguised herself as a man and enlisted in the Confederate Army to find her husband.

Josephine by patricia hruby powell