Local filmmakers dive into Putnam County's Civil War history in 'A Generation at War'

It was another day at work for three old men as they gathered in the frosty cold to film. On the wooden steps of the playhouse, Alan Backler, 82, clapped the black-and-white film slate. The morning was 20 degrees. Filming the scenes would take hours. Backler felt alive.

He and his coworkers are wrapping up a documentary project five years in the making. It hasn’t been easy, but nothing — not winter weather, injury or decades of untold history — has stopped them. The three friends, whose careers led them from Canada and the Deep South to Indiana, have been producing video together for four decades. Storytelling keeps them young.

On this day in late February, the men of Gudaitis Production filmed three reenactments at the Putnam County Playhouse. This project, “A Generation at War,” tells family stories out of Putnam County, Indiana, from a 30-year period before, during and after the Civil War. It was made possible by a $5,000 grant from the Black Heritage Preservation Program, part of a larger effort to preserve Black history across the state.

The morning scene was a simple one, but it held in its two-minute stretch years of sorrow. On the stage, a woman wrote a letter to her husband, one of more than 2,000 Putnam County men who fought in the war’s bloodiest battles.

The playhouse was unheated, and the cast and crew shivered in knit hats and puffer coats. Their toes turned numb in their shoes.

In the role of Elizabeth Applegate, Anna Harris sat in costume: a long, navy blue dress and a white shawl, her hair pulled into a low bun. Cameraman David Gudaitis, 70, fluttered around her, adjusting lighting.

Director Larry Laswell, 84, looked up. “How are you at generating a tear?” he asked.

“The tear might freeze,” someone said.

Harris laughed and pulled her shawl more tightly around her shoulders.

Preserving Indiana's Civil War history on film

David Gudaitis, Alan Backler and Larry Laswell founded Gudaitis Production 15 years ago.

The journey that brought them here was a long one. They moved far from their hometowns. They got married and divorced and remarried. They earned master’s and doctorate degrees, took jobs, told stories, learned from their mistakes.

Their latest project, “A Generation at War,” was one of 34 projects supported by the Black Heritage Preservation Program, a division of Indiana Landmarks. The program awarded nearly a quarter million dollars in 2023 to preserve Black history across the state.

Dozens of Gudaitis Production films have aired on public television and been used in schools. About two years ago, Elizabeth Mitchell, an expert in African American history, joined the group. Now, Backler says, they’re “the three stooges, plus one.”

In 2017, Gudaitis Production released “And Justice for All: Indiana’s Federal Courts,” which focuses on three of the state’s landmark court cases. In July, they completed “A Labor of Love,” a documentary following the restoration of the First Baptist Colored Church in West Baden Springs.

More about 'A Labor of Love': How Black faith leaders in Bloomington revived a piece of Indiana's African American history

In 2019, the group sat down at a restaurant with Indiana University history professor James Madison — coined by Backler as “Mr. Indiana History” — to brainstorm new projects.

A Ball State University historian, Nicole Etcheson, had just written a book titled “A Generation at War,” Madison told them. Maybe they could adapt it as a documentary. They felt that familiar spark.

“We love telling stories,” Backler said, “so we immediately jumped all over it.”

The dangers of filmmaking at 80-something years old

Backler found a piece of chalk and marked the slate: Scene 107. Director: Laswell. Camera: Gudaitis. He ambled up the steps and held the slate steady before clapping it. Action.

On the way back down, Backler stumbled. It was quick: one moment he was standing, and the next he had hit the floor. The men often make quips about their age: how forgetful they are, how long ago they began this work, the creaks and cramps in their bodies. But now crew members were rushing to Backler’s side and asking if they should call an ambulance.

“What hurts?” asked playhouse president Shelly McFadden.

But Backler brushed away the help. He staggered to his feet and straightened his jacket.

He’d joke about this later, saying someone had to make this gig more entertaining.

Making 'A Generation At War' into a documentary

As of now, Backler expects the hour-long film will be finished by the end of summer. But as “a bunch of guys in their 80s” rummage through 30 years of untold history, the story winds and swells and lengthens.

To tackle the project, the members of Gudaitis Production read “A Generation at War,” created a script and taped interviews with local experts. They formulated a series of reenactments: A recruitment officer composes a list of names, and his house is attacked by war opposers. A young Black man, anxious to fight for the Union, dies after eating poisoned food during training. Elizabeth’s husband, John, writes back to her from camp. Men convene after the war to discuss their experience.

“What we’re doing in that video is telling the story of how the war impacted different families,” Backler said. “Both Black and white, both Democrat and Republican.”

A scene of sorrow

In the cold, dark playhouse, Harris, as Elizabeth, acted out the scene for the seventh time.

“Dear husband,” McFadden read from the side.

The yellow light flickered. The room was still. Harris looked up and back down. She laid the pen on the page, and right on cue, tears welled in her eyes.

“Cut,” Laswell said. The crew applauded.

This story was produced in partnership with the Media School at Indiana University.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Documentary tells Putnam County's Civil War history