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DALLAS, Pa. – The Department of History and Government at Misericordia University will host a screening of the documentary, “Four Days of Honor and Valor at Gettysburg” on Sept. 28. Produced by veteran filmmakers Anthony Mussari, Sr., Ph.D., and his wife, Kitch Loftus-Mussari, the film explores the meaning of the words honor and valor in the backdrop of the four-day convention held in Gettysburg in 2013 that celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Medal of Honor ceremony.
The free screening will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Catherine Evans McGowan Room of the Mary Kintz Bevevino Library on the upper campus of Misericordia University.
The film is the fourth in the documentary series, “Face of America,” featuring six high school Junior Reserve Officer Training Candidates from North Plainfield, New Jersey. “Four Days of Honor and Valor at Gettysburg” captures their experiences and transformation upon meeting and interacting with Medal of Honor recipients at the convention.
“We see ourselves as ‘teachers with a camera,’ and over the years we have created a series of documentaries that are rooted in educational experiences. We provide these opportunities for students, and we try to capture the learning process on film,” said Dr. Mussari. “We were so incredibly fortunate that Robert Monahan, Jr., the president and CEO of the 2013 Medal of Honor Convention, gave us carte blanche to film whatever we needed at the events of the convention.”
The production of “Four Days of Honor and Valor at Gettysburg” spanned 15 months and included 21 visits to Gettysburg, 30 hours of videotape shot on location and more than 1,000 hours of editing. The film premiered at the Gateway Theater in Gettysburg in January 2014.
“We wanted to tell the story of the Medal of Honor, focus on the values associated with the Medal of Honor and capture the events of the Medal of Honor Convention, as seen through the eyes of the students,” Dr. Mussari added.
Dr. Mussari, former chair of the Mass Communications Department at King’s College, Wilkes-Barre, produced his first documentary in 1972. It focused on the impact of the Agnes Flood disaster in the Wyoming Valley. Kitch Loftus-Mussari, one of the region’s first female broadcasters, began her career in broadcast journalism in 1971 at WARM Radio. Their company,
Mussari-Loftus Associates, LTD, has produced more than 100 documentaries, including “Centralia Fire” and the popular “Windsor Park Stories,” a series highlighting everyday people and regional life. In 2001, shortly after the 9/11terror atttacks, they began producing documentaries that are designed to answer the question, “What is America?” There are 25 programs in the series, including 16 emotionally charged documentaries filmed on location in Shanksville, the site of the crash of hijacked Flight 93.
“The documentary films by Tony and Kitch Mussari advocate for the civic virtues at the heart of our democratic republic,” said Brian F. Carso, J.D., Ph.D., associate professor of history and government at Misericordia University. “They explore how these big ideas fit into everyday life and make possible self-government. The tradition of this kind of democratic examination reaches back to Benjamin Franklin, and it’s certainly a worthwhile exercise for students to reflect on valor and honor as presented in the film. We are happy to share their efforts with the campus and local community.”
For additional information about “Four Days of Honor and Valor at Gettysburg,” go online to http://faceofamericawps.com/teachers-with-a-camera/.
