Minnesota Historical Society Film Winners

MINNEAPOLIS -- The drama unfolded at the historic Riverview Theater in Minneapolis on Sunday night as the Minnesota
Historical Society announced the five winning films in the Minnesota's Greatest Generation Moving Pictures Film Competition. More than 400 filmmakers and event-goers walked past the searchlights for red-carpet arrivals in "old Hollywood" style in anticipation of the winning results:

* Matt Ehling of St. Paul won Best Film ($5,000) for his film "Coming
Home";
* Gayle Knutson of Marine on St. Croix, Minn., won Best Depiction of
"Coming of Age in the 1940s" ($2,500) for her film "Prisoner 32,232";
* Paul Creager of Minneapolis won Best Emerging Filmmaker ($1,000) for
his film "Resonance";
* Rita Nagan and Jeremy Wilker both of Golden Valley, Minn., won Best
Collaborative Effort ($1,000) for their film "Skating the Pacific to
Europe"; and,
* Kevin McKeever of St. Paul won the Legacy award ($1,000) for his film
"Marianne Hamilton: A Voice of Peace."

The five winning films were selected from 60 films submitted by amateur
and professional filmmakers across the state of Minnesota. Each of the
10-minute documentary films focus on the life and legacy of Minnesota's
Greatest Generation -- the men and women who came of age during the
Depression and World War II.

"I continue to be amazed by the quality of the films and the rich stories of Minnesota's Greatest Generation brought into a new light through the outstanding work of so many filmmakers," said Randal Dietrich, Moving Pictures Festival Director. "Moving Pictures helps preserve these stories through the dynamic medium of film, while linking a new generation with a generation that has had a tremendous impact on how we lead our lives today."

Encore Screenings, Minnesota History Center, Oct. 23
Encore screenings of the winning films will take place at the Minnesota
History Center on Tuesday, Oct. 23, from 7-9 p.m. as part of the Past
Forward Tuesday night series. The screenings will include an exclusive
talk-back session with the filmmakers about how they documented the
compelling and deeply personal stories of Minnesotans who came of age
during the Depression and World War II. Tickets are: $8 for adults; $6 for
members, seniors and college students; and, $4 for children ages 14 and up.

In an effort to preserve these films and slices of Minnesota history,
the films become part of the permanent collections of the Minnesota
Historical Society and receive continuing visibility at public venues
across the state, at http://www.mnhs.org/mggfilm and on television.

Select submissions will be showcased in a statewide tour through the
fall including public screenings at libraries, historic sites and schools.
The tour kicks off with an 11-city public library tour starting with
Minneapolis Central Library on Saturday, Oct. 27, at 1 p.m. Complete tour
dates and times are available at http://www.mnhs.org/mggfilm and at
http://www.melsa.org.

Filmmakers Tell Compelling Stories of War Veterans, GI Wives, Prisoners and More
Matt Ehling's Best Film winner, "Coming Home," tells the story of Bill
Ehling, a World War II combat veteran who fought in the European theater.

Through family photos, historical footage, and glimpses of his hometown,
the film relates Bill's memories of war, struggle and, finally, coming
home. Footage of their family farm abstractly represents how Matt, as a
boy, internalized his grandfather's war stories.

Gayle Knutson's winning film for "Coming of Age in the 1940s,"
"Prisoner 32,232" recalls the story of longtime Minnesota college professor
Reidar Dittmann. The Nazi invasion of his native Norway led to his
involvement in the Norwegian Resistance and a 15-month incarceration in the notorious Buchenwald concentration camp at the age of 20.

Winning film "Resonance" by Paul Creager tells the story of Duluth
Mayor George D. Johnson as he and the city were faced with a difficult
decision: to keep a Buddhist temple bell as a war trophy from the USS
Duluth or return it.

Rita Nagan's and Jeremy Wilkers's winning film "Skating the Pacific to
Europe" tells the story of Art Seaman who began his skating career in
Longfellow Park and literally skated and danced his way from Minnesota to
the Pacific to the 1948 Olympics and back again.

Kevin McKeever's Legacy winning film, "Marianne Hamilton: A Voice of
Peace," is about a woman who exemplifies Minnesota's activist spirit in the
20th century. Marianne Hamilton recounts her amazing struggles including
leading the GI Wives Club during World War II, venturing to Hanoi for peace
during the Vietnam War and ultimately, co-creating the Women Against
Military Madness in defiance of the Cold War.

About Minnesota's Greatest Generation Project
From the heroic to the tragic and the dramatic to the ordinary,
Minnesota's Greatest Generation lived it all. After a childhood
overshadowed by the Great Depression, a Second World War rushed these young
men and women into adulthood and propelled the ingenuity and boom that
followed. Sadly, with each passing day, many of the artifacts from this
generation are being lost to history and the witnesses to these stories are
falling silent.

This year marks the second year that the Historical Society is
organizing and hosting the Moving Pictures Film Competition. A third
competition is planned for 2008. Moving Pictures is an initiative launched
by the Minnesota Historical Society in August 2005, during the 60th
anniversary of the end of World War II, to explore the life and legacy of
Minnesota's Greatest Generation. The privately funded initiative is simply
known as Minnesota's Greatest Generation.

About the Minnesota Historical Society
The Minnesota Historical Society is a non-profit educational and
cultural institution established in 1849 to preserve and share Minnesota
history. The Society collects, preserves and tells the story of Minnesota's
past through museum exhibits, libraries and collections, historic sites,
educational programs and book publishing. More information can be found at
http://www.mnhs.org.

SOURCE Minnesota Historical Society