BE THE FIRST: to see Ron Maxwell's new Civil War movie, Copperhead. Advanced screening: New Canaan Playhouse on May 1.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, and Ronald F. Maxwell, director of the movies Gettysburg and Gods and Generals, has turned his attention to telling a Civil War story from our region of the country. 

The New Canaan Historical Society announced today that a special advanced screening of the movie Copperhead would take place on Wednesday, May 1, 2013, giving history buffs an early opportunity to learn a regional and intimate story from the Civil War era. 

The movie screening fundraiser takes place at 6:30pm at the Bow Tie Cinemas New Canaan Playhouse, located at 89 Elm Street in New Canaan.  Director Maxwell will introduce the movie starring Billy Campbell, Peter Fonda, Augustus Prew and Angus Macfadyen.  Immediately following the screening, the audience is invited to a private red carpet celebration at Le Pain Quotidien, located just steps away from the theatre at 81 Elm Street.  From 8:30-10:30pm guests will meet and mingle with the movie’s director, screenwriter and producers while enjoying wine, beer, artisan cheeses, antipasti, petite sweets and more.  

Space is limited.  To purchase your tickets for the cinematic event of the season visit www.nchistory.org  You can also purchase your tickets in person at the Historical Society at 13 Oenoke Ridge Road in New Canaan.  Funds raised will support restoration of the Hanford-Silliman House Museum, the family home of Justus Silliman, a New Canaan private in the Civil War.

To see the official Copperhead movie trailer, click here

Copperhead is unlike any Civil War movie to date. It is a film of the war at home – of a family ripped apart by war, of fathers set against sons and daughters, of a community driven to an appalling act of vengeance against a man who insists on exercising his right to free speech during wartime. A story of the violent passions and burning feuds that set ablaze the homefront during the Civil War, Copperhead the movie is also a timeless and deeply moving examination of the price of dissent, the place of the individual amidst the hysteria of wartime, and the terrible price of war – a cost measured not in dollars but in fractured families, broken loves, and men dead before their time.

“We are thrilled to present this film to our community ahead of the national audience,” said Janet Lindstrom, Executive Director of the New Canaan Historical Society.  “With the event located just steps from the New Canaan train station, we hope commuters and residents throughout the area will enjoy a mid-week opportunity to experience this special evening.  Our thanks to Le Pain Quotidien for helping to make this event possible.”

The idea for Copperhead was conceived on a March evening in 2010 at the New Canaan Historical Society and further discussed at the Roger Sherman Inn. Director Ron Maxwell was in New Canaan to speak to the Historical Society about his epic Civil War films Gettysburg and Gods and Generals. During the question and answer period, when asked when to expect his next movie about the war, he replied that he was always studying books and reading stories about the era, but that he had not yet found the right story yet.

The next morning, over breakfast, screenwriter Bill Kauffman asked Maxwell if he’d ever read a novel by Harold Frederic called “The Copperhead,” which is about an Upstate New York farmer in 1862 who is opposed to the Civil War, and the consequences of that stand. 

“Sure,” Ron replied, “I’ve read ‘The Copperhead.’ Great book.”
 
A movie was born.

This cinematic event is the culmination of a series of Civil War programming this
season at the Historical Society.  Bill Kauffman, author the Copperhead screenplay, lectured at the Society this March on Copperhead’s journey from page to screen as part of the series, The Civil War… It’s Personal.  

The New Canaan Historical Society seeks to educate and enlighten the public in
an atmosphere that is welcoming, friendly and fun by offering innovative educational exhibitions and programs for adults, children and families.  The New Canaan Historical Society is a not-for-profit, privately supported, educational facility.  Please visit www.nchistory.org for more information.