Film on Washington, Braddock to be featured at Festival
Continuing regional efforts to build awareness of the significance of the French and Indian War, the film “When the Forest Ran Red: Washington, Braddock and a Doomed Army’ will be among the featured attractions at the Frontier Festival held at the History Center in Pittsburgh from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The film documentary, produced by the History Center in partnership with Bethel Park-based Paladin Communications, has been honored with a variety of prestigious awards since its release in September of 2001. Since its premiere in September 2001 on local PBS-affiliate WQED- Pittsburgh, more than 70 other PBS affiliates across the country have indicated interest in airing the film.
“When the Forest Ran Red’ gives viewers an inside look at the campaign of Gen. Edward Braddock and shows just how pivotal a role Western Pennsylvania played in the outcome of the war, and the direction the American territory took,” says Andy Masich, president/CEO of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, which runs the History Center.
“No one has attempted to make this topic the focus of a film documentary,” says Robert Matzen, the maker of the film. “The story of Washington and Braddock in this time period is fascinating, ironic, even heartbreaking.”
Beginning with the ambush of 22-year-old Virginia Militia officer George Washington of French officer Jumonville and his party, the film tells the story of some of history’s most intriguing characters, including Braddock, Washington, Jumonville, and a Seneca chief named Tanagarisson, or the Half King.
“When the Forest Ran Red’ was shot at historic sites throughout the region, including Jumonville Glen and the site of Dunbar’s Camp, the Fort Necessity National Battlefield Park in Farmington, the site of Fort Duquesne and Fort Pitt in Pittsburgh and Braddock’s Field in Braddock.
The excitement and drama of the Ohio River Valley during the French and Indian War will be the focus of the Frontier Festival at the History Center, with demonstrations of military crafts, such as gunsmithing; representatives of re-enactment regiments; and special screenings of “When the Forest Ran Red’ through the day. The festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
The Frontier Festival, along with the viewing of When The Forest Ran Red, couldn’t come at a better time with the 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War quickly approaching in 2004. The critical importance of this period in our history is growing across the nation, and the History Center is using the Frontier Festival as a way for visitors to truly get a feel for the essence of this war era.
In addition to the viewing of the film “”When the Forest Ran Red: Washington, Braddock, and a Doomed Army,’ the filmmaker, Robert Matzen will be at the History Center from 12 to 3 p.m. to discuss the film as well as answer any questions visitors may have about the process of creating the film.
Artwork from the time period will be available for sale at the festival including prints of the latest painting by Robert Griffing, “A Charming Field for an Encounter,” commissioned for Fort Necessity National Battlefield. The painting depicts the moments just before the French and Indian War battle at Fort Necessity. Thirty-six inch poster reproductions of the original painting will be available for purchase in the History Center’s Museum Shop. Local artist John Buxton will be available throughout the day to answer any questions about his paintings of colonial scenes.
Historical artist Robert Adamovich of Hopwood will also be on hand to explain how he has used historical documents to create detailed maps of the French and Indian War Campaigns.
Adamovich makes his own inks from chimney soot and uses replica pen nibs in his historical artwork.
To add another dimension to the effort of expanding knowledge on the French and Indian War, the History Center is a partner in the local “War for Empire Consortium,” and will premiere an exhibit dedicated to the French and Indian War in its new Smithsonian Exhibit Gallery, the first-floor component of its planned five-story expansion in 2004.
After the exhibit’s Pittsburgh premiere, plans are being forged for the 8,000-10,000 square-foot exhibit to travel to other museums in North America and Europe. The exhibit is just one of many regional initiatives being planned to interpret the French and Indian War throughout the region.
A history museum affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the center is located at 1212 Smallman St. in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. For more information, visit the center’s Web site at www.pghhistory.org or call 412-454-6000.