‘Under These Same Stars’ screening set

A free screening of the Dan Johnson film, “Under These Same Stars – the Céladon Affair,” is planned Saturday night, May 20, in Alto Pass.

The screening of the historic drama set in the Illinois Country of 1773 will be at 7:30 p.m. 

The film’s producer, Anne Johnson, is scheduled give a brief introduction. 

She is the movie’s producer and the sister of Carl Ekberg, the French historian who wrote the book on which the movie is based. She will provide context and background for the movie,

2023 marks 250 years since the events in the story took place

The film, based on the book “Stealing Indian Women” by historian Carl Ekberg, tells the tale of  true events that occurred in the French colonial town of Ste. Genevieve, Mo. 

The story, found in testimony preserved in the archives of Ste. Genevieve and Seville, Spain, involves a mysterious death, a slave disappearance, manhunts, arrests and interrogations. 

The film was directed by Dan Johnson, who is from Union County, and was filmed in Southern Illinois, the Missouri Ozarks and in the historic homes of Ste. Genevieve, Mo., and Cahokia. 

With 75 vertical log French homes, Ste. Genevieve has the highest concentration of colonial French architecture in North America. 

Ste. Genevieve was designated as a National Historical Park in 2020 and the film story is part of its history.  

Local talent is featured in the film, including:

Dan Johnson, director, cameraman, production director, film extra, special effects technician, prop production and film editor .  

Dennis Stroughmatt plays the French fiddler in the film.

More than 100 people volunteered their time and talents, costumes and props, historic homes and period weaponry, horses, dogs and barnyard animals to the making of this film. The cast of 80 included over 40 speaking parts.