The Park County Library Foundation is selling tickets for a documentary film screening at 7 p.m. in Vali Twin Cinema in Powell, on Wednesday, March 8, to help raise funds for the Powell Library Expansion Project. 

“Dear Sirs” is a 93-minute documentary film directed by Mark Pedri and produced by Carrie McCarthy that honors and remembers the history of those who fought in World War II by retracing the journey of American POW Silvio Pedri. Growing up, filmmaker Mark Pedri never heard Silvio’s story, but 10 years after his grandfather’s death, Mark found an archive of old photos and letters that changed the rest of his life. The discovery inspired Mark and his wife Carrie to bike over 500 miles across Europe, piecing together the route that Silvio took in 1944, in an effort to illuminate his grandfather’s experiences and better understand the man who helped raise him.

The film centers around Silver Star recipient Silvio Pedri’s experience as a prisoner of war. After being captured by the German army in France during the Battle of Metz in WWII, Silvio was then marched and transported by cattle car to a number of camps across Germany during the winter of 1944-45. A trailer for the film can be seen at dearsirsfilm.com.

Since the film’s completion in June of 2021, “Dear Sirs” has screened at festivals such as the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival, the Napa Valley Film Festival, and Aesthetica Film Festival in York, England. In addition, the film has been shown in Metz, France at the Annual Commemoration of the city’s liberation, and in Richmond, Virginia for the 95th Infantry Division Association’s annual meeting for WWII veterans who fought in the Battle of Metz with the film’s main character, Sgt. Silvio Pedri. 

About the filmmakers:

Mark Pedri is an expedition-based documentary filmmaker and writer from Rock Springs, Wyoming. Carrie McCarthy, Ph.D. is a scientist turned producer who got her start working as a scientific film consultant while she worked as a materials chemist researcher at the University of Southern California. Together they run Burning Torch Productions which is an independent film production company that focuses on character-driven stories from the backcountry and backroads of the world. Their films have played at international festivals, on national PBS, and major streaming platforms. 

Doors for the “Dear Sirs” screening, on March 8, will open at 6:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $15 and can be purchased at any of the three Park County Library branches and from members of the Park County Library Foundation.