Documentary of a Small Town

Three years ago John was so moved by a book of photographs of the townfolk of LaPorte, Indiana, that he gladly contributed the back-cover blurb.

“These are real people,” he wrote. “The grace and dignity one sees in their faces should be a source of hope for us all.”

Published in 2006, the book was simply entitled “LaPorte, Indiana,” and contained scores of plain black-and-white portraits commemorating the small town’s births, first communions, graduations, weddings, promotions, anniversaries and retirements--all taken by a local photographer between 1940 and 1960. Like John, director Joe Beshenkovsky was so affected by the portraits that he came to Indiana to make a documentary about the people themselves--and what happened to them in the decades that followed.

The producers of “LaPorte, Indiana: A Documentary Film” anticipate screenings of the completed film some time next year.