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One of the world's best-known filmmakers in his genre stopped in O'Hara Monday to introduce Pittsburghers to their family.

That's how Ronald F. Maxwell, director of the high-profile theatrical releases "Gettysburg" and "Gods and Generals" likes to think of those who lived through the Civil War and its era: our family.

And that's why he believes "Lincoln and Lee at Antietam -- the Cost of Freedom," which Maxwell narrates, will continue that family reunion.

The Robert Child Production is being released today on DVD by the

O'Hara-based Inecom Entertainment Co., whose president and CEO is Michael L. Bussler of Fox Chapel. The $24.99 DVD is available through area video outlets.

" 'Lincoln and Lee at Antietam' -- The Cost of Freedom" is about the single bloodiest day in American history with over 5,000 dead and more than 10,000 casualties involving young men from both the North and the South," Bussler says. "It changed the course of our nation's history. It is the first battle in the Civil War where the South does not beat the North outright."

It paved the way for Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation and ending slavery in the United States.

The DVD will not feel like a history lesson, Maxwell says. He believes that, even if people don't always realize it, "Lincoln and Lee at Antietam" works on a deep emotional level.

"That's because we are getting connected with our ancestors, and that's just a fancy word for family," he says. "We are getting connected with our family, who lived here 150 or so years ago, that made the country we live in.

"These were the people who helped shape it along the way. On an emotional level, you get connected and attached to these people. That's much deeper than entertainment. That's what I like about Mike Bussler and his son (Mark Bussler of Oakmont). They understand this."

Michael Bussler says Inecom wants to continue growing as a distribution company while expanding its own captive production company and continuing to work with third-part producers on documentary films.

"Lincoln and Lee at Antietam -- The Cost of Freedom," is the first production distributed by Inecom Entertainment that was done by an outsider producer.

Robert Child, award-winning director, producer and writer, also directed. The film features commentaries from renowned historians such as Pulitzer Prize-winning author James M. McPherson ("Battle Cry of Freedom" and "Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam"); and two-time Lincoln Prize recipient Allen C. Guelzo. Stanley Wernz, president of the Association of Lincoln Presenters, appears as Abraham Lincoln.

The 90-minute documentary relates the story of the 14-hour epic Battle of Antietam through first-person accounts, an original music score and scarce Antietam commemorative battle footage from the 125th, 135th and 140th Antietam Re-enactments.

Bussler says he is fascinated with anything in history "that leads us to where and who we are today."

"To go through life ignorant of your history is to live an impoverished life," says Maxwell, who has conducted an extensive study of Antietam. He included a sequence about the battle in "Gods and Generals." He plans to include 30 to 40 Antietam sequences in the director's cut of "Gods and Generals" when it is released.

As a former actor, he embraced the opportunity to narrate "Lincoln and Lee At Antietam -- the Cost of Freedom," his first narration of a film. Maxwell was the voice of Richard the III in "Gettysburg."

"Through his intimate personal knowledge and interest in the Civil War, we knew Ronald Maxwell could credibly contribute to the film," Bussler says.

Maxwell's next project for Inecom, scheduled to be available in the spring, is "Horses of Gettysburg," directed by Mark Bussler.

"I'll do as many projects as they want me to do," Maxwell says. "Their work is very high quality."

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