English lecturer will sign copies of new film, books Dec. 1 "Heaven is Our Homeland," one in a series of widely-acclaimed and nationally-viewed documentary films by scriptwriter Ron Vossler, has recently received another major award. On Friday, Dec. 1, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Bookstore, Vossler will sign copies of this film, as well as his most recent film, which traces a Soviet era genocide with ties to North Dakota. He will also sign copies of his other books and films. The award, which is his sixth overall, is the Gold Aurora in the Documentary-Historical Category, presented for technical excellence and creativity. Earlier it also received A Crystal Award of Excellence, the top prize in the International Communicator Awards, and the Telly Award, for story telling ability and technical excellence. This film, produced by the Glueckstal Research Association in cooperation with Prairie Public Television, grew out of numerous research trips by Vossler to Ukraine, Moldova, Germany, Russia, France, Canada, and around the United States. The focus of the film is the restless odyssey of a distinct, and enduring, group of Germanic speaking farmers, Glueckstalers they called themselves, the people from the valley of luck. They were a contradiction in terms, progressive farmers and craftsmen, who in the face of extreme adversity -- including not only repression under the Czar and Lenin, but genocide under Stalin -- maintained archaic traditions and beliefs. With their mobile culture they pioneered on several continents, with the greatest concentration of this self-effacing religious group settling in the Dakotas. Well into the 1960s, as the film points out, some in this group still practiced faith healing, spoke their melodious language, and sang their haunting sorrow songs, some of which date from the 16th century. -- Ronald J. Vossler, Sr. Lecturer, English, ronald_vossler@und.nodak.edu, 1-218-779-68