Great Lakes Film - Wicked Spring

2002 Great Lakes Independent Film Festival

Wicked Spring

Category: Narrative Feature 1hr 42min
Director: Kevin R. Hershberger

Over a single, horrifying and sleepless night, we find six soldiers lost in the wicked, burning woods of the 1864 Battle of the Wilderness. Confederates Harrison, Hogg and After Stand find each other by chance, lost in the confusing evening of battle. Also lost in the daze of combat are Union soldiers John, Augustus and the gravely wounded Pietro -- swept together in their army's retreat. Both groups wander the gnarled, pitch with nothing to guide them but ragging fire and death at every turn - begging to find a friend. The men happen upon each other and after a tense exchange, decide to share a meager campfire for the trading of food and the comfort and safety of what they all think are friends. With raged, dirty uniforms in the night's moonlight, they do not realize they are enemies until the next morning when the sun rises and exposes their dangerous mistake. The morning's sun also ushers in a new day of battle as all six men finally face the gravest reality of the Civil War -- the wicked and hasty end to life and of the innocence of a nation.

Director: Kevin R. Hershberger
Kevin R. Hershberger grew up in Maryland, but left to Virginia while attending the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington -- class of 1995. He is the founder and Managing-Partner of LionHeart FilmWorks, LLC, a Richmond, Va film production company. Kevin first directed the award-winning dramatic short film "The Nest," set during the Korean War. Kevin next wrote and Directed LionHeart's feature, "Wicked Spring." He was also featured in a segment of Indie-film guru John Pierson's IFC/BRAVO series "Split Screen." Kevin was on the board of the 2002 Virginia French Film Festival as well as a founding member of the new Virginia Production Alliance. Kevin will direct his next feature, "Libra" in the fall of 2002 -- a post-9/11 Presidential assassination thriller starring Amelia Zontini, Nathan Blackburn (MTV) and Mark Lacy.