North Putnam

North Putnam depicts a year in the life of a rural Indiana school district and the community it serves. Crafted with empathy, a hyper-real reporting lens and skillfully lush cinematography, the film aims to reach across divides and to spark action-oriented conversations about the interdependence between public schools and community development.

Touring with the Film

Joel Fendelman (Director) is an award-winning filmmaker who strives to embrace socially conscious stories that deal with religion, social class and minorities and communicate the underlying connection between us all. His last film, Man on Fire, screened nationally on PBS and won an International Documentary Association Award. Other award-winning and nationally recognized films include Game Night, Remittance, and David.

Beth Benedix (Producer) is Professor Emerita of World Literature, Religious Studies, and Community Engagement at DePauw University, and Founder and Director of The Castle, a nonprofit that partners with public schools in Putnam County, IN.  A prolific writer, her third book, Ghost Writer (A Story About Telling a Holocaust Story), was named a finalist for the 2019 Next Generation Indie Awards and her most recent, The Post-Pandemic Liberal Arts College:  A Manifesto for Reinvention (co-authored with Steve Volk), has contributed to a national conversation about higher education.