MISSOULA -- It's been two years since Gov. Brian Schweitzer pardoned Montanans convicted of sedition during the anti-German frenzy of World War I, and still the Montana Sedition Project continues to grow and evolve.

Several dozen people gathered at the University of Montana recently for a private screening of "Jailed For Their Words: The Sedition Act of 1918," a film that documents the stories of Montanans jailed for their opposition to the war or criticism of the government during World War I.

Some of their opposition was as subtle as not buying enough Liberty Bonds, calling wartime food regulations a "big joke" or refusing to kiss the American flag.

Through the writings of Herman Bausch -- a German immigrant who farmed near Billings and served a 28-month sentence at the state prison in Deer Lodge for sedition -- the hourlong documentary took shape, encompassing the human element of such convictions. The film turned these historical figures into actual human beings.

"His memoirs are so eloquent and articulate and timeless," said Gita Saedi Kiely, director and producer. "He really touches on something that exists in all societies at all time."

It took about two years to produce the film, which features interviews with the living relatives of those convicted, as well as Montana historians, national free-speech experts and those most closely involved with the Montana Sedition Project.

The film is narrated by J.K. Simmons, Missoula's most famous Hollywood actor.

Although it is not the focus of the film, the last several minutes are spent connecting the 1918 Sedition Act with the weakening of civil liberties in the post 9/11 era.

Ideally, said Kiely, hammering home the film's relevance in today's world will educates people about mistakes made in the past, and may prevent them from occurring in the future.

Because of her ethnicity -- she is Iranian -- Kiely said she relates to the film in a way others may not.

"I know I'm a member of this ethnic group right now that is questioned. There is a certain amount of xenophobia to Middle Eastern Americans," she said. "It made this story all that much more relevant and timeless to me."

Seventy-nine Montanans were punished under the state's 1918 sedition law, considered one of the harshest in the country. It served as a model when Congress adopted the federal Sedition Act of 1918.

The Montana Sedition Project began with a book by Clemens P. Work, a University of Montana School of Journalism professor. His book, "Darkest Before Dawn: Sedition and Free Speech in the American West," was published in October 2005.

At one book reading, Work said he dreamed that these people would one day be exonerated. UM Law School professor Jeffrey Renz, who was in the audience, brought that idea to several of his law students, who studied, among other things, the possibility of pardoning the deceased. Several UM journalism students helped track down living relatives.

In May 2006, at a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda in Helena, Gov. Schweitzer, who is descended from ethnic Germans, posthumously pardoned 78 men and women of sedition convictions. The event received national media attention. Schweitzer attended the film screening.

But even before the pardons, Work knew the project could make a visual impact. A documentary film "is a different type of storytelling" and one that may tap another audience said Work, who co-produced the film.

Regardless of all the research that had already gone into the project, more was required to complete the film.

"A film is like a black hole," Work said. "You have to find the pictures to cover the words." That required digging through the National Archives in Washington D.C., flying to California to interview relatives, and trips to the Powder River in eastern Montana to track down the original now-ramshackle houses of some of these European immigrants.

"The documentary adds more emotional impact to the stories of these people," Renz said.

The film touches on many different aspects, such as Montana during World War I, free speech in America, the conditions of the Deer Lodge state prison in 1918, and the individual stories of those convicted.

Including all of these things, while keeping the story simple, understandable, compelling all in under an hour's time was the most challenging part, Kiely said.

Many relatives of those convicted were eager to talk about the injustices involving their ancestors, but a few declined interviews for the film. They don't want to remember this hard family history, Kiely said.

There is no date set for public broadcast of the documentary. However, organizers hope to host a public premier in coming months and run the film on Montana PBS. Work would like to market the film to national and international audiences as well, and envisions it as an educational tool for high school and college students.

Click here for more information about the Montana Sedition Project or to check on upcoming screenings of the film.