With a new title — "The Last Confederate" — and solid indie distribution (ThinkFilm), the feature formerly known as "Strike the Tent" is playing locally.

Originally slated for a Charleston opening last fall but postponed, the Civil War-era film is decidedly a family foray. Shot on ancestral lands in Lower Richland County and produced by Weston Adams and screenwriter/star/co-director Julian Adams, it's the true story of the conflict between Capt. Robert Adams' dedication to the South and his love for one Eveline McCord (Gwendolyn Edwards), his beloved from the North.

Julian Adams stars in the title role as his real-life great-great-grandfather, a planter and strong-willed Confederate officer who, on the eve of the Civil War, falls for a teacher from the Union North. The captain would be pleased to know that their story was being told by his descendants.

"My father, Weston, and I sat down and put the story together in 2002 and began working on a script," says Julian. "We started shooting in 2004, but didn't go into full swing until the following year. We began hitting the festival circuit with it late in 2005, and then ThinkFilm came on board."

Co-directed by A. Blaine Miller, the film is billed as "a richly detailed saga of fierce combat, honor and the will to risk all that's precious for love or country."

Weston Adams, Joshua Lindsey, Eric Holloway, Edwin McCain and Amy Redford augment a cast that is completed by two veteran Hollywood stars, the ageless Mickey Rooney and Tippi Hedren.

Julian, who grew up in Columbia, says his father was raised on the same lands depicted in the film. Weston is an attorney, brigadier general in the S.C. Military Department and former U.S. ambassador. Julian, an architect by training, now devotes his energies strictly to filmmaking. He runs two production companies: Solar Filmworks in the Palmetto State and Strongbow Pictures in Los Angeles, where he resides.

"Architecture is on hold indefinitely," says Julian, currently working with director Todd Robinson on a documentary about Austin, Texas, singer-songwriter Amy Cook. "It's now full steam ahead in film business."

Next up, Adams has a role (and serves as a producer) in Robinson's "The Last Full Measure." A New Line film, it begins shooting in the fall with stars Morgan Freeman, Robert Duval, Bruce Willis and Andy Garcia.

"The Last Confederate" opened in Los Angeles last week. Apart from gigs in Charleston and Columbia, the picture has future play dates slated for New York, Houston and Nashville, with additional venues to come.

DVDs for overseas

Heeeeeeere's movies!

Former "Tonight Show" co-host Ed McMahon, 84, is fronting for Operation DVD, a program that encourages donations of DVDs for U.S. troops in Iraq, offering "escape from wartime realities."

"This program accomplishes two things," says McMahon, a Marine veteran. "The troops are entertained, and they know that citizens at home care and support them."

Operation DVD collects new and used DVDs to distribute overseas to American military personnel. The year-old program already has collected more than 250,000 DVDs but needs more.

The group's goal is to have 1 million DVDs distributed to U.S. troops with more than 200 titles in rotation at each base. Collection boxes are located nationwide at schools, retail stores, churches and government offices. For more information, go online at www.operationdvd.us.