Story :Black and White UCLA Student Film, Preserved by the Academy Film Archive. During the American Civil War, two Union soldiers and a Confederate solider fire at each other from across a brook. The two sides negotiate a one-hour truce, from which they develop a bond. Based on the short story "Pickets" (1897) by Robert W. Chambers, it was the winner of an Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Two Reel) film in 1955. The film is on the National Film Registry for its cultural significance in 2007.