BANGOR — A documentary film whose executive producer is Warren Cook of Kingfield is making audiences laugh, cry, and renew their faith in the human spirit.

The Way We Get By continues to receive critical acclaim and honors at screenings across the country. It will be shown at the Narrow Gauge Theater in Farmington at 7 p.m. on April 22 and 23. Tickets are $5.

"This film touches on the themes that I think are most important in life: service to community, service to country, and honoring our elders," Cook said.

The documentary, directed by Old Town native and award-winning filmmaker Aron Gaudet and produced by award-winning television journalist and film producer Gita Pullapilly, showcases three senior citizens who belong to the Maine Troop Greeters. These dedicated volunteers welcome every returning soldier from his or her duty in Iraq and Afghanistan as they come through the Bangor International Airport.

"The Way We Get By" had its Maine debut on April 9 in Orono, at The Collins Center for the Arts with Governor John E. Baldacci, Congressman Michael Michaud and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree in attendance.

Sean Carnell photo The film has been honored with the Special Jury Award at the South by Southwest Film Festival and the Audience Award at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina. At the Cleveland Film Festival, it beat out 28 films to win the Greg Gund Memorial Film Competition, which recognizes films for their social conscience.

In Boston, critic Kerry Skemp's review of the film calls it "a remarkable reminder of just how much we have to learn from our elders."

"The Troop Greeters are quiet, homespun heroes in their own right. Their commitment has been ongoing for more than six years and hundreds of these volunteers have greeted over 850,000 U.S. soldiers, meeting every plane that arrives at Bangor International Airport. 'The Way We Get By' is an inspiring and heart wrenching film that had to be made and which needs to be seen. Bangor Savings Bank is extremely proud to help make that happen," Yellow Light Breen of Bangor Savings Bank, which is providing the major financial support for the Maine showings, commented.

David Cornelius, a nationally acclaimed critic who covered the South by Southwest Film Festival, summed it up in his five-star review of the film by saying, "How many films are this effective, that with so few words, the viewer can become heartbroken? Gaudet's film is a marvel of humanity, celebrating life (and lamenting the end of it) through its little moments. I adored every frame of this movie and every person in it."

The film is slated for national broadcast on PBS later this year on the program POV. The film was made in association with American Documentary, Inc./POV, ITVS, MPBN, WGBH. Fiscal sponsors are Documentary Educational Resources and ida. Additional sponsors are Bangor Savings Bank and Manatt, Phelps & Phelps.

To view the trailer and to obtain more information, visit www.thewaywegetbymovie.com.

The following dates and venues were recently announced, with more screening locations to be added (visit the Web site for updates):

April 22, 23, 7 p.m. /$5 — Narrow Gauge Cinema, Farmington May 8, 9, 10 — Alamo Theatre, Bucksport June 19, 20, 21, 22 — Space Gallery, Portland June 25, 26 — Colonial Theatre, Belfast June 27, 28 — Strand Theatre, Rockland July 10, 11, 12 — The Grand, Ellsworth July 16, 17, 18 — Centre Theater, Dover-Foxcroft July 23, 24, 25 — Frontier Café, Brunswick Aug. 2, 3, 4 — Strand Cinema, Houlton