You see them every day but may not know who they really are.

The wisdom of eight university custodians at seven schools, including Cornell's James Evener and Gary Napieracz, is the focus of "The Philosopher Kings," a documentary making its Ithaca premiere 3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26, in Bailey Hall. Admission is free.

Evener, Napieracz, four other stars, director-producer Patrick Shen and the film's producers will answer questions at the public showing and at a morning screening for about 425 Building Care and Campus Life custodial staff members. The filmmakers are also making pre-release DVDs available at the afternoon screening.

"The Philosopher Kings" was partially inspired by a saying from Aristotle: "Wisdom is the reward you get after a lifetime of listening." Shen said the concept evolved during interviews with custodians last year.

"[We were] spending maybe 10-15 minutes on one topic, such as love, death or the existence of God," he said. "We found ourselves just wanting to have a conversation with these incredible people. Their stories drew us in so much that we often forgot we were making a documentary."

On camera and in person, the custodians express pride in their work. Evener's philosophy is, "If you're not enjoying your job, you're doing something wrong."

Napieracz, a 24-year Cornell employee, works at the Vet College. "It's the best place ever," he says. "I know pretty much everybody there. They're not customers, they're friends."

The filmmakers asked Rob Osborn, director of Building Care at Cornell, 16 months ago to suggest employees to profile. Napieracz was selected, and during filming in May 2008 he suggested the filmmakers talk to Evener.

Both are Vietnam veterans, Evener in the Air Force and Napieracz in the Army, and served on the same bases there without knowing it. "There's a brotherhood there," Napieracz said. "[After Vietnam], for 20 years no one would talk to us."

Shen's film crew followed the custodians on their work rounds, conducted interviews on campus and visited their homes; Evener's rock band was filmed rehearsing. They returned last August for more filming as students were arriving.

Evener, a Cornell employee for eight years, is a head custodian in charge of 12 buildings, including Bailey, Malott, Roberts and Kennedy halls and Fuertes Observatory. He recently became a grandfather.

"The two-hour interview we did with Jim was probably one of the most moving experiences I had making this film," Shen said.

Sent to Vietnam at age 19, Evener was shot in the back in 1969; unable to walk, he spent three days crawling out of the jungle. In a hospital in Japan, doctors told him he would never walk again. Determined to prove them wrong, he said, he walked out of the hospital almost eight months later.

"When I first met Jim, he didn't say much, and I feared that he'd be too reserved to go into detail about personal matters," Shen said. "When the cameras started rolling, Jim just poured his heart out to us and had me in tears within minutes. He was incredibly generous and open to us, and we were so grateful for that."

The filmmakers not only drew out Evener's understated, quiet intelligence, they uncovered news footage of him with Cortland County servicemen returning home for Christmas in 1970.

"I'm actually amazed these guys got me to talk as much as I did," he said. "The hardest part for me was actually telling the story. I don't think I had told anyone the story except for Gary. Once I started talking about it, I actually felt better for talking about it."

Evener served a second tour of duty after his replacement in the squad was killed in action during Evener's convalescence. That makes Evener a hero, Napieracz says.

Evener, Napieracz and Osborn attended the film's premiere in June at the American Film Institute/Discovery Channel Silverdocs Film Festival in Maryland, where they participated in an after-film panel and visited the Vietnam War Memorial, Evener for the first time.

The filmmakers "treated us like kings," Napieracz said. "To do something like that in our late years at Cornell was like a fantasy. The highlights in our lives are our marriages, our kids, getting out of Vietnam safe -- and this."

Evener agreed. "It's like leaving something behind that people are going to learn from," he said. "There's changes in life and things that change you, and you learn from them. This documentary addresses that."

Osborn calls the film "brilliant and profound. This documentary is going to bring custodians around the country into the forefront of our society in the most beautiful way. This is going to elevate the whole profession."