Bringing forgotten history to light through film

By Holly Hearn

Public lands not only tell the story of how the United States came to be, but also the country’s struggles with race and other difficult parts of the past. The Gettysburg National Military Park teaches visitors about the Civil War, and St. Augustine’s own Fort Mose marks the site of the first free black settlement in the U.S.

Recently, many of these federal locations have come under greater scrutiny as the country’s leaders try to erase DEI initiatives and censor history exhibits about race, hiding these stories.

In producing the film “A Book of Freedom: The Confessions of Francisco Menéndez,” Flagler College began a conversation about local history that has been erased over time and amplified by these initiatives.

The film tells the real-life story of Francisco Menéndez, a man who escaped slavery in the Carolinas and came to the newly settled Fort Mose, where he became a militia captain to defend St. Augustine. It was the first full-length student-produced film for the college’s new Cinematic Arts program and directed under visiting filmmaker Jim Gilmore.

“It’s historic, it’s set right here and it’s telling a story no one knows about,” said Tracy Halcomb, Ph.D., the producer of the film and Flagler College professor. “[Gilmore] said: ‘Instead of making a documentary, we can make it a docudrama’ and I was like ‘that’s perfect’. That would allow students to do the research, but they could take a little creative license with it.”

The Trump administration has gotten rid of fee-free national park entrances on Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and is censoring any monuments or signs that could show the country in a negative light, including ones about slavery.

‘The fact that they’re trying to erase black history, telling a story like this is more important now than it’s ever been. And, you know, how can we not know about Francisco Menendez?” Halcomb said.

The film has been released at a time when racial history is being erased at both the national and state levels. As museum exhibits across the country are censored, including the Smithsonian, Florida’s history is being hidden in its public schools. The Florida State Board of Education claimed in 2023 that “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

Florida students are hearing less of the truth of their history, and many St. Augustine locals are unaware of the history in their own backyard through Fort Mose, motivating Halcomb and Gilmore to create this film alongside Flagler’s Cinematic Arts students.

“British colonialism thrived on slavery. There’s no getting around that. Sweeping that under the rug, you can’t,” Gilmore said.

In a time where less history is being shown, it is important to find a way to continue to uplift the stories that shaped our country in any way possible.

“We have real heroes who have done real stuff in our real world that have been swept under the rug,” said Zeus Xavier Scott, who plays Francisco Menéndez. “Francisco Menéndez is one of them. All of his cohorts and the black people that served in that capacity there at Fort Mose, the black and brown people, those are heroes whose stories have not been told.”

Gilmore and Halcomb, alongside their students, had the goal of sharing this story with as much accuracy as possible. They wanted to teach about the history of where they are every single day and inspire respect and change through remembering the past.

Scott believed that, while stories of fictional heroes can be inspiring, there is little real-life change that comes from them. The change must come from the real world.

“We are in need of real heroes. If we do not understand our history, we are destined to repeat it,” Scott said. “It’s gonna take actual human beings to be calculated and focused for anything to actually change for the better. And a movie like this shows a human who took what he could control and made mountains move.”

The crew knew they had no choice but to highlight this local hero.

“These stories, someone has the responsibility to tell,” Gilmore said.

A large portion of properly telling this story was formatting. The goal was to get audiences to listen, rather than solely teach through the traditional documentary style.

“The historical significance and heroic message behind this story deserve to be remembered,” said Izzy Swyt, a student crew member. “Presenting it through a docudrama, with an incredible performance by the actor portraying Francisco Menéndez, helps capture the audience’s attention. It encourages viewers not just to watch, but to become curious and want to learn more about the story and the lessons it holds.”

The film has been successful and has begun to win awards. The crew’s strategy of using creativity to gain attention is working – and most importantly –  the respect they had for highlighting the history shows.

Scott said what he loved about playing Captain Menendez is that he is the epitome of what a hero is, and that more people should know about his story.

“His story, the things that he went through, the things that he conquered, the things that he overcame, that is a story of a true resilient man, human and hero,” Scott said. “There was a conviction when it came to performing and trying to give his story justice.”