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The 65th season of the Ira Holmes International Film Series at the College of Central Florida celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Throughout the season, several of the selected films and accompanying events will reflect the Declaration of Independence’s themes, such as the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Beginning at 7 p.m., there will be a film talk with Florida film history expert, Dr. David Morton, paired with a screening of The Flying Ace.

All films will be shown Tuesdays at 2 p.m. at the Appleton Museum of Art, 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, and at 7 p.m. at the College of Central Florida, 3001 S.W. College Road, Building 8, Room 110, unless otherwise noted. Films at the Ocala Campus are free and open to the public. Films at the Appleton are free to all museum and film series members; nonmembers pay museum admission. Films may contain mature content.

About the Film

“The Flying Ace”(NR, USA, 1926, 1 hour, 5 minutes)

After returning from World War I, a former fighter pilot resumes his work as a railroad detective and sets out to recover $25,000 in stolen payroll, find a missing employee, and bring the thieves to justice.

About the Speaker

Dr. David Morton
Florida Film Historian, Lecturer in Film and History at the University of Central Florida

Dr. David Morton is a Lecturer in the Film and History Departments at the University of Central Florida, where he received his Ph.D. in Texts and Technology in 2019. His primary research is on how mass media perpetuated white surpremacist filmic narratives in the early twentieth century. He published in academic journals including Early Visual Popular Culture, the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, The Palgrave Handbook of New Cinema Histories and Senses of Cinema. His book, Motion Picture Paradise: A History of Florida’s Film and Television Industry, was published in 2025.