ABOUT THE SHORT FILM
Commissioned in 2013 by Missouri State Parks, The Battle of Island Mound short film tells the remarkable true story of the First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry, and the historic battle they fought on October 29, 1862. It was the first-ever battle fought by African-American Union soldiers in the Civil War, and it happened in Missouri.
Freed and escaped slaves, the courage displayed by the men of the 1st Kansas Volunteers would help set a path for Civil Rights in America, and remind the nation what the Founding Fathers meant in writing, "All men are created equal."
The short film has screened at over a dozen public events, and won two Regional Emmy Awards, was awarded Best Short Film at the 2014 Harlem International Film Festival, and was one of thirty items included in a time capsule dedicated by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon in July 2015, which will be opened nearly 100 years from now, in July 2115.