‘300 Miles to Freedom’

The premiere of a Civil War-era film produced by a Syracuse University professor and alumnus

When: Thursday, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Syracuse Stage, 820 E. Genesee St.

How much: $10 general admission, $5 students

Tuesday marked the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, a cornerstone in American history. Yet in a war that shook America to its core and defined the country’s most underlying values, only a few major players are remembered. Abraham Lincoln. Robert E. Lee. Harriet Tubman.

But hundreds of others had a significant influence, like John W. Jones, an ex-slave who found freedom for himself and others.

Filmmakers Richard Breyer and Anand Kamalakar collaborated on ‘300 Miles to Freedom’ to tell the story of this lesser-known hero 150 years later.

‘The Underground Railroad wasn’t just Frederick Douglas. It was people who opened their hearts and homes, people who didn’t make the headlines or the history books,’ said Breyer, an associate professor in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Jones fled Leesburg, Va., in 1844 through the Underground Railroad and sought refuge in Elmira, N.Y., to escape slavery. Jones successfully led more than 800 slaves through the path by 1860.

Jones’ journey is chronicled in the documentary, premiering April 14 at Syracuse Stage. The 40-minute film took a year and a half to direct and edit. In 30 days, Jones walked 300 miles to freedom, just as the movie’s namesake suggests.

The event will include a performance by the Syracuse chapter of the Gospel Music Workshop of America. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for students, but no one will be turned away for financial reasons, Breyer said. Proceeds from the event will benefit Syracuse’s Southside Community Coalition.

Syracuse University alumnus Walter Montgomery initially approached Breyer with the idea for the film, Breyer said. As a native of Elmira, Montgomery knew Jones’ story was undervalued and wanted the professor to get involved. Breyer then enlisted 1995 television, radio and film graduate Kamalakar to film the project. Together, the two edited, directed and produced the movie. Kamalakar, who said he has edited about 35 nonfiction films, is drawn to stories involving issues in the human condition. This one fit the bill, he said.

‘The story is resilient and triumphant, and all of us go through these kind of moments where you’re faced with adversity in life and you conquer it,’ he said.

To paint the most effective picture of Jones’ life, Breyer and Kamalakar took the same journey Jones did more than a century ago. Though they drove the 300 miles rather than walking them, the two found enormous value in the trip. It resulted in a classic story of hardship and victory told in a new, dynamic angle.

Along the way, they met historians, ministers, farmers, and restaurant and gas station owners, Breyer said. The film finds some of its strongest components through some of those serendipitous moments. Breyer said there’s no other way to capture the essence of a story.

‘You know it’s a bit magical,’ he said. ‘I just met somebody who met somebody who met somebody. We discovered headstones that were more than likely John’s mother. We heard how John’s grandmother would say ‘See those geese? They’re flying north — where men are free.”

Since graduating, Kamalakar kept in touch with Breyer by exchanging written pieces, such as essays and fictional stories — they share a love for writing. The two give each other comments and constructive criticism on their respective works. ‘He’s like my family member, and I’m like his family member,’ Kamalakar said.

Once Breyer approached him with a gripping film idea, Kamalakar said there was little reason to hesitate.

‘The story itself is so compelling,’ he said. ‘To see a black man in a white man’s world is a truly inspirational story, and it’s about the American history, which we all have read and known about.’

Arthur Flowers, an English professor, does the voiceover of Jones. The script for Jones’ dialogue stems from excerpts in journals and diaries from that time, Flowers said. While working on his recording, Flowers empathized with the story and said his compassion is discernable in his voice.

For any filmmaker, creating buzz about the movie is a natural goal. But that could be more challenging for ‘300 Miles to Freedom,’ Kamalakar said, given the difficulty of getting an audience to relate to past events. His goal after Thursday is to inspire audience members and have them appreciate Jones’ accomplishments.

‘Our character is dead and gone,’ Kamalakar said. ‘So if people can relate to him on an emotional level, then I think we’re doing our job.’

It’s more important for community members to come together and share their own stories than to have a good crowd for the premiere, Breyer said. Lectures and movies are informational, but the greatest value comes from these events, which serve as a catalyst for the crowd to speak up. Stories are the foundations of culture, he said.

‘You can have great bricks and really nice buildings, but it’s stories that glue us together,’ he said. ‘Either in a formal way, like the Bibles and mythologies, or informally in the way people talk to each other.’

Come Thursday night, Breyer and Kamalakar hope their film — and its protagonist — garners much-deserved attention. The two are inspired by Jones and want to pass on his story to all viewers.

‘In no way do I think that what we did is even 10 percent of what John did,’ Breyer said, a smile forming on his face. ‘But his spirit was with us, I’m convinced.’

mainthia@syr.edu

Published on April 12, 2011 at 12:00 pm