Ocala's oldest collegiate film tradition is back for another round, and this time it's wrapped around a theme that feels tailor-made for the moment: freedom. The Ira Holmes International Film Series returns to the College of Central Florida for its 65th season starting October 13, opening with a screening of the filmed version of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway musical Hamilton, shown free at both the Appleton Museum of Art and the CF Ocala campus.
As reported by 352Today.com, the 2026-27 lineup leans into the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, with selections built around life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. CF political science professor Jay Thompson will give a special introduction before the Hamilton screenings on October 13, with a 2 p.m. showing at the Appleton Museum of Art and a 7 p.m. showing at the CF Ocala campus, according to the same report. The season's framing around the pursuit of freedom lines up with current series director Wendy Adams, a CF professor who, per the College of Central Florida, noted this 65th season focuses on stories reflecting that universal pursuit.
A Tradition Rooted in One Professor's Vision
The series traces back to 1962, when professor Ira Holmes launched it at what was then Central Florida Junior College, making it the longest consecutive-running collegiate film program in Florida, according to Ocala Style Magazine. Holmes taught humanities and social sciences at the college for six decades and directed the series itself for more than 30 years, while also spending 40 years on Ocala's historic preservation board. He died in June 2024 at age 90, and the college dedicated an Ocala campus humanities classroom in his memory that October, per the Ocala Gazette's reporting.
That classroom, in Building 8 on the CF Ocala campus, is where many of this season's 7 p.m. screenings will take place, per 352Today.com's rundown of venues. The fact that screenings still run through a room bearing his name underscores how fresh that loss remains for the college community even as the series marches toward its 65th year.
Where to Catch the Films, and What's Free
Beyond the Hamilton opener, the season includes international dramas, documentaries, family-friendly classics and a Florida film-history lecture, per 352Today.com. Titles on the slate include the 1971 Swedish film The Emigrants, the 1990 Baltimore immigrant drama Avalon, the Belgian coming-of-age road-trip comedy Come As You Are/Hasta La Vista, the 2021 Korean-American drama Minari, the 2017 South African film The Wound set in the Eastern Cape, the 1986 animated feature An American Tail, the 2023 documentary Cinema Sabaya about Palestinian and Israeli women learning filmmaking, and the 2024 Japanese-German film Perfect Days.
Regular screenings run at 2 p.m. at the Appleton Museum of Art, located at 4333 E Silver Springs Blvd. in Ocala, and at 7 p.m. at the CF Ocala campus, 3001 SW College Rd., in the Ira Holmes classroom in Building 8, according to 352Today.com's venue listing. Avalon and An American Tail will instead screen at 2 p.m. at the Historic Marion Theatre downtown. Films at the CF Ocala campus and the Historic Marion Theatre are free and open to the public, while Appleton screenings are free for museum members, film series members, and college staff and students — nonmembers pay regular museum admission.
A Downtown Landmark Joins the Lineup
The Historic Marion Theatre itself carries its own layered history. The Art Deco movie house, designed by architect Roy A. Benjamin, opened on September 11, 1941, and was restored to film and performance use after briefly operating as a science center during the 1990s, according to the Ocala Gazette. Its inclusion as a series venue adds a downtown anchor to a season that otherwise splits between the college campus and the museum.
The Appleton Museum of Art, meanwhile, opened in Ocala in 1987 with Italian travertine marble architecture and now holds a permanent collection of more than 24,000 art objects and artifacts, per Wikipedia. The museum came under the governance of the College of Central Florida in 2004, cementing the institutional tie that lets the film series use its galleries as a screening venue. Timed nicely with the season opener, the museum is offering free admission during Appleton Founder's Week, running October 13 through October 18, which honors the birth date of museum founder Arthur I. Appleton.
A Florida Film Historian and a Rediscovered Silent Classic
One of the season's standout events arrives in February, when Dr. David Morton, a lecturer at the University of Central Florida, presents Motion Picture Paradise: A History of Florida's Film and Television History at the CF Ocala campus on February 8, 2027, according to 352Today.com. Morton is the author of a 2024 book by the same title, published by the University Press of Florida, which details Florida's early 20th-century role as a major film production hub, per Florida Humanities.
The following night, February 9, Morton will give film talks accompanying screenings of The Flying Ace, a 1926 silent film produced in Jacksonville by Norman Studios. It stands as the studio's only surviving feature-length race film made with an all-Black cast, according to Norman Studios, which was a pioneer in portraying African American characters in heroic, non-stereotypical roles. The film's heroine was inspired by pioneering Black aviator Bessie Coleman, and the Librarian of Congress selected it for the National Film Registry in 2021 for its cultural and historical importance to silent-era cinema.
A Regional College With a Long Reach
The College of Central Florida, established in 1957 as Central Florida Junior College, now serves a three-county area spanning Marion, Citrus and Levy counties with an enrollment exceeding 10,000 students. The school expanded from a community college to offer bachelor's degree programs in 2010. Some films in the series may contain mature content, per 352Today.com's advisory, so attendees should check listings before bringing younger viewers.
