Recently published for AbleNews, Lawrence Carter Long delves into how he came across "The Flying Ace" and the impact that the film has the opportunity to leave on, in the wake of its legacy --in partnership with: Indiana University:Cinema and Foundation, The Black Film Centre and Archive, & Smithsonian Folklife. 

It started with an embarrassing realization.

“How did I not know about this?”

I’d built a career of sorts introducing audiences to obscure but notable films about disabled people and disability communities. Spearheaded Turner Classic Movies’ first disability film showcase with Inclusion in the Arts in 2012. Four showcases later, I’d introduced films like Titicut Follies, El Cochecito, and The Crippled Masters to new audiences. And spotlighted Inside Moves, Harold Russell’s second feature, made a whopping 34 years after his debut in The Best Years of Our Lives. That performance earned him two historic Academy Awards for the same role. A first for any actor, disabled or not. You’d think two Oscars might have earned him a second film a little sooner.

Sometimes, those introductions took on a life of their own. Screening The Crippled Masters on TCM led to Film Masters giving it a 2K restoration. I even wrote the liner notes. A film I’d watched on a copy of a copy of a VHS dub was getting a fresh start. Fifteen-year-old me would have been floored.

Finding what had fallen through film history’s gaps had practically become a second job. One I enjoyed and prided myself on.

History, however, had some humbling homework in store.

While preparing a July 2024 Disability Pride Month program with my dear friend, filmmaker Jim LeBrecht, and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures team, a colleague brought The Flying Ace to our attention. A 1926 silent adventure with an all-Black cast, featuring amputee actor and stunt performer Steve “Peg” Reynolds.

Say wha–?

The Library of Congress had preserved it. I found a copy. There was Reynolds, lighting up the silver screen, stealing scene after scene. Nearly a century ago. Somehow, we’d missed it.

I’d finished watching, but the film wasn’t done with me.

Planning my July 2025 TCM showcase, my first for ReelAbilities, I discovered most peers hadn’t heard of it either.

Now a different question nagged. What were we going to do about it?

Behold! An opportunity!

In December 2025, I sent the email equivalent of a cold call to Dr. Novotny Lawrence, director of Indiana University’s Black Film Center & Archive.

“Great name!” I began. Somebody had to say it.

“I’m writing because I have an idea,” I continued. “It isn’t fully formed yet, but it won’t leave me alone either. I’ve learned to listen when those things beckon.”

What beckoned was a chance to spotlight disability representation and Black film history in the same frame. BFCA brought scholarship and the Richard E. Norman and Race Filmmaking Collection.

Mostly, I brought questions.

Then we compared notes.

A gap in my knowledge became a collaboration. Our first pillar: Partnership.

Those conversations grew into ReelAbilities Rediscover. Cover something and you can hide it. Add a little “dis” and suddenly you’re revealing something new, unknown, or ignored. Funny what a difference those three letters can make. Especially when we give them something to do.

We’ll pilot the idea October 7 at Indiana University Cinema in Bloomington. Others have screened The Flying Ace. We began by comparing notes. Now, thanks to the Filomen M. D’Agostino Greenberg Music School, we’ll be hearing a few. The school’s star pupil, Grammy-winning blind musician Matthew Whitaker, will create and perform a new, partially improvised live score with saxophonist and FMDG Executive Director Robert Derke.

Bridge Multimedia’s audio description uses two distinct voices: One describing the action, another reading the original intertitles. Reynolds’ movement, mischief, and ingenuity deserve a presentation where all can appreciate his stunts. ASL interpretation and live captions will accompany all conversations before and after the screening.

That brings us to our second pillar: Presentation. If the movie is the anchor, the presentation is how we bring everyone onboard. Each partner helps shape the experience by bringing something unique to both the process and the event born from it. Together, we’re building something none of us could do alone.

A nation’s 250th birthday is a good time to ask who is in the picture. Our collaboration with the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage as part of America 250, brings disability culture, Black film history, and musical traditions into the same frame. Turning a footnote into a close-up. Reynolds was there all along. The rest of us are still catching up. Perhaps reintroducing him will also help us explore other histories we didn’t know we shared.

Wise folks call that perspective.

There’s a certain poetry in piloting ReelAbilities Rediscover with The Flying Ace. A century-old film, a new venture, and lessons we can only learn midflight. Homework complete. Now comes the education.

Daunting? Sure. But what began with “How did I not know about this?” has become “What can we discover together?”

Sometimes the best trips include unknown destinations and unexpected detours.

Learn more about ReelAbilities ReDIScover and The Flying Ace project - visit https://reelabilities.org/the-flying-ace