ST. LOUIS – It was hard to catch Rep. Bruce Franks Jr. over the last year without a film crew nearby. The resulting film, St. Louis Superman, premiered at the Big Sky Documentary Festival in St. Louis on Wednesday, February 20.
The short film heavily features Franks’ own son and Franks’ bill for Christopher Harris Day, signed into law by Gov. Mike Parson last year.
Film director Smriti Mundhra stumbled upon Franks through the news and social media and reached out to the St. Louis state representative. “I went to St. Louis, we met, and we just dove in,” Mundhra said in an interview on Tootell and Nuanez.
“I just wanted to use the tools I had to amplify Bruce as a person in the mission that he’s on,” Mundhra said. “[Franks] has an incredible gift for communicating. Not only is he a battle rapper, but he is an interesting story and his background and how he came into politics. The more I got to know him, the more layers revealed themselves about him and his journey.”
Mundhra said she hopes the film will amplify Franks and empower other community leaders to know they can also make a difference.
Rachael Herndon was the editor at The Missouri Times and also produced This Week in Missouri Politics, published Missouri Times Magazine, and co-hosted the #MoLeg podcast. She joined The Missouri Times in 2014, returning to political reporting after working as a campaign and legislative staffer.
Rachael studied at the University of Missouri – Columbia. She lives in Jefferson City with her husband, Brandon, and their two children.