After spending 40 years in incarceration, Philadelphia couple Mike and Debbie Davis are turning their lives around as filmmakers, writes Elizabeth Wellington for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
While watching a news broadcast one day, the couple saw a story that framed formerly incarcerated individuals as unworthy of getting second chances.
“That just wasn’t true,” Mike Davis said. “There are 600,000 returning citizens who come home each year. Most are trying to restart their lives and make positive differences in their communities.”
That story became the catalyst for their next chapter.
Debbie Davis noted they decided to make a film to spotlight returning citizens who are doing positive things.
The Davises are the directors behind A New Voice, the new 16-minute short film that just made its premiere at this year’s BlackStar Film Festival.
The short film features several prominent returning citizens.
In 2019 while attending a community speaking event, the Davises became acquainted with filmmaker Jennifer Bennett. She introduced them to Scribe Video Center founder Louis Massiah.
From there, they enrolled in the center’s 14-week filmmaking class and filmed A New Voice in 2021.
As life-long activists, the film allows the Davises to take on a new form of activism, showing how the formerly incarcerated can still live well-rounded and upstanding lives.
Read more about Mike and Debbie Davis’ story and new film in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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