For three years, Oliver Franklin chased a story he believes belongs to every American, not just the ones who already know it.

The result, Becoming American: Philadelphia’s Story, traces African Americans’ fight for freedom, citizenship and belonging through the lens of the city’s own history, writes Ryan Hughes for CBS News Philadelphia. 

The new documentary, created and executive produced by Franklin, makes its case just in time for Juneteenth.

The film opens in the era of William Penn and follows the threads of free and enslaved Black Philadelphians through the Civil War, showing how their efforts didn’t just witness the nation’s founding ideals. They helped build and challenge them also.

“When I started making the film, I realized it was truly the American story, that it’s a film for everyone,” Franklin said.

That’s the throughline he wants audiences to walk away with: a story rooted in the complicated, still-unfinished pursuit of freedom and full citizenship, brought to life by local scholars, artists, students and institutions who spent three years building it together.

Franklin isn’t aiming for a single screening and a quiet exit. 

He hopes the documentary makes its way into schools, colleges, churches and community centers across the region.

This timing lines up with Philadelphia’s own countdown to America’s 250th birthday.

The film became available nationwide June 15, and Philadelphians can see it in person at a free Juneteenth screening June 19 at the Philadelphia Film Society.

As Franklin put it: “America is a country that’s always becoming.”

For more of an understanding on how Philadelphia’s Black history continues to shape the nation’s future, read the full story at CBS Philadelphia.

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