The Credible Messenger Film Festival, 2022

Our first-ever Credible Messenger Film Festival took place at the Cope House at Awbury Arboretum in the Germantown section Philadelphia in late August, 2022. We screened every short documentary we have supported to date, each followed by a panel discussion including some of the community journalists, producers and professional partners behind each production as well as some of the people who appeared. The events were both produced hosted by our Credible Messenger Newsroom Liaison Oronde McClain and Community Engagement Manager Maxayn Gooden. Photographs by Kriston Jae Bethel and Allie Ippolito. Watch the video: Inside the 2022 Credible Messenger Film Festival

About the Credible Messenger Reporting Project

The Credible Messenger Reporting Project trains, compensates and empowers people impacted by gun violence in Philadelphia to produce and distribute news reports on its root causes, their lived experience and possible solutions from the community perspective, with guidance from professional journalists.

About the films

They Don’t Care About Us, or Do They?
• Credible Messenger: Oronde McClain
• Credible Messenger Video Producer: Brett Williams
• Professional Partner: Cherri Gregg
• This documentary was produced by gun violence survivor Oronde McClain and includes a series of three intimate interviews addressing their their experiences.
> Watch it now.

The Path Forward
• Credible Messenger: Dorothy Johnson-Speight
• Professional Partner: Denise James
• Panelists: Ruth Donnelly, Aleida García and Vernetta Santiful
• Four mothers who have lost sons to gun violence in Philadelphia share intimate experiences from first getting the news to learning how to survive.
> Watch it now.

The Lasting Impact: Emotional Scars that Gun Violence Leaves Behind
• Credible Messenger: Maxayne Gooden
• Credible Messenger Video Producer: Taj Devore-Bay
• Professional Partner: Chris Hepp
• This film addresses the long-lasting emotional trauma that gun violence leaves behind on families and friends years later.
> Watch it now.

Numb to Normalcy: Gun Violence in Philadelphia
• Credible Messengers: Yolanda Brutley-Dugger, Taylor Dixon-Moore and Ahmad Mitchell
• Credible Messenger Video Producers: Alisha Laws and Aapril Rice
• Professional Partner: Tamara “P.O.C.” Russell
• Three students from Community College of Philadelphia interview each other in this discussion of gun violence and possible solutions in our city.
> Watch it now.

Never Ending Emotions
• Credible Messenger: Kimberly Kamara
• Credible Messenger Video Producer: Gregory Greer
• Professional Partner: Erin Jay Flynn
• This series of interviews addresses the emotional rollercoaster of life-changing events following the murder of one’s family member as well as possible solutions.
> Watch it now.

These Philly Gun Violence Activists Are Not Giving Up On Saving Lives
• Credible Messenger Community Journalist: Brandon “B. McFly” Chastang
• Credible Messenger Video Producer: Chris Mansfield
• Professional Partner: Sammy Caiola
• Brandon Chastang, better know as B. McFly, interviews gun violence prevention activists and other thought leaders in series of videos on gun violence and prevention.
> Watch it now. Segments: 1, 2, 3, 4.