40 YEARS A PRISONER documentary trailer from Black filmmaker/artist/entrepreneur, Tommy Oliver

40 Years a Prisoner is set in Tommy’s hometown Philly and chronicles one of the most controversial shootouts in American history: the 1978 police raid on the radical, back-to-nature group MOVE by the Philadelphia Police Department. Using eyewitness accounts and archival footage of the confrontation, the film illuminates the story of a city grappling with racial tension and police brutality with alarming topicality and modern-day relevance. Mike Africa Jr., the son of two MOVE members imprisoned for the death of a police officer that day, has committed his life to fighting for the release of the parents he’s has only ever known through prison walls. THE PAST IS PROLOGUE – THIS IS MEANT TO BE SEEN THROUGH THE LENS OF TODAY – 40 YEARS HENCE WE ARE STILL DEALING WITH THE SAME ISSUES.

2.)   Tommy is producer, cinematographer, director and co-editor – mostly out of necessity and because it served the storytelling. He needed a small footprint to go to the prison to visit Mike Africa Jr’s parents and because it was just him and a camera, he really got these city officials and cops to TALK – and in telling their war stories, to contradict themselves on camera.

3.)   Along the way, his friends Common and John Legend came on board as EPs and introduced him to fellow Philadelphians, The Roots, who provide original music for the doc.

4.)   Tommy is a gifted photographer who has been documenting the BLM protests in LA and lately his hometown of Philadelphia, The Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture will exhibit his photos.