Synopsis

US, 2017; 103 min.

An urgent and enthralling chronicle of Ferguson, Missouri after the murder of Michael Brown, Jr., Whose Streets? follows the passion and commitment of the residents who took to the city’s streets in the wake of the tragedy. With extraordinary access and startling footage of the escalating clashes between protestors and police, activists-turned-filmmakers Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis go beyond the news clips to paint an extraordinarily intimate and honest portrait of suffering, injustice and the individuals who had the resolve to fight back. “Outstanding and incendiary” (The Guardian) and “a prime artifact of our freshly divisive racial moment” (Variety), Whose Streets? isn’t just a stirring anthem for black power and self-determination, but a rallying cry against authoritarianism everywhere. As the film’s demonstrators intone, “It is our duty to fight for our freedom; it is our duty to win.” Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

director bios

Sabaah is an award-winning storyteller who uses written and visual media to bring a fresh perspective to the urgent questions of our time. A Los Angeles native, she has thrived in vastly different environments, from South Central LA to the Upper West Side. Her outlook on social change is both inclusive and unapologetic. She attended Columbia University as a premedical student and graduated with a degree in biology. Outside-the-box thinking and passion for social good then drew her to community organizing. She honed strategic planning skills in the non-profit and grassroots sectors before becoming a filmmaker.

Sabaah made her directorial debut at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival with Whose Streets?, which chronicles the experiences of activists living in Ferguson, Missouri when Michael Brown Jr. was killed. The film has been supported by the Sundance Documentary Film Program, Tribeca Film Institute, Ford Foundation, MacArthur and more.

Following the film's release, she plans to continue writing, directing, and producing documentary and narrative work that challenges the status quo. She is especially interested in creating episodic content for digital and television broadcast. 

Damon Davis is a multi-media American artist, musician and filmmaker based in St. Louis, Missouri. His 2014 public art installation "All Hands on Deck" has been collected in the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He is also a founder of Far-Fetched, a St. Louis-based artist collective, and co-director of Whose Streets?, a documentary on the Ferguson unrest following police officer Darren Wilson's fatal shooting of Michael Brown. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017.