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Former MOVE members will premiere their new film at the BlackStar Film Festival

In 2018, after spending 40 years incarcerated, Mike and Debbie Davis were ready to start living productive lives. They moved in with their son, Mike Africa Jr., who hadn’t yet been born when the couple — then 22-year-old MOVE members Mike and Debbie Africa — were sentenced for the 1978 murder of a Philadelphia police officer. Debbie found a job as a cashier at ShopRite while Mike started working in maintenance at the Chester Housing Department. Within the year, the Davises married and moved into an apartment of their own. "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," Mike said in an interview with The Inquirer. “So, we decided to make a film,” Debbie chimed in. “To spotlight returning citizens who are doing good things.” “A New Voice,” the 16-minute short film directed by the Davises, will premiere on Friday, Aug. 1 at this year’s BlackStar Film Festival.
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