Whose Streets By Sabaah Folayan And Damon Davis

The 2017 documentary Whose Streets directed by Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis was a critical piece that demonstrated the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement. The film depicts the 2014 Ferguson protests following the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. This film was unique of its time because it highlighted an issue that was nationally contentious while providing a voice for the members of the black community in Ferguson. Much of the media coverage during this time was biased against the protests, referring to the event as the “Ferguson riots.” The media also utilized video clips that portrayed the protests as violent, rather than a reactionary event that catapulted an important social justice movement. Almost six years after

Furthermore, the filmmakers utilized pathos in this documentary where they selected a few subjects and allowed the audience to intimately see their lives. One subject, Brittany Ferrell, was a 25-year-old mother and nursing student turned activist. The film eventually ends with Brittany proclaiming that “If there is going to be any change, it starts with our children” (Whose Streets). One of the most compelling strategies the filmmakers utilize to convey their message is through editing and footage. Editing is often an overlooked feature of filmmaking, yet the editing in this documentary is a crucial tactic in its storytelling. Because this event was such a grassroots issue, much of the footage comes from cellphone cameras and media clips. The cellphone footage is important because of the perspective and validity it implies. If these protests happened instantly and the only option to document a moment is with a cellphone camera by someone who isn’t a filmmaker, there is a heavy implication that these protests were widely