Exclusive: Producer Tommy Oliver On Directing ‘40 Years A Prisoner’ Documentary

Making its debut tonight on HBO after traveling the festival circuit is the feature documentary 40 YEARS A PRISONER, directed by producer Tommy Oliver.

The film 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 not widely known 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 finding out the truth about what really happened and fighting for the release of the parents that he has only ever known through prison walls.

The film will debut on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max.

An official selection of the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, AFI Fest and DOC NYC, 40 YEARS A PRISONER was directed, produced and shot by Tommy Oliver (“1982”) through his company, Confluential Films, with music by The Roots. It was executive produced by Common, Derek Dudley, and Shelby Stone for Freedom Road Productions, John Legend, Mike Jackson, and Ty Stiklorius for Get Lifted Film Co., and Keith Gionet andAdam Platzner for Confluential Films, and Kelly Ryan, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. The film was edited by Joe Kehoe and Tommy Oliver.

Oliver is a filmmaker who has produced a number of projects including the Sundance Film Festival winner Kinyarwanda, OWN’s docu-series Black Love and directed the film 1982, which starred Hill Harper and Sharon Leal. BlackFilmandTV.com’s Wilson Morales recently spoke with Oliver about stepping behind the camera as a director to this amazing documentary.