Filmon Mebrahtu makes films that tell the stories of African immigrants’ lives in Philadelphia, and their experiences dealing with American culture. From 2002-2004 he participated in the Independent Television Service (ITVS) Mentorship Program working with award-winning filmmaker Louis Massiah.
Mebrahtu’s most recent films include Stop Killing Taxi Drivers (2001) and Rencontrer (To Meet) (2004) and have been screened at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Northwest Folklife Film Festival and Northwest Festival of African Cinema, Philadelphia Film Festival’s Festival of Independents, Prince Music Theatre, University of Pennsylvania’s African Study Center, Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, and the Eritrean Film Festival in Washington, D.C. His work has also been broadcast on Philadelphia WHYY and WYBE television.
Dinka Diaries (2005) produced in association with ITVS, NBPC and co-produced with WYBE, is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Filmon is a recipient of the prestigious Pew Fellowship Award in 2005 for the research and development of his new work Emigre that chronicles the experiences of two Senegalese Muslim immigrant families over a year period – one in Paris, France the other in Philadelphia.
