LOUIS MASSIAH
BIO
Louis Massiah is a documentary filmmaker and the founder of the Scribe Video Center in Philadelphia, He has developed production methodologies that assist first time makers author their own stories, including the Precious Places Community History project, a collection of 150 documentaries (2005-); Muslim Voices of Philadelphia (2014); The Great Migration – A City Transformed and The Tenants of Lenapehocking in the Age of Magnets (2026).
Massiah’s documentaries include The Bombing of Osage Avenue (1986), Cecil B. Moore (1987), W.E.B. Du Bois – A Biography in Four Voices (1996), two films for the Eyes on the Prize II series, A is for Anarchist, B is for Brown (2002) and TCB – The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing (2025). The documentary has its Spanish premiere at the Official Section of AFRIKALDIA 2026.
FILMOGRAPHY
Tenants of Lenapehocking in the Age of Magnets (2026). Documentary (for Scribe Video Center). (85’). Director/Producer.
TCB: The Coni Cade Bambara School of Organizing (2025). Documentary. (105’) Co-director/Producer.
The Interrogative Portraits: Why Black Film? – A Conversation with Pearl Bowser (2023). Documentary short. (19’). Director/Producer.
The Interrogative Portraits: Why I see: Donald Camp (2021). Documentary short. (18’). Director/Producer.
The Interrogative Portraits: How to Make a Flower: La Méthode MOBO (2020). Documentary short. (16’). Director/Producer.
Precious Places Community History Project (2005-26): 149 programs x 11’. (For Scribe Video Center). Executive Producer/Artistic Director.
The Great Migration – A City Transformed (2016). Five works (for Scribe Video Center. Directed by Julie Dash (Standing at the Scratch Line), Kevin Jerome Everson (Eason), Tina Morton (When We Came Up Here), Mendi+Keith Obadike (Sonic Migration), and Lonnie Graham (Ancestral Migration). Executive Producer/Artistic Director.
Muslim Voices of Philadelphia (2013-14). 11 programs x 14’ (for Scribe Video Center). Executive Producer/Artistic Director.
Gifts (2014). Documentary short. (11’). Director/Producer.
The Rule of Law Project: Interview with Daniel Heyman (2012). Documentary. (90’). Director/Executive Producer/Producer.
The President’s House: Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a Nation (2010). Five video and audio installations (commissioned by the National Park Service and the City of Philadelphia). (56’). Director/Executive Producer/Producer.
Community Visions (1990 – 2007). 83 programs x 13’ (for Scribe Video Center). Project Creator/Artistic Director.
Towards Inclusion: Diversity at Penn (2006). Documentary short. (20’). Director/Producer. Louise Alone Thompson Patterson: In Her Own Words (2002). Documentary short. (17’). Producer/Director.
A is for Anarchist, B is for Brown (2002). Documentary. (58’). Producer/Director.
911 Moments: Voices From the Inside (2001). Short (for ITVS for PBS). (1’). Director/Producer/Editor.
911 Moments: Roots of Islam (2001). Short (for ITVS for PBS). (1’). Director/Producer/Editor.
911 Moments: Flag (2001). Short (for ITVS for PBS). (1’). Director/Producer/Editor.
The Favorite Poem Project – William Maxwell (2001). Interview and performance for the PBS’ News Hour with Jim Lehrer. (8’). Director/Producer/Editor.
The Favorite Poem Project – Susan Hambleton (2001). Interview and performance for the PBS’ News Hour with Jim Lehrer. (8’). Director/Producer/Editor.
W.E.B. Du Bois – A Biography in Four Voices (1997). A four- part portrait (118’). Director/Producer.
Eyes on the Prize II: A Nation of Law? (1990). Documentary (for Blackside, Inc., for PBS). (58’). Co- director/Co-producer/Co-writer.
Eyes on the Prize II: Power! (1990). Documentary (for Blackside, Inc., for PBS). (58’). Co- director/Co-producer/Co-writer.
May Day Takeover (1989). Documentary short (for Scribe Video Center). (12’). Director/Producer/Editor.
The Taking of One Liberty Place (1988). Documentary short (for the National Union of the Homeless). (8’). Director/Producer/Editor.
We the People: Keith Haring Portrait (1987). Documentary short. (6’). Producer/Director.
Digging Dinosaurs (1987). Documentary short (for WHYY-TV Philadelphia and PBS). (28’). Director/Producer.
Cecil B. Moore (1987). Documentary (for WHYY-TV Philadelphia). (58’). Director/Producer.
The Bombing of Osage Avenue (1987). Documentary (for PBS). (58’). Director/Producer.
Trash! (1985). Documentary (for WHYY-TV Philadelphia and PBS). (58’). Director/Producer.
My Own Boss (1984). Documentary short (for WHYY-TV-12 Philadelphia). (22’). Director/Producer/Writer.
Bolt of Lightning (1984). Documentary short (for WHYY-TV- 12 Philadelphia). (28’) Director/Producer.
Miami Journal: The Haitian Refugees (1982). Graduate documentary short at MIT. (28’). Director/Producer/Editor.
Words and Works: Three Artists from the Studio Museum of Harlem (1980). Documentary short (for Augusta Savage Gallery at Univ. of Massachusetts -Amherst). (20’). Director/ Camera/Editor.
Exercise: swim2, pebble, martyr, remember (1975). Experimental 16mm short film. (15’). Director/Writer.