Queen Mother Falaka Fattah Documentary Film

By

Dr. Anne T. Sulton, Esq.

JA Senior International Correspondent

Philadelphia: On September 2, 2026, at the Cinemark University City Penn 6, Love Now Media hosted the sold-out film screening of a powerful documentary featuring Queen Mother Falaka Fattah and the House of Umoja Boystown. 

Nearly a decade in the making, from her initial idea to her finished product,  director and co-producer Jos Duncan Ase’  beautifully portrays the history of Philadelphia’s House of Umoja Boystown. This  film, documenting the peace movement begun in 1969 and led by Queen Mother Fattah and her late husband David Fattah,  was edited and co-produced by Jason Pollard.  

Accompanied by family and friends, and assisted by one of her six sons David Fattah, Jr., Queen Mother Fattah entered the theatre to a thundering ovation from the hundreds of guests fortunate enough to obtain a ticket to experience the first showing of the film authentically recounting some of her life’s amazing work in Philadelphia preventing youth gang violence. Her work, providing housing and safety to nearly 3,000 Philadelphia gang-involved youngsters, saved many young lives.

The one-hour film is remarkable in several ways. First, as it begins, the perfectly selected background music irresistibly pulls the audience into the film. It helps set the mood, preparing the audience for an enjoyable learning experience  – after all, it’s a documentary. The following upbeat tempo musical selections seamlessly connect the various portions of the documentary which spans more than a half century of Queen Mother Fattah’s life. She now has reached age 94.

Second, the film includes original interviews, and a wide variety of  video clips. Among the video clips  are  previous TV interviews, House of Umoja sponsored meetings and marches promoting peace, and President Ronald Reagan applauding the House of Umoja’s success at preventing youth gang violence. 

Third, and perhaps most important, the film shows how Queen Mother and David  Fattah developed a sophisticated theoretical model to prevent youth gang violence and then  created and implemented the most effective youth gang violence prevention strategy in the USA.  This documentary film provides a blueprint for building a successful crime prevention program. It shows through sight and sound how pressing social issues can be effectively  addressed when existing community resources are efficiently marshalled.

This film is suitable for viewing by widely diverse audiences. Among those most likely to benefit professionally from seeing this film are current employees of local police departments, juvenile courts, and community-based crime prevention initiatives. These entities are on the front line dealing with the causes, consequences, and prevention of youth gang violence.

College and university students studying in the fields of criminology, criminal justice, and/or juvenile justice also would benefit from viewing this documentary. These academic programs focus on the causes, impacts, and prevention of criminal conduct and juvenile delinquency. This film provides insights into the causes of and provides guidance on how to effectively prevent youth gang violence. 

 Following the film screening, film director and co-producer Ase’, Queen  Mother Fattah, Hakeem Starkey, Fattah’s grandson Anthony Bannister Fattah,  and others participated in a wonderfully vibrant  audience question/answer session. Among the topics discussed was Queen Mother Fattah’s contact with the United Nations and replication of her youth gang violence prevention strategy in Los Angeles, Portland OR, and Belfast, Ireland. The event ended with Queen Mother Fattah taking photos with audience members and autographing the collectible film posters.