In 2015, Daphene McFerren, the executive director of the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis, and Nathaniel Ball, the institute’s assistant director, decided to focus on Ida B. Wells. 

“Daphene and I looked at Ida B. Wells and said, ‘Somebody needs to look into the story in more detail.’ What was her story in Memphis? How did Memphis influence her?” Ball said.

The result of that examination? McFerren, Ball, and Fabian Matthews of Spotlight Productions are the leading producers of “Facing Down Storms: Memphis and the Making of Ida B. Wells.”

Ida B. Wells observance day announced at memorial groundbreaking

The documentary premiered in April of this year, and it will be screened at Malco’s Studio on the Square Thursday, July 21, and Thursday, July 28. 

The production includes interviews with Wendi C. Thomas, editor and publisher of MLK50; Miriam DeCosta-Willis, the late civil rights activist; and others familiar with the legacy of Ida B. Wells. Also highlighted throughout the film are female activists such as Julia Hooks, musician and grandmother of Benjamin L. Hooks; Memphis teacher Virginia Broughton; and Mary Eliza Church Terrell, the co-founder of the National Association of Colored Women and the daughter of Robert R. Church.

“I want people to see (Wells) as a real person,” Ball said. “I also want to see Memphis as a character in the development of Ida B. Wells because she’s not coming from thin air. She was working with other activists in Memphis and honing her craft.”

With the recent Ida B. Wells observance day announcement, the unveilings of the Ida B. Wells street sign in March and the Ida B. Wells plaza and monument last year, the film works to showcase why these recent initiatives have taken place.

Fourth Street becomes Ida B. Wells Street

“Our mission is teaching, studying and promoting civil rights and social change,” Ball said. “And as part of that mission, we create documentaries, films and other multimedia projects that teach about the civil rights movements, heroes, shakers and movers.” 

One of the challenges the producers faced while creating the documentary was a lack of film footage and even photographic images. 

To combat this, some of the action was re-enacted with actors from Hattiloo Theatre and Playhouse on the Square; Danika Norfleet portrayed Wells in some scenes. 

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Leaders of The Lynching Sites Project of Memphis hopes the documentary will also lead people to question the city’s history. 

“Why was a group of American citizens driven to terrorize another group without fear of repercussion?” said Richard Watkins, board president of LSP of Memphis. “People need to learn this now more than ever because many societal systems and governmental structures that failed these American citizens in the past are still failing us today.”

The producers of “Facing Down Storms” are also asking people who attend the screening of the film to review it afterward; the feedback will be used to assist the documentary team in making final edits. The producers hope to submit the documentary to festivals and streaming platforms within the next two months. 

Viewers can purchase tickets for the showings here.