Yolonda Johnson-Young

Yolonda Johnson-Young is a Philadelphia native director and filmmaker. She began learning documentary filmmaking in 2017 after receiving a full scholarship to attend Scribe Video Center's inaugural Film Scholar program, supported by the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences.

In 2013, she earned a degree at Pierce College in entrepreneurship, and through her hard work and dedication; she merited induction into Delta Mu Delta, the National Honor Society for business degrees holders. Yolonda also received both the 2018 Leeway Art and Change Grant and a 2019 Window of Opportunity grant to further her filmmaking efforts.

In 2018, Good Pitch Local (GPL) Philadelphia, a Doc Society event, invited Yolonda to pitch her first short documentary, "Finding Elijah."

"Finding Elijah" (2019, 25 mins); is a multiple award winning short documentary that has screened in over 20 festivals since August 2019 and in 2020 made its regional broadcast premiere on WHYY TV, Philadelphia's public broadcast station.

Website
https://www.findingelijah-themovie.com
Grantee type
Filmmaker

Grants Awarded to Yolonda Johnson-Young

$20,000 - Awarded December 2020

Grantees
Yolonda Johnson-Young
Project
Another Life
Description

The 2020 film grant will support "Another Life." The film explores the childhood experiences of the filmmaker and her family in the Federal Witness Protection Program (which provides for the security and safety of government witnesses). Johnson-Young crafts a journey of discovery using memory, personal photographs, archival footage, and interviews that puts the pieces of her life back together.

Related Projects

Yolonda Johnson-Young

Another Life

Film

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