Russellville native’s documentary to air

“Not My Son” focuses on homicide in Birmingham’s African American community, a subject that was heavy on the mind of Cameron.

“Dwight was the one who originated the idea for this documentary,” Jolly said. “He was interested in the status of African Americans in the community and homicide has been a problem in Birmingham, so he wanted to explore that more.”

The documentary profiles Carolyn Johnson-Turner, whose son was a murder victim.

Since her son’s death in 2003, Carolyn has become a community activist, tirelessly fighting for justice for her son and for other young victims of violence.

As part of her mission, Carolyn founded Parents Against Violence, a support group for families who have lost children to homicide.

The documentary spends a year in the lives of these families, bringing attention to an issue that has become largely neglected by the general public. Its completion is the result of a collaboration by the University of Alabama Center for Public Television & Radio and the Parents Against Violence Foundation.

“I really feel that by telling this story we can bring awareness, on some level, to the violence that is happening all around us,” Jolly said. “These stories often do not get told but I believe they need to.”

Jolly got involved with “Not My Son” on the ground level. Cameron was her professor while she was still a student at the University of Alabama when she approached him about participating in any upcoming documentary projects. As it turned out, “Not My Son” was the next project he had planned.

Jolly and Cameron also worked together at the Center for Public Television & Radio. Jolly started out on the project as Cameron’s assistant and eventually worked her way up to editing and co-producing the documentary.

Jolly said that she became interested in documentaries after deciding that the career path she had previously chosen was not something she wanted to pursue.

“I graduated from Florida International University with a degree in dance and I danced with a modern dance company for several years there in Miami,” Jolly said. “I was only doing performance and I began to feel like I wanted to do something that would benefit other people and not just myself.”

Jolly said she has always enjoyed the arts, so when she began looking for a different career path, she knew she wanted to stay within that area of study.

“I wanted an artistic career that contributed to the community in some way,” Jolly said. “Documentaries are important because they are an educational tool. They bring about awareness to important issues but they also help the people who are involved in these different situations.”

“Not My Son” has received several awards and recognitions including Best Feature Documentary at Philadelphia’s Urban Suburban Film Festival; the Birmingham Museum of Urban Art Recognition Award; the Director’s Choice for Social Relevant Subject at Nashville’s International Film Festival; and finalist in the Documentary category at Norfolk, Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic Black Film Festival.

Jolly, who the daughter of John and Jeanette Jolly of Russellville, is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree from Temple University in Philadelphia and says she hopes to be working on another documentary project within the next year.