Finding Fellowship
The Meaning and the Movement
Finding Fellowship is a documentary that explores the founding and sustaining of the Quince Orchard community. In just three short years after being freed, three former slaves acquired land to build a church and schoolhouse. How can a community that evolved for more than 100 years carry on only in the memories of a few surviving members? There are countless Quince Orchards all across the country, communities that no longer exist on the map, not because of economic stagnation, but because of progress.
The story of Quince Orchard is personal to the film’s makers because they are descendants of this place – their family has lived here since the Civil War. But it’s relevant to the much wider community because it is part of American history.
The title Finding Fellowship is a double entendre. Fellowship is the name of the lane that two of the film’s subjects, Kisha Davis and Jason Green, grew up on. This documentary has been about actively unearthing and finding the history of the community in which they grew up and the street that they grew up on is a wonderful symbol of that community.
Jason Green,
Director and co-producer of Finding Fellowship, is a fifth-generation descendant of Quince Orchard, Maryland, Green recognizes that he would not have been afforded the opportunities he has but for the sacrifices of those forward thinking few in Quince Orchard.
Green, co-producer, Kisha Davis, MD, and creative director, Imani M. Cheers, bring us a film about the power of people coming together in a shared interest and how that can only be achieved when actively pursued. In a world where we are often told that we are irreconcilably divided, we still believe in finding fellowship, and it’s this story that gives us hope.
Dr. Kisha Davis,
A Quince Orchard, MD native, Dr. Davis received her undergraduate degree from Duke University, received her M.D. from the University of Connecticut, was Chief Resident during her residency at the University of Maryland, and earned a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Imani Cheers is an award-winning multimedia producer and Assistant Professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Preview of the Film
Help Us Preserve Quince Orchard
The church and school are designated a Historic Site in Montgomery County, MD. To help preserve both structures, their history, influence on community, and longstanding legacy, consider donating to the Site’s Preservation Project.