Safiya Songhai wins top award in the "Without Boundaries: A Behind the Screens Film Festival"

November 17, 2025

Safiya Songhai wins top award in the "Without Boundaries: A Behind the Screens Film Festival"

November 17, 2025

Reynolds School of Journalism Assistant Professor of Video Production and Immersive Media Melissa McClinton, who produces films under the name Safiya Songhai, was a finalist in the "Without Boundaries: A Behind the Screens Film Festival," which announced the winner at its award ceremony on Oct. 22 and Oct. 23, 2025 in New York City. 

Of the 170 films screened at the festival, Safiya Songhai ( AKA Melissa McClinton) was awarded the grand prize, the Unbound Voice Award for her film.

The professor's film "Interception: Jayne Kennedy American Sportscaster" has won fifty other awards and has been accepted into 170 film festivals. The film chronicles the story of Jayne Kennedy Overton, the first Black female sportscaster in American television who debuted on CBS's "NFL Today" in 1978. The film chronicles how Kennedy prevailed against racial workplace discrimination and astonishing wage disparity while gaining ground as a sportscasting icon.

Melissa McClinton, MFA is an Emmy nominated television producer, and a graduate of New York University Graduate Film program and Howard University's Mass Communications program.

See more University recognitions

November 17, 2025

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