The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) has set its lineup for the 2020 virtual edition of the fest which runs August 21-30. In addition, IMDb will simulcast The Best of the ABFF Awards Ceremony on its homepage on closing night.
The online fest will bring the energy and magic of the live fest as it spotlights the best of independent Black cinema, studio premieres, conversations and panels, along with virtual networking events. ABFF will also introduce the inaugural John Singleton Award for Best First Feature for a director of African descent.
Of the 90 films featured in this year’s fest, 90% of the submissions are from Black filmmakers, 70% are first time filmmakers and approximately 40% are women.
“The more than 90 films in this year’s festival are the work of a group of powerful and passionate storytellers who reflect the diversity of voices in our industry,” said Jeff Friday, founder and CEO ABFF Ventures.
The online fest will bring the energy and magic of the live fest as it spotlights the best of independent Black cinema, studio premieres, conversations and panels, along with virtual networking events. ABFF will also introduce the inaugural John Singleton Award for Best First Feature for a director of African descent.
Of the 90 films featured in this year’s fest, 90% of the submissions are from Black filmmakers, 70% are first time filmmakers and approximately 40% are women.
“The more than 90 films in this year’s festival are the work of a group of powerful and passionate storytellers who reflect the diversity of voices in our industry,” said Jeff Friday, founder and CEO ABFF Ventures.
- 7/23/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Fox 2000’s The Hate U Give has been selected as the closing night film at the 22nd annual Urbanworld Film Festival, which runs from September 19-23 in New York. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion led by Ava DuVernay with director George Tillman Jr. and stars Amandla Stenberg and Algee Smith in attendance.
In addition, Steve McQueen’s Viola Davis-starring heist thriller, Widows has been added to the fest’s screening lineup, as well as the Bet original film Running Out of Time, and Smallfoot, the Warner Bros animated film that features the voices of Channing Tatum, James Corden, Zendaya, Common, LeBron James, Danny DeVito, Gina Rodriguez, and Yara Shahidi.
The festival will also be celebrating the 30th anniversal of the John Landis-directed cult classic Coming to America with a special spotlight screening of the film Friday, September 21 and a Q&A moderated...
In addition, Steve McQueen’s Viola Davis-starring heist thriller, Widows has been added to the fest’s screening lineup, as well as the Bet original film Running Out of Time, and Smallfoot, the Warner Bros animated film that features the voices of Channing Tatum, James Corden, Zendaya, Common, LeBron James, Danny DeVito, Gina Rodriguez, and Yara Shahidi.
The festival will also be celebrating the 30th anniversal of the John Landis-directed cult classic Coming to America with a special spotlight screening of the film Friday, September 21 and a Q&A moderated...
- 9/12/2018
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Universal Pictures’ “Night School,” starring Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish, will open the 22nd annual Urbanworld Film Festival.
“Night School” is one of more than 60 films and TV shows being screened at the fest — an annual showcase of diverse culture — including the debut of the Fox show “Rel.” “Get Out’s” Lil Rel Howery stars in the series and will take part in a Q&A following the screening at New York City’s AMC Empire 25.
HBO will also screen two spotlight selections: first-time filmmaker Rudy Valdez’s “The Sentence,” a documentary about mandatory minimum sentencing, and Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown’s “United Skates,” a doc about some of America’s last standing roller rinks.
Passes for the festival, which runs from Sept. 19 to Sept. 23, are available at the Urbanworld website, and tickets for official selections and spotlights will be available in September.
Here’s the full list of...
“Night School” is one of more than 60 films and TV shows being screened at the fest — an annual showcase of diverse culture — including the debut of the Fox show “Rel.” “Get Out’s” Lil Rel Howery stars in the series and will take part in a Q&A following the screening at New York City’s AMC Empire 25.
HBO will also screen two spotlight selections: first-time filmmaker Rudy Valdez’s “The Sentence,” a documentary about mandatory minimum sentencing, and Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown’s “United Skates,” a doc about some of America’s last standing roller rinks.
Passes for the festival, which runs from Sept. 19 to Sept. 23, are available at the Urbanworld website, and tickets for official selections and spotlights will be available in September.
Here’s the full list of...
- 8/28/2018
- by Nate Nickolai
- Variety Film + TV
“Jitters” might be the name of Otoja Abit’s film directorial debut, but it’s a notion he shouldn’t be feeling with big names behind his short film. “Jitters” will be shown as part of the Maryland International Film Festival-Hagerstown at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 28, at the Historic Maryland Theatre in Hagerstown, Md. The film festival runs Friday, April 27, through Sunday, April 29. The 13-minute film tells the story of a man (played by Abit) who minutes before his wedding, locks himself away in the back of a church with his best man (Walker Hare). Recalling the women of his
First-time Filmmaker has ‘Jitters’ at Maryland International Film Festival-Hagerstown...
First-time Filmmaker has ‘Jitters’ at Maryland International Film Festival-Hagerstown...
- 4/24/2018
- by Crystal Schelle
- TVovermind.com
Read More: Roland Emmerich For The All-Time Gay Hall of Shame In what appears to be a last ditch effort to drum up some excitement around Roland Emmerich's disastrously maligned "Stonewall," distributor Roadside Attractions has released another clip from the drama, this one ripped straight from the violent confrontation between the riot and a menacing police force. Emmerich's distorted version of events centers the riots around Danny Winters (Jeremy Irvine), who is forced to leave behind friends and loved ones when he is kicked out of his parents' home and flees to New York City. Alone in Greenwich Village, he befriends Ray (Jonny Beauchamp) and a group of street kids who soon introduce him to the local watering hole The Stonewall Inn. Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Otoja Abit, Vladimir Alexis and Ron Perlman co-star. "Stonewall" is now playing in select theaters. Watch the latest clip above. Watch: Mourn the Loss...
- 9/25/2015
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Hole in the Wall: Emmerich Butchers Historical Moment with Whitewashed Overcoat
On June 28, 1969, a group of gay men and women took a stand against police brutality following a raid on the Stonewall Inn, a bar in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan. The event sparked a series of violent demonstrations by members of the Lgbt community around the period, and it’s considered the birth of the gay liberation movement. In the decades since, lingering urban legends have haunted the events (such as a grieving community motivated specifically over the recent loss of Judy Garland) surrounding the stand taken at a mafia owned bar raided regularly by police, whose owner cared little about the safety or health of his patrons either way. A significant moment in the ensuing decades-long battle for Lgbt rights in the United States certainly marks it as deserving of its own cinematic reenactment. However, action film...
On June 28, 1969, a group of gay men and women took a stand against police brutality following a raid on the Stonewall Inn, a bar in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan. The event sparked a series of violent demonstrations by members of the Lgbt community around the period, and it’s considered the birth of the gay liberation movement. In the decades since, lingering urban legends have haunted the events (such as a grieving community motivated specifically over the recent loss of Judy Garland) surrounding the stand taken at a mafia owned bar raided regularly by police, whose owner cared little about the safety or health of his patrons either way. A significant moment in the ensuing decades-long battle for Lgbt rights in the United States certainly marks it as deserving of its own cinematic reenactment. However, action film...
- 9/23/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Read More: Watch: Meet Lgbt Activist Marsha P. Johnson in New 'Stonewall' Clip Another glimpse at the Roland Emmerich's historical drama "Stonewall" is now available thanks to a new clip. Emmerich, who is known for films like "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Independence Day," has tapped Jeremy Irvine, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jonny Beauchamp, Otoja Abit and Ron Perlman to star. According to the official synopsis, "Danny Winters (Irvine) is forced to leave behind friends and loved ones when he is kicked out of his parent's home. Alone in Greenwich Village, homeless and destitute, he befriends Ray (Beauchamp) and a group of street kids who soon introduce him to The Stonewall Inn. As Danny and his friends experience discrimination and are repeatedly harassed by the police, rage begins to run through the entire community of people who populate the Stonewall Inn. With the toss of a single brick,...
- 9/18/2015
- by Aubrey Page
- Indiewire
Read More: Feature Doc 'Pay It No Mind: The Life & Times of Marsha P. Johnson' Released Online. Watch It Roland Emmerich's "Stonewall" is set to tackle the momentous 1969 Stonewall riots, a drama that unfolds through the perspective of a fictional young man who gets caught up with the Stonewall community just as tensions with the police come to a boiling point. Today, we were introduced to one of the film's main players, Lgbt activist and pioneer of the trans movement Marsha P. Johnson (played by Otoja Abit), an African American drag queen and among the first to fight back in the police clashes during the Stonewall riots. "Marsha is someone very close to me now that I've done all my research," said Abit. "She's somebody that's very energetic, very boisterous. When she walks into a room you know she's there. She's very generous. She was called the saint of...
- 9/9/2015
- by Jessica Cariaga
- Indiewire
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