The BronzeLens Film Festival set to run from August 17-22 in Atlanta, Georgia unveiled its 2021 nominated film selections. Winners will be announced during the annual BronzeLens Awards Show on Sunday, August 22.
BronzeLens Film Festival
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Atlanta’s BronzeLens Film Festival Reveals 2021 Nominated Films
Queen of the Morning Calm directed by Gloria Ui Young Kim
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Regina Hall, David Oyelowo and Yvette Nicole Brown Headline 10th BronzeLens Film Festival
Regina Hall Actors Regina Hall, David Oyelowo and Yvette Nicole Brown will share their creative journeys as they headline the 10th BronzeLens Film Festival (BronzeLens), taking placeAugust 21 to 25, 2019.
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Indie Legal Thriller CREATED EQUAL Wins at Action On Film Festival and BronzeLens Film Festival
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Thada Catalon, Bill Duke, Edy Ganem[/caption]
The indie legal thriller Created Equal continues its award winning sweep, winning prizes at the Action On Film Festival in Las Vegas and the BronzeLens Film Festival in Atlanta.
At Action On Film Festival, the film won “Best Picture” and “Best Actress,” and legendary actor/director, Bill Duke, received the esteemed Icon Award – the ultimate honor from Action On Film Festival that celebrated his lifetime of achievements in Hollywood.
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(L to R) John Newberg, Yohance Myles, Thada Catalon, Katheen Bertrand, Jo-Ann Robinson, Spence Maughon and Ketrick “Jazz” Copeland pose on the Bronze Carpet at the closing night screening event at the BronzeLens Film Festival.[/caption]
At BronzeLens Film Festival, Created Equal took home the win for “Best Feature.” Deidre McDonald, artistic director of the BronzeLens Film Festival shared, “BronzeLens is pleased to have awarded Created Equal as our 2017 Best Feature. Bill Duke’s skillful direction made a story of gender equality in the Catholic Church an exciting thriller. Kudos, also, to Thada Catalon, an actress, writer, director and now producer who was able to bring it to the screen. I have no doubt we will see a lot of her films in the years to come!”
Created Equal stars Broadway actor and singer Aaron Tveit (Grease Live!), Latina actress Edy Ganem (Devious Maids), Yohance Myles (Shots Fired), veteran actors Lou Diamond Phillips (Longmire) and GregAlan Williams (Greenleaf).
In the film, Thomas “Tommy” Reilly ( Aaron Tveit ), a cocky, up-and-coming attorney, begrudgingly takes on a case for Sister Alejandra “Allie” Batista ( Edy Ganem ), who’s desperate to become a priest in the Catholic Church. Against his supervisor’s wishes, Tommy files suit against the Archdiocese of New Orleans for gender discrimination without justifiable cause.
As the trial unfolds, an extremist concocts a plot to stop the heresy against the church by attacking and threatening to kill Alejandra if they don’t back off.
Tommy’s faith and conviction are tested, and as he questions his purpose, he begins the transformation from an egotistical, arrogant person, to one who is committed to a mission larger than his own self-interests.
Based on the novel, Created Equal, written by Roger A. Brown, who also serves as executive producer, the film certainly lives up to its intent, as it sparks a worldwide conversation that explores the disparity between men and women holding the highest leadership positions within the church, as well as other positions that hold the greatest authority in the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91Bw2UFlonM
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“IN THE MORNING” “Chapter & Verse” “The Man In 3B” Among Atlanta Premieres at 2015 BronzeLens Film Festival
The sixth annual BronzeLens Film Festival will take place November 5 – 8, 2015 at various venues throughout Atlanta. Headlining the festival are legendary filmmakers Abderrahmane Sissako and Suzanne de Passe. In addition, more than 49 films will be screened which includes a collection of features, shorts, narratives, webisodes and documentaries.
2015 BronzeLens Film Festival will present four nightly Atlanta premieres which kicks-off with a pre-festival screening of writer, director Nefertite Nguvu’s award winning film IN THE MORNING featuring Jacky Ido and Emayatzy Corinealdi; Chapter & Verse directed by Jamal Joseph featuring Omari Hardwick and Loretta Divine; Director Trey Haley’s The Man In 3B (pictured above) featuring Lamman Rucker, Christian Keyes and Bre’ly Evans; and the world premiere of A Christmas Baby, which marks the directorial debut of Rhonda Freeman-Baraka featuring Malinda Williams, Victoria Rowell and Karon Riley.
France Atlanta in collaboration with BronzeLens will present one of the few contemporary filmmakers from Sub-Saharan Africa to have reached international recognition. Abderrahmane Sissako has received worldwide acclaim for his portrayal of life under the threat of Islamic radicalism in TIMBUKTU. The highest-grossing African film to open in France and in the US, the 2014 drama has received a multitude of awards including a Nomination at the 2015 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film and 7 Césars Awards from the French Film Academy. The screening of TIMBUKTU will take place Saturday November 7 at 4:30 p.m. at the Hill Auditorium at the High Museum of Art followed by a talkback conversation moderated by Shadow and Act’s founding creator, writer and film critic Tambay A. Obenson. This event is organized in partnership with the High Museum of Art and Alliance Française d ‘Atlanta.
All Shorts all day sponsored by BET Networks will screen 16 shorts and takes place Thursday, November 5 at festival headquarters in the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Learning Center.
On Saturday November 7, BronzeLens will present Family Film Festival, a free screening of Karyn Parsons’ three animated short films: Garrett’s Gift, the true story of African American inventor Garrett Morgan, narrated by Queen Latifah; The Journey of Henry Box Car Brown, based on an enslaved man who mailed himself to freedom, narrated by Alfre Woodard and Atlanta premiere of The Janet Collins Story, animation featuring the first African American ballet soloist to perform.
Also on Saturday November 7, the Sixth Annual BronzeLens Awards Show will salute The ‘Best of Festival’ filmmakers in their perspective categories, other noteworthy industry leaders and festival supporters will be honored November 7 at SCAD Show. Ambassador Andrew Young will receive the Chairman’s Award and Atlanta Convention and Visitor’s Bureau president and chief executive officer William Pate will receive the Founders Award.
Cinema and Social Justice Sunday will feature the documentary about racial bias 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets, written and directed by Marc Silver and features Lelan Brunson, Angela B. Corey and Ron Davis.
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BronzeLens Film Festival Announces Best of Festival Honorees
BronzeLens Film Festival (BronzeLens) 2014 winners were announced at the BronzeLens Awards Show ceremony held at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis where the ‘Best of Festival’ filmmakers in their perspective categories received top honors. Award winning film categories included the Feature, Documentary, International, Short, Documentary Short, Student, Webisodes as well as Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Overall and the Audience Awards.
Of the 43 juried films screened, a panel of 14 judges selected the work of filmmakers representing the United States, Africa and South America to receive BronzeLens Awards. This year BronzeLens Awards prizes were enhanced by generous sponsor contributions. SIM Digital provided an Arri Light Kit gear package and color correction valued at more than $30,000 for the Best Overall winner, BET Networks presented $5000 for Best Short, the ASPiRE Television Student Award included a network internship and Entertainment Partners gave budgeting and scheduling software to the Best Feature and Best Documentary filmmakers.
“It is a privilege to showcase the work of some of world’s best and brightest filmmakers at BronzeLens,” said Deidre McDonald, BronzeLens Film Festival Artistic Director. “Their creativity and passion inspires us to continue to serve as champions of the industry.”
The 2014 BronzeLens winners, awards and films synopsis’s are as follows:
The Best Overall -Best Feature-: CRU
(Producer: Danny Green, Alton Glass, Courtney Triggs, Matthew Hatchet, Oliver W. Ottley III, Director: Alton Glass)
— Nearly twenty years after a tragedy, the reunion of four high school friends opens old wounds, exposes long-hidden secrets and paves the road to forgiveness and redemption.Best Documentary: Life’s Essentials With Ruby Dee
(Producer: Jevon ‘NJ’ Frank, Director: Muta’Ali Muhammad)
—In this open-letter style documentary, Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis’ rich lives guide their grandson on his personal quest to master lasting love conscious art, and undying activism.Best Webisode: Good Girls
(Producer: Kai Parham, Asia Lampley , Director: Rhavynn Drummer)
—Four young women in pursuit of love and success in Atlanta, maneuver through their blossoming individuality and moral upbringing.Best International: They Are We
(Producer: Emma Christopher/Sergio Leyva Seiglie, Director: Emma Christopher)
—A family separated by the transatlantic slave trade for 200 years sing and dance its way back together? THEY ARE WE tells how, after a set of remarkable discoveries, Cuco and Alfredo set out to do just that, and how Joe and Solomon welcomed them home.Best Student: Little Africa
(Producer: Curtis Adair, Director: Justin Oney)
—During the massacre of the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot, a biracial cop passing as white protects his black mother from the town genocide.Best Short: Hero Mars
(Producer: Susan Chapman, Director: Skyler Cooper)
—A down and out actor gets the chance of a lifetime to audition for a world class theater company but struggles against misconceptions, hostility, and ignorance in their quest to gain acceptance.Best Short Documentary: The Helen Lindsey Story
(Producer: Maria Howell, Director: Mike Ray)
—Courage, Determination and WILL, only partially describe Helen Lindsey and the journey she’s traveled with no limbs. Her story will change YOUR life forever.Best Actress: Rain Pryor for That Daughter’s Crazy
(Producers: Sam Adelman and Daryl Sledge, Director: Elzbieta Szoka)
—Some apples don’t fall far from the tree. That Daughter’s Crazy, directed by Elzbieta Szoka and produced by Paradox Smoke Productions, is a portrait of actress/singer Rain Pryor, daughter of legendary comedian Richard Pryor.Best Actor: Keith Robinson for CRU
The winners of the Audience Awards, determined by audience votes throughout the Festival are:
Best Feature: CRU
(Producer: Danny Green, Alton Glass, Courtney Triggs, Matthew Hatchet, Oliver W. Ottley III, Director: Alton Glass)Best Documentary: Life’s Essentials With Ruby Dee
(Producer: Jevon ‘NJ’ Frank, Director: Muta’Ali Muhammad)
Best Short: THE B WORD
Producers: Nakisha Celistan and Nichole Celistan, Director:Jermaine R. Spencer
—THE B WORD is a cinematic short narrative depicting two sisters on conflicting paths; both leading to a destructive cycle of fear, blame and uncertainty. The story is set around the disease of ‘Bulimia Nervosa’.Best Student: Little Africa
(Producer: Justin Oney, Director: Curtis Adair)image via Facebook