Urbanworld Film Festival

The anti-violence short film “THE PAINTER,” premiered at the UrbanWorld Film Festival.  Written and directed by Kevin Cooper, and starring Ron Caldwell, THE PAINTER tackles the tough subject of how violence is robbing the innocence of our youth.  Cooper partnered with non-profit organizations UCAN and Youth Guidance, to include children from high risk areas in the filmmaking process. “It was inspiring working with these children…a film about the violence with the help of victims,” says Cooper.

In THE PAINTER,  a boy, barely 12-years-old, lives in a world where violence surrounds him. His sole means of survival is to escape the violence outside by creating art. He is alone – abandoned for as long as he can remember. He begins this day like every other: quietly sipping a cup of coffee in his run-down kitchen, walls covered with newspaper clippings that chronicle the epidemic death toll in the inner city. Amid wailing sirens and a squawking police scanner, he sits uncomfortably…cleaning a paintbrush. An interviewer’s voice, unsure of what he is witnessing, asks the boy to explain his existence…his art. Though the police instruct the boy to “return to work”, the interviewer holds them off until finally the boy agrees to show us his art. Step inside the line…his art – a world at war. Are you ready?

http://youtu.be/h3vkH84Kazw

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Stacy Spikes (Urbanworld founder), Tai Beauchamp, Marvin Scott (HBO), Allison Bonner Shillingford, Solvan “Slick” Naim, Robert Kolodny, Yoruba Richen, Darius Clark Monroe, Greg Rhem (HBO), and Gbenga Akinnagbe

THE VOLUNTEER directed by Vicky Wight, THE NEW BLACK directed by Yoruba Richen, and FULL CIRCLE directed by Solvan “Slick” Naim won the big awards at the 17th annual Urbanworld Film Festival held over the weekend – September 18 to 22 in Manhattan, New York City. Urbanworld, which screened 60 films this year describes itself at the largest internationally competitive festival dedicated to the exhibition of independent cinema by and about people of color. 

 The 17th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival winners are:  

Best Narrative Feature – Presented by Fox Audience Strategy – $5,000 Cash Prize

THE VOLUNTEER
Directed by Vicky Wight

After dramatically leaving her successful but soul-crushing career, forty-something Leigh finds herself wondering if there’s more to life, to love, to everything. Overwhelmed by apathy and a vague sense of guilt, she decides to volunteer at a local soup kitchen. There, she begins an unexpected and electric affair with a homeless man, Ethan. Leigh attempts to hide Ethan from her long-time boyfriend, her family, and her new coworkers. However, after a series of troubling encounters, she realizes Ethan’s charm may be masking a troubled past.

Honorable Mention:
Sable Fable – Directed by Stephen Jackson

Best Documentary Feature

THE NEW BLACK
Directed by Yoruba Richen

The New Black is a documentary that tells the story of how the African-American community is grappling with the gay rights issue in light of the recent gay marriage movement and the fight over civil rights. The film documents activists, families and clergy on both sides of the campaign to legalize gay marriage and examines homophobia in the black community’s institutional pillar—the black church and reveals the Christian right wing’s strategy of exploiting this phenomenon in order to pursue an anti-gay political agenda. The New Black takes viewers into the pews and onto the streets and provides a seat at the kitchen table as it tells the story of the historic fight to win marriage equality in Maryland and charts the evolution of this divisive issue within the black community.

Honorable Mention:
Brother’s Hypnotic – Directed by Reuben Atlas

Best Narrative Short – Presented by HBO – $5,000 Cash Prize

“CRESCENDO”
Directed by Alonso Alvarez

Honorable Mention:
Baghdad Messi – Directed by Sahim Omar Kalifa

Best Screenplay – Presented by BET Networks – $5,000 Cash Prize

“YEAR OF OUR LORD”
Written by Darius Clark Monroe

Best Teleplay – Presented by BET Networks – $5,000 Cash Prize

“MEL & MISSY”
Written by Allison Bonner Shillingford

Audience Award – Feature

FULL CIRCLE
Directed by Solvan “Slick” Naim

A young pizza delivery boy, Anthoni, faces a life-changing crisis when his curiosity pulls him away from his delivery order into an adjacent apartment’s open door. He cannot resist temptation when he stumbles across a large sum of money in the aftermath of what seems to be a drug deal gone bad. After taking the money, his life is thrown into turmoil as everyone he knows and cares about is put in jeopardy. His focus turns to revenge when his close friend is killed. Anthoni goes on a comically charged journey for vengeance as outlandish characters banter throughout in this musically infused, urban set comedy-action-drama. Anthoni is set on avenging the death of his close friend even if it means going up against the neighborhood’s most notorious thug.

Audience Award – Short

“FLY ON OUT”
Directed by Robert Kolodny

 

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Rickey Smiley, Derek Luke, Jill Scott, Paula Patton and David E. Talbert at the Urbanworld Opening Night screening of Baggage Claim

The 17th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival kicked off last night, Thursday, September 19, 2013, with the premiere of the romantic comedy BAGGAGE CLAIM at the SVA Theater in Manhattan. Director David E. Talbert along with cast members Paula Patton, Derek Luke, Jill Scott, Jenifer Lewis and Rickey Smiley all attended the premiere.  Urbanworld runs through Sunday, September 22, 2013.

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Jennifer Hudson as “Gloria,” the troubled mother of son Mister (Skylan Brooks) in THE INEVITABLE DEFEAT OF MISTER & PETE

Actor Larenz Tate – star of the BET original movie GUN HILL – will serve as festival ambassador for the upcoming 17th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival presented by BET Networks, which runs September 18 to 22, 2013 at midtown Manhattan’s AMC 34th Street. George Tillman’s THE INEVITABLE DEFEAT OF MISTER & PETE will be the official Closing Night Film on September 21, 2013.

Known for iconic performances in Love Jones, Menace II Society, Dead Presidents and Why Do Fools Fall in Love?, Tate will attend the Gun Hill screening on Friday,September 20 at 8:00pm. Directed by Reggie Rock Bythewood, the film centers around a pair of identical twins on opposite sides of life: Trane, a cop, and Bird, a con (both played by Tate). On one fateful night, Trane is killed. Bird assumes his identity and begins his own search for redemption.

“I’m honored to not only have my new BET project, ‘Gun Hill,’ premiering here, but to also be festival ambassador of this year’s Urbanworld Film Festival,” said Tate. “This festival is a celebration of multicultural art and its diverse and innovative contributors. I look forward to working with the Urbanworld team and enjoying some great films!”

Directed by Tillman and written by Michael Starrbury, the festival’s Closing Night Film THE INEVITABLE DEFEAT OF MISTER & PETE stars Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, Jordin Sparks, Golden Globe® and Emmy® Award winner Jeffrey Wright, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Anthony Mackie and Academy Award® and Golden Globe® winner Jennifer Hudson. Jana Edelbaum, Rachel Cohen, and Bob Teitel produced the film with Alicia Keys, Susan Lewis, Clay Floren, Aimee Shieh, Julio Depietro, Keith Kjarval, Mary Vernieu, and Amy Nauiokas executive producing.

THE INEVITABLE DEFEAT OF MISTER & PETE is a beautifully observed and tremendously moving film about salvation through friendship and the way transformation sometimes can happen just by holding on long enough. During a sweltering summer in New York City, 13-year-old Mister’s (Skylan Brooks) hard-living mother (Jennifer Hudson) is apprehended by the police, leaving the boy and nine-year-old Pete (Ethan Dizon) alone to forage for food while dodging child protective services and the destructive scenarios of the Brooklyn projects. Faced with more than any child can be expected to bear, the resourceful Mister nevertheless feels he is an unstoppable force against seemingly unmovable obstacles. But what really keeps the pair in the survival game is much more Mister’s vulnerability than his larger-than-life attitude. 

Urbanworld also announced the official jurors for this year’s festival, award category sponsors and prizes.

NARRATIVE FEATURES JURORS