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The Communications Department of the Urbanworld Film Festival is dedicated to providing members of the press and media with resources about the Festival, and its year-round activities.

We encourage you to become familiar with the site and check back frequently for news and updates, as we have already started announcing our 2008 film program.

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THE 12th URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2008 WINNERS

Winners Celebrated at Festival’s Closing Awards Brunch on September 14

Festival Sponsors Include BET, HBO, Time Warner Cable, Grey Goose, Macy’s, Covergirl, WNBC, Black Enterprise, ESSENCE, VIBE, Power 105.1, the Directors Guild of America, AMC Theatres, Fox Searchlight Pictures and the Weinstein Company

      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
      September 15, 2008

(New York, NY)—The 12th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival, presented by BET Networks, today announced the winners for feature, documentary, short film, screenplay and audience award categories.  The five-day festival was held September 10-14 in New York City; wrapping up on September 14 with a closing awards brunch to congratulate the competition’s winners. Urbanworld, which screened 85 films this year, is the largest internationally competitive festival dedicated to the exhibition of independent cinema by and about people of color.

The 12th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival winners are: 

Best Narrative Feature Film
The Heart Specialist
Directed By Dennis Cooper, Produced By David Getachew Smith
Awarded $10,000 cash prize by Urbanworld Foundation, Inc.
 
Honorable Mention: Up With Me
Directed By Greg Takoudes, Produced By Christopher Roberts & Greg Takoudes

Best Documentary Feature Film
La Americana
Directed & Produced By Nicholas Bruckman, Co-Directed by John Mattiuzzi
Awarded $10,000 cash prize by Urbanworld Foundation, Inc.

Best Documentary Short Film
El Play
Directed & Produced By Pablo Medina
Awarded $5,000 cash prize by Urbanworld Foundation, Inc.

Honorable Mention: Fresh Off The Boat
Directed By Mark Andersson & Katrina Lucas, Produced By Kristian Moliere

Best Narrative Short Film
A Day’s Work
Directed by Rajeev Dassani, Produced By Charles Uy
Awarded $5,000 cash prize by Urbanworld Foundation, Inc.

Best Screenplay
Meadowlandz
Written By Moon Molson
Awarded $5,000 cash prize by HBO

Best Director
Leon Lozano for Something Is Killing Tate
Special Feature Category Award Presented By Time Warner Cable

Audience Award Winner
This Is Not A Test
Directed & Produced By Christopher Angel
Awarded $10,000 cash prize by Urbanworld Foundation, Inc.

“On behalf of the Urbanworld Film Festival and our Presenting Sponsor BET Networks, I proudly congratulate the exceptional winners of the Festival’s 12th annual competition,” said Stacy Spikes, founder of Urbanworld.  “As Urbanworld consistently recognizes and celebrates excellence in films by and about people of color, we are honored to present such a diverse slate of filmmakers and content, both represented in the overall festival and in the 2008 roster of winners.
Highlights of the 12th annual Urbanworld Film Festival included a special closing night screening of The Secret Life Of Bees, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and starring Queen Latifah (the Festival’s Honorary Chair), Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo, and Dakota Fanning, which tells a touching story about the need for love, family and redemption.  The film follows 14-year-old Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning) and her life on a honey farm with her caretaker Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson) and the intelligent and independent honey-making Boatwright sisters (Latifah, Keys, & Okonedo).  
Bolstered by a new three-year partnership with BET networks, Urbanworld is re-defining the competitive film festival landscape with its important and critical approach to exposing the voices of multicultural filmmakers.
ABOUT THE 2008 URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL:
Beginning this year, BET Networks has signed on for a three-year strategic partnership to present the Urbanworld Film Festival. The unique partnership, strengthened by BET’s position as the leading media and entertainment provider for African Americans and consumers of Black culture, will further establish the festival as one of the world’s largest competitive film festivals designed to redefine and enhance the roles of multicultural constituents in contemporary cinema.

ABOUT BET NETWORKS:

BET Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 87 million households according to Nielsen Media Research, and can be seen in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; BET Digital Networks - BET J, BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, an extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

ABOUT URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL:

Urbanworld launched in August 1997 and was founded by former executive at Miramax Stacy Spikes. Over the past eleven years, Urbanworld has presented approximately 700 features, shorts and documentaries, with estimated attendance reaching 15,000+. Now in its twelfth year, the Urbanworld Film Festival is the largest internationally competitive festival of its kind.  Urbanworld re-defines the competitive film festival landscape with its fresh and necessary approach to spreading the voices of a multicultural world. The Urbanworld Film Festival is an initiative produced by the Urbanworld Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to implementing programs and events that support the development and success of the urban filmmaking community.  Stacy Spikes serves as chairman emeritus. Gabrielle Glore serves as executive producer.

www.urbanworld.org

 

Urbanworld Film Festival Has Intriguring Titles

Friday, September 12th 2008, 4:00 AM

'The Secret Life of Bees' will be shown at the Urbanworld Film Festival.

'The Secret Life of Bees' will be shown at the Urbanworld Film Festival.

For nearly a dozen years, New Yorkers have been among the first to see films like "Soul Food," "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" and "Hustle & Flow," thanks to the annual Urbanworld Film Festival. And when it comes to movies not to be missed, this year's lineup is no exception.

The fest started Wednesday, but you've still got a full weekend left to see plenty of intriguing titles. Most notably, musicians are making their mark in several films, both as subjects and stars. Among the high-profile docs are the self-explanatory "Wu: The Story of the Wu-Tang Clan" and "Bigg Snoop Dogg's Youth Authority," about the rapper's work with at-risk kids whose lives reflect his own childhood. "Number One With a Bullet" features Ice Cube, Mos Def, Damon Dash and Fat Joe discussing violence in hip hop while sharing their personal experiences. And in "Two Turntables and a Microphone," Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Russell Simmons reflect on the fatal shooting of Jam Master Jay in his Queens studio.

Other artists are intent on stretching their acting chops. Mya's film, the hospital-set comedy "The Heart Specialist," screened yesterday. But Mariah Carey fans still have a chance to see the former "Glitter" star offer a respectable turn as a lonely waitress in the downbeat indie "Tennessee." You'll also find Mr. Carey - Nick Cannon - joined by Ludacris in "Ball Don't Lie," about young basketball players in Venice, Calif.

Finally, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson and Alicia Keys share the screen in Sunday's closing night film, the Southern drama "The Secret Life of Bees." All three turn in solid performances (especially an imperious Keys), and if you're wondering - yes, they do get to sing.

All screenings are at the AMC 34th Street Theater, 312 W. 34th St. For tickets and schedule, visit www.urbanworld.org .

Queen Latifah Going to Urbanworld

Will be honorary chair of film festival

The Hollywood Reporter
August 22, 2008
By Gregg Kilday

Queen Latifah will serve as the honorary chair of 2008 Urbanworld Film
Festival, which runs from Sept. 10-14 in New York City. She stars in "The
Secret Life of Bees," which will play as the closing night film, followed by
a Q&A with writer/director Gina Prince-Bythewood, Latifah and Sophie
Okonedo.

The fest, which focuses on mainstream cinema by and about people of color,
will screen 85 films at the AMC Loews 34th Street Theaters.

Receiving spotlight screenings are Gerald Barclay's "Wu: The Story of the
Wu-Tang Clan" and Aaron Woodley's "Tennessee."

The narrative film line-up includes Brin Hill's "Ball Don't Lie"; Lance
Hammer's "Ballast"; Daniel Williams' "Cigarettes for Breakfast"; Mark
Harris' "I Used to Love Her"; Lindsey Christian's "Jazz in the Diamond
District"; Robert Townsend's "Phantom Punch"; Mark Andrews "Seal Team"; Iris
Huey's "Second Chance"; Kent Faulcon's "Sister's Keeper"; Leon Lozano's
"Something Is Killing Tate"; Matt Krentz's "Streetballers"; Dennis Cooper's
"The Heart Specialist"; Christopher Angel's "This Is Not a Test"; Jade
Dixon's "Truth Hall"; Greg Takoudes' "Up With Me"; and James Spooner's
"White Lies Black Sheep."

The list of documenentaries scheduled to screen includes: Loren Mendell's
"Adjust Your Color: The Truth of Petey Greene"; Emily Abt's "All of Us";
Marjan Tehrani's "Arusi"; Michael Patrei's "Ballou"; Gabriel London's "Bigg
Snoop Dogg's Youth Authority"; Renee Tajima-Pena's "Calavera Highway"; Tim
Alexander's "Diary of a Tired Black Man"; Danny Mendoza's "Familiar Voices";
Marc Evans' "In Prison My Whole Life"; Nicholas Bruckman's "La Americana";
Dami Akinnusi's "Malcolm's Echo: The Legacy of Malcolm X"; James Dziura's
"Number One with a Bullet"; Thomas G. Miller's "One Bad Cat"; Jackie
Salloum's "Slingshot Hip-Hop"; Robert Small's "Something Out of Nothing";
Jeremy Robins' "The Other Side of the Water"; Brad Osbourne's "The Real
Great Debaters"; Ava DuVernay's "This is the Life"; and Guy Logan's "Two
Turntables and a Microphone."



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