Urbanworld Announces 2013 Festival Winners; Closes Week with “Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete”
URBANWORLD ANNOUNCES 2013 FESTIVAL WINNERS
The Winners Circle: 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
NEW YORK, NY (September 23, 2013) – The 17th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival, presented by BET Networks, has announced the winners of the narrative feature, documentary feature, documentary short, narrative short, screenplay, teleplay and audience award categories. The five-day festival was held September 18-22 and concluded today with an awards reception at Tribeca Grill Loft hosted by style and beauty expert Tai Beauchamp and actor/producer Gbenga Akinnagbe. Urbanworld, which screened 60 films this year (including 4 world premieres and 2 U.S. premieres), isthe largest internationally competitive festival dedicated to the exhibition of independent cinema by and about people of color. Urbanworld thanks its partners BET Networks– presenting sponsor, HBO– founding sponsor, Universal– premiere sponsor, their industry circle partners and media partners.
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
Honorable Mention: Sable Fable – Directed by Stephen Jackson
THE NEW BLACK Directed by Yoruba Richen
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
FULL CIRCLE Directed by Solvan “Slick” Naim
Audience Award – Short
“FLY ON OUT” Directed by Robert Kolodny
The 17th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival Jurors are:
NARRATIVE FEATURES JURORS
NARRATIVE SHORTS JURORS
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES JURORS
SCREENPLAY JURORS
TELEPLAY JURORS
For more information on the Urbanworld Film Festival, visitwww.urbanworld.org.
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Crystal McCrary
Gabrielle Glore and Emil Wilbekin Tai Beauchamp, Gina Reyes, Gbenga Akinnagbe Shola Lynch
Tai Beauchamp, Marvin Scott, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Greg Rhem Guests await the announcement of the winners
Team Urbanworld!
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CLOSING NIGHT OF URBANWORLD SEES STARS
Gabrielle Glore & George Tillman Michael K. Williams & Jeffrey Wright Jamie Hector (NEW YORK) – September 22, 2013 – The 17th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival presented by BET Networks closed the week out with a screening of the Codeblack/Lionsgate film THE INEVITABLE DEFEAT OF MISTER & PETE attended by director George Tillman and Jeffrey Wright.
Michael Kenneth Williams, Jeffrey Wright and actress Margot Bingham participated in a Q&A following a Season 4 screening of HBO’s “BOARDWALK EMPIRE.” Director Crystal McCrary along with NBA player/executive producer Amar’e Stoudemire screened the documentary LITTLE BALLERS.Jamie Hector (THE MAGIC CITY) Chesney Snow, Rahzel andRick McKeown from AMERICAN BEATBOXER were in the building, while the cast of the film FULL CIRCLE were also on hand for the festivities that evening. For more information, visit www.urbanworld.org. Photos: Terrence Jennings
Crystal McCrary with the cast of LITTLE BALLERS
Coodie Simmons
Margot Bingham Gano Grills Chesney Snow & Rick McKeown
Cast of FULL CIRCLE
Audience awaits the screening of BOARDWALK EMPIRE Bevy Smith moderates the BOARDWALK EMPIRE Q&A |
ABOUT URBANWORLD
The Urbanworld® Film Festival, founded in 1997 by Stacy Spikes, is the largest internationally competitive festival of its kind. The five-day festival includes narrative features, documentaries, and short films, as well as panel discussions, live staged screenplay readings, and the Urbanworld® Digital track focused on digital and social media. Over the last fifteen years, Hollywood studios, indie film distributors, and established and emerging filmmakers have consistently chosen Urbanworld® to premiere box office and award-winning hits. Urbanworld® has also provided a platform for some of today’s leading brands seeking to reach key influencers across the industry and within the consumer marketplace. The Urbanworld® Film Festival is an initiative of the Urbanworld® Foundation Inc., a nonprofit organization that endeavors to consistently manifest its mission of redefining and advancing the roles of multicultural constituents in contemporary filmed entertainment. By implementing initiatives that actively support and develop content creators of color, Urbanworld significantly contributes to the evolution of the media and entertainment landscape and the diversity that it reflects. Gabrielle Glore serves as Executive Producer & Head of Programming for the Urbanworld Film Festival. The festival website is www.urbanworld.org. ABOUT BET NETWORKS BET Networks, a subsidiary 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 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. 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; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks – BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution. MEDIA CONTACTS Saptosa Foster The 135th Street Agency 404.909.6493 | saptosa@135stagency.com Shante Bacon The 135th Street Agency 917.553.0005 | shante@135stagency.com Terrece Walker BET Networks |