01/08/2021
From @netflix: Malcolm and Marie.
starring @Zendaya & @JohnDavidWashington.
The Urbanworld® Film Festival is held each September in New York City! It is the nation's largest multicultural film festival, The People’s Festival- established since 1997.
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The Urbanworld® Film Festival is an initiative of the Urbanworld® Foundation Inc., a nonprofit organization founded in 1997 by Stacy Spikes.
Mission: The Urbanworld® Film Festival is dedicated to redefining the multicultural roles in contemporary cinema, television and online by implementing programs and initiatives that support and develop the urban content creation community.
Operating as usual
From @netflix: Malcolm and Marie.
starring @Zendaya & @JohnDavidWashington.
Creators @matthewraymond_ + @marcstrong captured the morning drop off struggle perfectly 😝 those with siblings / kids understand! #BlackAnimation #BlackCreators #uCreate
Us watching this insane news cycle, the past 12 hours 😒#bridgerton
We in y’all faces today, Georgia!
Urbanworld Film Festival's cover photo
If 2020 had a social mascot... it would have been #TikTok. @okcool.io asks ‘From its beginnings as Douyin in China to the global phenomenon TikTok, how has the hottest social media platform evolved?’ 🤔
How many of you create on the app? Or just starting to? Or just amused / confused by it? (It’s also fine if you stick to TT’s cousin Reels on IG)
And so it begins. Wishing you all everything good you wish for yourselves 🎆✨🎆✨#2021
YALL READY TO LEAVE 2020 BEHIND OR 😐🥴😧🤔🤭😤 #wherethemoneyreside
Must be G.O.A.T. season 🐐. Here’s a bit of love and attention to our favorite Capricorns that recently celebrated birthdays. #DenzelWashington, #NichelleNichols, #JohnAmos
To those lighting candles, asking and answering ‘Habari Gani?’ - we join you in light and love. #HappyKwanzaa
With all our love we wish our Urbanworld family a very Merry Christmas. May your day be filled with joy, love, rest and health ✨🎅🏿🎄
We know for some of you Christmas season = tamales 🫔 season! ...and let your tía know we’re happy to pick some up to go. We know you got extra! 🤗😅😉
It’s the natural hair for us. Thank you to hair designer #SharonMartin and producer #LynTalbert for guiding the hair vision of Jingle Jangle. It’s not ‘just hair’ but a major part of our magic and the magic of @jinglejanglenetflixfilm
If you haven’t already heard #SylviesLove is now streaming on @amazonprimevideo for your viewing pleasure!
Recently named a Critic’s Pick by the @nytimes, this romance is set in 50’s New York City when an aspiring television producer meets a saxophonist and their creative and romantic love sends them down a winding road. Thrilled to support this work by our festival director @gabrielleglorebk who is a producer of the film.
Starring #TessaThompson and #NnamdiAsomugha, the film has made great cultural references on and off the screen - creating partnerships with artists like @rinny.riot who has created art around the story and supporting characters of the film, bringing the film to life in a beautiful way. Follow Sylvie's Love for more and let us know what you think of the movie 🎥
Black representation in animation is expanding. From Pixar’s increasingly flick Soul, to D’ART Shtajio: Japan’s first black owned anime studio to the rising star - self taught Nigerian animator Ridwan Moshood's ‘Garbage Boy’, recognized by Cartoon Network Africa Creative Lab.
Not to be outdone by our own #uAlumni, Kalia Love Jones’ The Power of Hope - this expansion is inspiring.
#blackanimation
#blackcreators
Black Twitter, also known as the reigning champ of the Internets, has not let up since a joke about Black folks getting superpowers 🦹🏿♀️ 🦸🏿♀️ on the winter solstice exploded across social platforms. Who’s flexing new powers today?
#negrosolstice #negrosoulstice #contentcreators #wintersolstice
Celebrate women of vision and achievement at the 2020 @NYWIFT Muse Awards, today,
December 17th at 1 PM EST! Watch the celebration online and stay for virtual video networking after
the program.
Get your tickets now at nywift.org/muse.
The 2020 #nywiftmuse honorees are:
⭐ Awkwafina, Actor, The Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment Made in NY Award (@awkwafina
@madein_ny)
⭐ Rachel Brosnahan, Actor and Producer (@rachelbrosnahan)
⭐ Rashida Jones, Actor, Writer, Producer, Director (@rashidajones)
⭐ Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, Journalists (@jodikantor @mega2e @nytimes)
⭐ Alana Mayo, President of Orion Pictures (@alanaoyam)
⭐ Gina Prince-Bythewood, Director, Writer, Producer, The Nancy Malone Directing Award
(@gpbmadeit)
⭐ Ali Stroker, Actor, The Loreen Arbus Changemaker Award (@alistroker)
In these unprecedented times, NYWIFT recognizes the many challenges faced by our community.
The Muse Awards were created to inspire and acknowledge all of the extraordinary women in our industry.
This year NYWIFT invites you to pay-what-you-can so that everyone can have the opportunity to gather together at the virtual 41st Annual Muse Awards.
Let’s lift each other up and celebrate the incredible achievements of women in entertainment and media!
Tis the season... for lists. We get flooded with lists this time of year - from gift guides (#buyblack), to what seasonal groceries to include in holiday meals, to lists from family on what not to buy 😂. And of course, favorite TV / films / characters of the year.
Recently @harpers released their best films of 2020 - all of which are indie releases, check out their picks and the #uAlumni that made the list. Let us know what you’ve seen or plan to watch! Words by Candice Frederick.
On the Record - Few other #MeToo films have dared to confront the insidious culture of silence embedded in the Black community than this searing documentary from directors Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick. Weaving interviews with notable female survivors in Black media and the hip-hop world—including Drew Dixon, Sil Lai Abrams, and Jenny Lumet—with the long history of misogyny and sexual violence by Black men, On the Record addresses how Black women’s loyalty to the culture is too often preyed upon.
Assassins - the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, director Ryan White’s compelling storytelling and astounding access in his documentary will make your jaw drop. Assassins digs beyond the already incredible true story of how two young women—Siti Aisyah of Indonesia and Đoàn Thị Hương of Vietnam—were tricked into killing Jong-nam under the guise of a prank show.
Minari - writer-director Lee Isaac Chung’s earnest drama inspired by his own childhood tells a story so rich with colorful texture and heartfelt prose that it’s impossible to overlook. #StevenYeun stars as the determined patriarch of a newly emigrated Korean family and owner of an Arkansas farm anchors a narrative filled to the brim with fantastic acting.
Miss Juneteenth - Merging the oft-forgotten history of Juneteenth—when Black slaves in Texas were read the Emancipation Proclamation—with the audaciousness of Black girls, the debut feature filmmaker highlights a past that has given way to a fiercely independent approach to Black beauty. The eponymous beauty pageant serves as the backdrop to the story about a former beauty queen (#NicoleBeharie) struggling to reclaim her own life as she tries to steer her trap-music-and-boy-obsessed daughter (#AlexisChikaeze) toward the path of tradition. A blissful ode to single mom and daughter films.
Relic - in Relic, writer-director Natalie Erika James taps into the ‘haunted house genre’ by sensitively examining mental decay brought on by dementia. The filmmaker immerses the audience in a familial story that is both devastating and horrifyingly claustrophobic.
Sylvie’s Love - Eugene Ashe’s remarkably charming and intimate romantic drama, of how the winding road of love, can split and in time, merge again.
Da 5 Bloods - Spike Lee’s masterful film is an unflinching look at Black veterans’ trauma from the Vietnam War, in which they were scammed to serve under the presumption that battling a nation of other people of color may finally win them acceptance in white America.
Tigertail - writer-director #AlanYang’s luscious tribute to his parents’ strained journey from Taiwan to America
Promising Young Woman - Promising Young Woman details Cassandra (played #CareyMulligan) downward spiral as a woman struggling to navigate her blind rage and trauma, which she channels into a misguided mission to chastise the plague of toxic men around her.
The Donut King - Director and co-writer Alice Gu’s interesting documentary has less to do with the sweet pastry and more with the gluttony of the eponymous Ted Ngoy, who famously tainted his own moniker and empire by gambling. With thoughtful precision, Gu tells the story of the entrepreneur’s journey from war-torn Cambodia with his wife, Suganthini Khoeun, to America, where he opened his own doughnut franchise and helped employ their kids and relatives through the sale of intoxicating delights. #uAlumni
It’s Monday. That’s all we got.
Happy Hanukkah to all those celebrating the Festival of Lights ✨ 🕎
Another one 💔. Whether you know him as ‘Deebo’, ‘Zeus’ or another role - Tiny Lister, had presence. You will be missed, Rest In Peace 🤎
When @kfc, @lifetimetv and @mariolopez collide.
We can’t figure out if this campy branding genius or Kentucky fried foolery 🍗
Who’s been watching Netflix’s Selena @selenanetflix???
Join stars @christianserratos, @themadisonreyes, @annieggonzalez and @jess_m_garcia as they examine how Selena helped them feel comfortable in their true selves in the face of their own Spanish struggles.
(📺: @contodonetflix) #selenaquintanilla #selenatheseries
So sad to report that actor Natalie Desselle-Reid, best known for her roles in Eve, BAPS, and Set It Off, passed away this week on Monday morning. Cause of death has not yet been disclosed. Rest In Peace 😔
Last night #ViolaDavis chatted with @jon_wertheim on #60Minutes to discuss the making of her new film @MaRaineyFilm, out on #Netflix on December 18. U ready to see it?
#MaRaineysBlackBottom
This week in #uNews:
OWN Acquires WGN America’s Historical Drama Series, Underground
#CynthiaErivo will star in and produce a film based on the life of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, a 19th century African princess who finds herself amongst the British aristocracy when ‘gifted’ to Queen Victoria by an West African king.
#FaizonLove is suing Universal Pictures over removing himself and the only other black co star, Kali Hawk from international posters for the film, #CouplesRetreat. Universal’s marketing for the film in domestic markets during its original featured all four couples in the key art. Faizon and Hawk, the only Black couple in the ensemble, were excised from the international English-language poster, both in the photo and in the cast listing.
#JadaPinkettSmith To Star As Inspirational Single Mom Tia Magee In Netflix Film ‘Redd Zone’. The film is based on the true story of Tia Magee (played by Pinkett Smith), a single mother who helps her sons and their high school football teammates, “The Bros,” heal after the murder of their best friend, Dominic Redd. One by one, the boys start moving into her house, and soon, 17 of “The Bros” are living under her roof. Eventually, all of them go to college, and four make it to the NFL.
#KenanThompson, will be playing a single father to twin girls in his first solo sitcom, ‘The Kenan Show’
Black Women Animate and Cartoon Network join forces to launch the first ever Black in Animation Awards show, that will highlight Black achievements in animation.
OVER IT 📸 (originally seen over @bet)
Expansion. #RepresentationMatters
#vidastarz
#tanyasaracho
#ojalaproductions
#latinxcreators
#hispaniccreators
Black writers and their typewriters. #TBT (rp: @retrosoul__)
Black writers and their typewriters. #TBT (rp: @retrosoul__)
In order of appearance:
#AngelaDavis⠀
#LangstonHughes
#JamesBaldwin
#GwendolynBrooks
#RichardWright
The #NewYorkTimes, released a list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century (so far). What say you, Urbanworld? Sound off in the comments 🗣 (image by: @wilsonmoralesfilm)
The full list:
1. Denzel Washington
2. Isabelle Huppert
3. Daniel Day-Lewis
4. Keanu Reeves
5. Nicole Kidman
6. Song Kang-ho
7. Toni Servillo
8. Zhao Tao
9. Viola Davis
10. Saoirse Ronan
11. Julianne Moore
12. Joaquin Phoenix
13. Tilda Swinton
14. Oscar Isaac
15. Michael B. Jordan
16. Kim Min-hee
17. Alfre Woodard
18. Willem Dafoe
19. Wes Studi
20. Rob Morgan
21. Catherine Deneuve
22. Melissa McCarthy
23. Mahershala Ali
24. Sonia Braga
25. Gael Garcia Bernal
Once upon a time when another #health crisis was fueling the zeitgeist of the 80s and 90s. #WorldAIDSDay
“The precise role of the artist, then, is to illuminate that darkness, blaze roads through vast forests, so that we will not, in all our doing,lose sight of its purpose, which is, after all, to make the world a more human dwelling place.”
- James Arthur Baldwin (Aug 2,1924 - Dec 1, 1987) #jamesbaldwin #jamesbaldwinquotes
#NativeAmericanHeritageMonth wraps today, but there’s still a chance to check out Vision Maker Media’s celebration of Native American culture and a variety of films on Native experiences, accomplishments and issues. One favorite is RUMBLE, a feature documentary, about the role of Native Americans and Indigenous influence in the history of American music.
Follow the link in our bio for more films and information. (🎞: @visionmakermedia)
Passing on on November 23, 2020 - we recognize the incredible life of David Dinkins, 106th mayor of New York City but the first of the lot to be African American.
A veteran, an investor in black futures, an HBCU alum (HU Bison 🗣🗣), born in NJ but adopted by Harlem. A father. A husband. Rest in Paradise, Power and in Peace. #MCM
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Send a message to Urbanworld Film Festival:
The Urbanworld Film Festival, founded in 1997 by Stacy Spikes, is one of the largest internationally competitive festivals of its kind. Each year, we curate a slate of films representing the broadest lens of diversity across stories, characters, themes, and cultures. We fight tirelessly to expand the definition of “urban” beyond ethnicity to include sensibility, culture, and proximity. We strive to be “the filmmakers festival” and “the people’s festival,” providing a point of intersection where creators and audiences meet to experience bold and diverse artistic works. Expect no less from Urbanworld on it’s 22nd birthday this September as this year’s program promises even more inclusivity from filmmakers all over the globe. Submission remain open until it’s Final Deadline this Friday, May 25th.