The 14th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival Presented by BET Networks Announces Festival Ambassador Kerry Washington, Opening & Closing Night Films, Official Film Selections and Screenplay Finalists

NEW YORK, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The 14th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival, presented by BET Networks, today announced actress Kerry Washington as festival ambassador and Magnolia Pictures' Night Catches Us -- directed by Tanya Hamilton and starring Washington and Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker) -- as the Opening Night film. The world premiere of the family drama I Will Follow -- written and directed by Ava DuVernay and starring Salli Richardson-Whitfield (Black Dynamite, Antwone Fisher), Omari Hardwick (For Colored Girls, Kick-Ass) and Beverly Todd (Crash) -- is the festival's Closing Night selection.  

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Founding sponsor HBO continues its support of Urbanworld, the nation's largest competitive multicultural film festival which will place September 15-19, 2010 in the heart of Manhattan.

Urbanworld also announced the 2010 official selections for the narrative feature, documentary feature, short documentary and short narrative categories.  The festival will screen 71 films this year, including 22 world premieres.  

Highlights of Urbanworld 2010 include: Nabil Elderkin's Bouncing Cats, narrated by rapper/actor Common with Mos Def and Will-I-Am; Robert O'Hara's The Inheritance, starring Golden Brooks and DB Woodside; Qasim Basir's Mooz-lum, starring Danny Glover, Nia Long and Evan Ross; and Madeleine Sackler's The Lottery, which uncovers the failures of the American public school system.

In addition, the festival will present the work of five Urbanworld Screenplay Competition finalists in live readings. This private event will be hosted by BET Networks, the sponsor of the screenplay competition category.  Finalists include Bag Ladies written by Tai Nelson; Gracey, written by Julian Breece; Jean of the Joneses, written by Alison Meghie; Knife to a Gunfight, written by Gemal Woods and Osvaldo's written by Randy Wilkins.

"This year's program is rooted in our original mission: to shine a light on films and filmmakers whose artistic excellence is too often overlooked elsewhere," said Stacy Spikes, founder of Urbanworld.  "Through our partnership with BET, we are thrilled to introduce more than 20 world premieres in a true celebration of bright, bold multicultural filmmaking."

“We are proud to have the opportunity to once again partner with Stacy Spikes and the Urbanworld Film Festival,” said Alvin Bowles, Senior Vice President of Brand Solutions for BET Networks.  “This year’s exciting slate of cinematic talent encompasses BET Networks’ initiative to embrace and support the new wave of filmmakers of color through our partnership and we are thrilled to serve as the presenting sponsor for a third year.”

Urbanworld Film Festival 2010 Roster

Opening Night Selection:

• NIGHT CATCHES US directed by Tanya Hamilton

Closing Night Selection:

• I WILL FOLLOW directed by Ava DuVernay (World Premiere)

Narrative Feature Competition:

• BILAL'S STAND directed by Sultan Sharrief
• CALLBACK directed by Kartik Singh (World Premiere)
• EVERYDAY BLACK MAN directed by Carmen Madden
• GO FOR IT! directed by Carmen Marron
• KREWS directed by Hilbert Hakim
• MONEY MATTERS directed by Ryan Richmond
• MOOZ-LUM directed by Qasim Basir (World Premiere)
• SUS directed by Robert Heath
• THE INHERITANCE directed by Robert O'Hara

Documentary Feature Competition:

• BOUNCING CATS directed by Nabil Elderkin
• FINDING GOD IN THE CITY OF ANGELS directed by J. Jessum & S. Joseph (World Premiere)
• GROWN IN DETROIT: TEEN MOMS, URBAN FARMERS directed by M. & M. Poppenk
• NI WAKATI (IT'S TIME!) directed by Michael Wanguhu
• STREETBALL directed by Demetrius Wren

Documentary Short Competition:

• JR. POSSE directed by Michele Ervin
• KID CAPRI PRESENTS: THE LIONZ DEN directed by Loaded Lux and Kid Capri
• LAREDO, TEXAS directed by Topaz Adizes
• MANIFEST HOPE: DC directed by Alfred Gragg III (World Premiere)
• ONE OF THESE MORNINGS directed by Valery Lyman
• OUR PATH, OUR VOICE, OUR JOURNEY directed by Alex Munoz

Narrative Short Competition:

• 44 directed by Mikal Din (World Premiere)
• 3 FACES OF EVELYN directed by Kamali Minter
• CASTING NOTICE directed by Marcus Thomas
• CHAINS directed by Marcus Stokes (World Premiere)
• CLAP CLAP directed by Tanuj Chopra
• CLOSE directed by Tahir Jetter (World Premiere)
• CONGRATULATIONS MR. GONZALEZ! directed by Victor Cruz (World Premiere)
• COOKIE directed by Francisco Ordonez
• CUTS directed by Rashaad Ernesto Green
• EASY MADE HARD directed by Elizabeth Appell
• EMPIRE CORNER directed by J.P. Chan (World Premiere)
• GIMME GRACE directed by Anthony Onah
• GOOD INTENTIONS directed by Morocco Omari
• GORDITA directed by Debby Wolfe
• GRACE directed by Steven Mondesir (World Premiere)
• HARROW ISLAND directed by Anja Marquardt
• HEAR ME directed by Kenn Michael (World Premiere)
• KATRINA'S SON directed by Ya'Ke Smith
• KNOCK OFF directed by Rosanne Flynn
• MEN OR MICE directed by Kiara C Jones (World Premiere)
• MIRROR MIRROR directed by Tamika Guishard (World Premiere)
• MR. GRAHAM directed by Julius Amedume (World Premiere)
• PARAMOUR directed by Maba Ba (World Premiere)
• POSITIVE BUY directed by Hanley Valentin
• QUIETLY directed by Cole Wiley
• ROOS DJAJ (CHICKEN HEADS) directed by Bassam Jarbawi
• SAY GRACE BEFORE DROWNING directed by Nikyatu Jusu
• SILENT NIGHT directed by Red Carter
• TAGS directed by Dominique DeLeon
• THANK YOU FOR WASHING directed by Camille Brown
• THE CYCLE directed by Roy Clovis
• THE FORGIVEN directed by Lawrence Saint-Victor (World Premiere)
• THE REAL T directed by Ohene Cornelius (World Premiere)
• THE TROY SHAWN WELCOME STORY directed by Michael Pinckney (World Premiere)
• THE TRUTH ABOUT LIES directed by Shalako Gordon
• TRAIN directed by Darius Clark Monroe
• TYPES IN STEREO directed by Gemal Woods
• URBAN LULLABY directed by Sonia Gonzalez-Martinez (World Premiere)
• YELLOW directed by Tony Murphy (World Premiere)

Screenplay Finalists:

• BAG LADIES written by Tai Nelson
• GRACEY written by Julian Breece
• JEAN OF THE JONESES written by Alison Meghie
• KNIFE TO A GUNFIGHT written by Gemal Woods
• OSVALDO'S written by Randy Wilkins

About Urbanworld

The Urbanworld® Film Festival is the largest internationally competitive festival of its kind. The five-day festival includes features, documentaries, short films, as well as panel discussions, live staged screenplay readings, the celebrated Actor's Spotlight, Actor's Boot Camps, and introducing Urbanworld® Digital, a 1-day Conference during the festival focused on Digital and Social media.  Over the last thirteen years, Hollywood studios have consistently chosen Urbanworld® to premiere box office and award-winning hits.  Urbanworld® has also become home to some of today's top brands who wish to reach key influencers and social media leaders across the African American and Latino landscape.  The Urbanworld® Film Festival is an initiative of the Urbanworld® Foundation Inc., a nonprofit organization founded in 1997 by Stacy Spikes dedicated to redefining the multicultural roles in contemporary cinema, television and online by implementing programs and initiatives that support the development of the urban content creation community.  Gabrielle Glore serves as Executive Producer of the Urbanworld Film Festival, as well as ancillary Urbanworld Foundation endeavors.  For this year's 2010 festival, BET Networks returns as the Presenting Sponsor.  HBO continues support as the Founding Sponsor.  Media Sponsors include Essence, Vibe, Uptown, BlackPlanet.com, TheUrbanDaily, KISS FM, HOT 97, and Jigsaw Global.  Benefactor Sponsors include AMC Theatres, Directors Guild of America - New York, and urbanAdserve. 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.

SOURCE BET Networks