Hollywood Black Film Festival
Encyclopedia
The Hollywood Black Film Festival, dubbed the "Black Sundance
," is an annual six-day film festival
held in Los Angeles, California
dedicated to enhancing the careers of new and established black filmmaking professionals by bringing their work to the attention of the film industry
, press
and public. It is open to the public. Films screened at the festival include the 2006 documentary Bastards of the Party
, director John Singleton's box office blockbuster "2 Fast 2 Furious
," the critically acclaimed "The Hurricane
" (starring Academy Award winner Denzel Washington
), director Kasi Lemmons
' "The Caveman's Valentine
" (starring Samuel L. Jackson
), and director Reggie Rock Bythewood's "Dancing In September
."
The festival attracts such stars and industry insiders as Academy Award winners Forest Whitaker
and Sidney Poitier
, John Singleton, Spike Lee
, Cedric The Entertainer
, George Tillman, Ice-T
, Rev. Run (of Run DMC), Tina Andrews, Reuben Cannon, Anthony Anderson
, Blair Underwood
, Sanaa Lathan
, Rockmond Dunbar
, Loretta Devine
, Bill Duke
, Sheryl Underwood
, Vanessa Williams
, Clifton Powell
and Gina Ravera
.
HBFF was founded in 1998 by its executive director, Tanya Kersey, in order to enhance the careers of emerging and established black filmmakers through a public exhibition and competition program. The festival's goal is to play an integral role in discovering and launching independent films and filmmakers by bringing them to the attention of the industry, press and public.
In addition to the film screenings, the adjunct Infotainment Conference features dozens of informational seminars, panels and workshops covering a wide variety of topics which range from film production, distribution and marketing to pitching, writing for television and film, in addition to specific programs of interest to actors. Each year, more than 100 top film and television executives, filmmakers, producers, directors, writers, agents, attorneys, business managers and actors participate in the talk-show style panels, roundtable discussions and workshops.
A highlight of the Infotainment Conference is "A Conversation With…" a series of up-close-and-personal candid conversations with some of the industry's hottest movers and shakers. HBFF has been honored to have directors John Singleton ("2 Fast 2 Furious," "Baby Boy," "Shaft," "Boyz N The Hood"), George Tillman ("Soul Food, Barbershop") and St. Clair Bourne ("The Life and Works of Gordon Parks," "John Henrick Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk") and scribe Tina Andrews ("Why Do Fools Fall in Love?") participate in these enlightening and informative discussions.
The HBFF Pitchathon is for filmmakers and storytellers hoping to sell their idea, story, book or screenplay to Hollywood buyers. Participants get to pitch their story ideas to entertainment industry executives (film directors and producers, acquisitions, development, production and distribution executives), talent agents and greenlighters (people who make decisions on whether or not to "greenlight" a project) who will critique their concept/idea to examine its commercial potential in the today's film marketplace.
The juried HBFF Filmmaker & Storyteller Awards honor the achievements of the most promising black filmmakers and screenwriters. Films that screen during the festival compete for the following jury awards: Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Short, Best Student Film, and the HBFF Audience Choice Award. A separate HBFF Storyteller Competition awards scribes for their excellence in screenwriting. Closing Night is highlighted by the announcement of the crowd-favorite HBFF Audience Choice Award, which is selected by audience vote.
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
," is an annual six-day film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
held in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
dedicated to enhancing the careers of new and established black filmmaking professionals by bringing their work to the attention of the film industry
Film industry
The film industry consists of the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking: i.e. film production companies, film studios, cinematography, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post production, film festivals, distribution; and actors, film directors and other film crew...
, press
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
and public. It is open to the public. Films screened at the festival include the 2006 documentary Bastards of the Party
Bastards of the Party
Bastards of the Party is a 2006 documentary film produced by Alex Demyanenko and directed by former Bloods gang-member Cle Sloan. The film explores the creation of two of Los Angeles’s most notorious gangs, the Crips and the Bloods, from the perspective of the Los Angeles community...
, director John Singleton's box office blockbuster "2 Fast 2 Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious is a 2003 street racing action film directed by John Singleton. It is the second film in The Fast and the Furious film series following The Fast and the Furious . It stars Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes, Devon Aoki, and Chris Bridges; and was directed by John Singleton. The...
," the critically acclaimed "The Hurricane
The Hurricane (1999 film)
The Hurricane is a 1999 biographical film directed by Norman Jewison, and starring Denzel Washington. The script was adapted by Armyan Bernstein and Dan Gordon from the books Lazarus and the Hurricane by Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton and The Sixteenth Round by Rubin "Hurricane" Carter.The film...
" (starring Academy Award winner Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
), director Kasi Lemmons
Kasi Lemmons
Kasi Lemmons is an American film director and actress, most notable for her work on the films Eve's Bayou, The Caveman's Valentine and Talk to Me....
' "The Caveman's Valentine
The Caveman's Valentine
The Caveman's Valentine is a 2001 American mystery-drama film directed by Kasi Lemmons and starring Samuel L. Jackson based on George Dawes Green's novel of the same name. The film was released by Universal Focus, a subsidiary of Universal Studios and Focus Features.-Plot:A former family man and...
" (starring Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
), and director Reggie Rock Bythewood's "Dancing In September
Dancing in September
Dancing in September is a 2000 television film starring Isaiah Washington and Nicole Ari Parker.-Plot:It focused on a black television producer , who works for a major network, and the troubles she faces in her environment, mainly painting a positive portrayal of Blacks in the media.-Cast:*Nicole...
."
The festival attracts such stars and industry insiders as Academy Award winners Forest Whitaker
Forest Whitaker
Forest Steven Whitaker is an American actor, producer, and director. He has earned a reputation for intensive character study work for films such as Bird and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and for his recurring role as ex-LAPD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh on the gritty, award-winning television...
and Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier
Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
, John Singleton, Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
, Cedric The Entertainer
Cedric the Entertainer
Cedric Antonio Kyles , known professionally by his stage name Cedric the Entertainer, is an American actor, comedian and director...
, George Tillman, Ice-T
ICE-T
* Ice-T, an American rapper and actor* ICE T , a tilting model of the German InterCityExpress series of high-speed trains...
, Rev. Run (of Run DMC), Tina Andrews, Reuben Cannon, Anthony Anderson
Anthony Anderson
Anthony Anderson is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He has starred in his own sitcom All About the Andersons, as well as the Fox sitcom The Bernie Mac Show during the fifth and final season of the show. He is also known for his leading roles in television dramas such as K-Ville, The...
, Blair Underwood
Blair Underwood
Blair Underwood is an American television and film actor. He is perhaps best known as headstrong attorney Jonathan Rollins from the NBC legal drama L.A. Law, a role he portrayed for seven years. He has gained critical acclaim throughout his career, receiving numerous Golden Globe Award...
, Sanaa Lathan
Sanaa Lathan
Sanaa McCoy Lathan is an American actress and voice actress. She has starred in numerous movies, including the box-office hits Love & Basketball, Alien vs. Predator, Something New, and The Family That Preys. Lathan was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance on Broadway in A Raisin in the Sun...
, Rockmond Dunbar
Rockmond Dunbar
Rockmond Dunbar is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Kenny Chadway on the Showtime television drama series Soul Food, and as Benjamin Miles "C-Note" Franklin on the FOX television drama series Prison Break...
, Loretta Devine
Loretta Devine
Loretta Devine is an American stage, film and television actress known for her roles on Boston Public, Grey's Anatomy, and Eli Stone. She also provided her voice for the stop motion animated television series The PJs. Devine is a NAACP Image Award and Emmy award winning actress.-Early life:Devine...
, Bill Duke
Bill Duke
William Henry "Bill" Duke, Jr. is an American actor and film director with over 30 years of experience. Known for his physically imposing frame, Duke's work frequently dwells within the action/crime and drama genres but also includes comedy.-Early life:Duke was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, the...
, Sheryl Underwood
Sheryl Underwood
-Professional career:Underwood first gained notoriety as the first female finalist in the Miller Lite Comedy Search in 1989. She won the BET "Funniest Female Comedian on Comic View" award in 1994 and the BET Comedy Awards' Platinum Mic Viewers Choice Award in 2005....
, Vanessa Williams
Vanessa L. Williams
Vanessa Lynn Williams is an American pop-R&B recording artist, producer, dancer, model, actress and showgirl. In 1983, she became the first woman of African-American descent to be crowned Miss America, but a scandal generated by her having posed for nude photographs published in Penthouse magazine...
, Clifton Powell
Clifton Powell
-Movie career:Powell is known for playing the role of Pinky in the 2000 comedy film, Next Friday and its 2002 sequel, Friday After Next. Powell stars also in the Indie thriller Chain Letter.In 2009 he played "Bowman" in the film Just Another Day...
and Gina Ravera
Gina Ravera
Gina Ravera is an American actress from San Francisco, California. She is best known for the role of Irene Daniels during the first four seasons TNT's Emmy Award winning crime drama The Closer, and was the only regular cast member to leave the series during its run...
.
HBFF was founded in 1998 by its executive director, Tanya Kersey, in order to enhance the careers of emerging and established black filmmakers through a public exhibition and competition program. The festival's goal is to play an integral role in discovering and launching independent films and filmmakers by bringing them to the attention of the industry, press and public.
In addition to the film screenings, the adjunct Infotainment Conference features dozens of informational seminars, panels and workshops covering a wide variety of topics which range from film production, distribution and marketing to pitching, writing for television and film, in addition to specific programs of interest to actors. Each year, more than 100 top film and television executives, filmmakers, producers, directors, writers, agents, attorneys, business managers and actors participate in the talk-show style panels, roundtable discussions and workshops.
A highlight of the Infotainment Conference is "A Conversation With…" a series of up-close-and-personal candid conversations with some of the industry's hottest movers and shakers. HBFF has been honored to have directors John Singleton ("2 Fast 2 Furious," "Baby Boy," "Shaft," "Boyz N The Hood"), George Tillman ("Soul Food, Barbershop") and St. Clair Bourne ("The Life and Works of Gordon Parks," "John Henrick Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk") and scribe Tina Andrews ("Why Do Fools Fall in Love?") participate in these enlightening and informative discussions.
The HBFF Pitchathon is for filmmakers and storytellers hoping to sell their idea, story, book or screenplay to Hollywood buyers. Participants get to pitch their story ideas to entertainment industry executives (film directors and producers, acquisitions, development, production and distribution executives), talent agents and greenlighters (people who make decisions on whether or not to "greenlight" a project) who will critique their concept/idea to examine its commercial potential in the today's film marketplace.
The juried HBFF Filmmaker & Storyteller Awards honor the achievements of the most promising black filmmakers and screenwriters. Films that screen during the festival compete for the following jury awards: Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Short, Best Student Film, and the HBFF Audience Choice Award. A separate HBFF Storyteller Competition awards scribes for their excellence in screenwriting. Closing Night is highlighted by the announcement of the crowd-favorite HBFF Audience Choice Award, which is selected by audience vote.
See also
- List of film festivals
- Film Festivals
- Pan African Film Festival
- Independent filmIndependent filmAn independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
- 828 Entertainment