urbanworld
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Urbanworld Film Festival 2020 Braved a New (Virtual) World, Winners Announced
Another year, another Urbanworld Film Festival wrapped! This year marked the 24th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival and this year’s theme was, “A Brave New (Virtual) World.” This year’s Urbanworld festival ambassador was show creator and director Justin Simien (Dear White People, Bad Hair), and this five-day virtual event featured other major names such as Stacey…
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Urbanworld 2020’s Virtual Festival Packs Cinematic Treats—and Some Scares—in Must-Watch Lineup
Urbanworld Film Festival will be virtual this year—much like everything else—but it won’t lack for sizzle or star power. The film festival announced its much-anticipated 2020 lineup on Thursday, starting with African British actor David Oyelowo’s feature directorial debut, The Water Man. The fantasy-adventure film will open the festival, now in its 24th year, on…
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Urbanworld 2019: We Came, We Saw, We Covered
The Urbanworld Film Festival is a space for black cinematic excellence. For five days (from Sept. 18-22), Urbanworld showed New York City and the world why the festival is in its 23rd year (The Root was a media sponsor of the festival). On Wednesday, Harriet, a film directed by Kasi Lemmons, opened the festival with…
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Burning Cane—One of This Year’s Most Acclaimed Black Films—Joins the Urbanworld Lineup
Dubbed “one of the most exciting black films of the year,” festival-circuit darling Burning Cane will be screened at this year’s 23rd Urbanworld Film Festival, which will take place in New York City from Sept. 18-22. The much-buzzed-about film stars Wendell Pierce as a Louisiana preacher in a film that examines the impact religion has…
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23 Years and Counting: 2019 Urbanworld Film Festival to Screen Harriet, Just Mercy and More
The magic number is 23 for one of the biggest festivals highlighting creators of color! That’s right, the 23rd Annual Urbanworld Film Festival is back and has announced its 78 official selections and seven spotlight selections, along with its founding partner, HBO. (Editor’s Note: The Root is a media sponsor of Urbanworld.) “Each year we…
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Director Malcolm D. Lee on Breaking Out of the Limiting Label of 'Urban' Films
Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of director Malcolm D. Lee’s first major film, The Best Man, which hit theaters in October 1999. Since then, he has directed multiple movies with predominately African-American casts, including this year’s Night School and last year’s blockbuster comedy smash, Girls Trip. But does he get the respect he…
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It’s a Wrap! Urbanworld Closes Its 22nd Year With a Very Promising Slate of Fall Films
Collaboration, innovation and the power of women—these were recurrent themes at the 2018 Urbanworld Film Festival, which brought unseen gems, highly-anticipated box office hits, and established and up-and-coming filmmakers and talents from all over the world together for five incredible days in New York City. The week, which opened with the Tiffany Haddish and Kevin…
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Urbanworld Celebrates 20 Years of Showcasing Black Films While Hollywood Plays Catch-Up
Long before Hollywood entertained modern-day diversity or inclusion conversations, Urbanworld, founded by onetime Motown Records and Miramax Films executive Stacy Spikes in 1997, was already expanding the “urban” landscape in film, pushing beyond racial, geographic and other limits, and freely mixing music and other aspects of urban culture. It’s a mission the festival, in its…