urbanworld 2012 mini guide
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Urbanworld 2012 Mini GuideTRANSCRIPT
SEPTEMBER 19-23 | NYC | 2012
SUNDAYS AT 9PMSUNDAYS AT 9PM © 2012 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. HBO® and related channels and service marks are the property of Home Box Office, Inc.
SUNDAYS AT 9PMSUNDAYS AT 9PM © 2012 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. HBO® and related channels and service marks are the property of Home Box Office, Inc.
Executive Producer Welcome 4
Presenting Sponsor Welcome 5
Special Screenings 6
Narrative Features 7
Documentary Features 9
Narrative Shorts 11
Screening Schedule 16
In Shorts Program Overview | Ticket Information 18
TABLE OF CONTENTS
2012 URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL MINI GUIDE
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PRESENTING SPONSOR WELCOME
Friends,
Welcome to the 16th Annual Urbanworld® Film Festival! As BET Networks enters its fifth year in our partnership with this superb event, we are excited to celebrate the amazing creativity and work of such talented filmmakers. Our continued support of the Urbanworld® Film Festival brings BET¹s core audience closer to the new wave of emerging talent, while driving our commitment to embrace multi-cultural filmmaking. We know that African Americans are voracious consumers of movies, often going to see a movie they love in the theaters more than once. However, there still remains a significant void in Hollywood when it comes to the production of new African American films. We are excited to announce the launch of our new television movie franchise, BET Premiere Cinema, which will serve our audience with a fresh supply of original, intriguing and captivating movie content.
To kick off the charge, we are honored to share our new original movie “Being Mary Jane” premiering as the festival¹s Opening Night film, as well as one of our great acquisitions, Ava DuVernay’s critically acclaimed “Middle of Nowhere,” which will be featured as the Closing Night film.
This year¹s festival will feature forty nine film selections, including seventeen world premieres, as well as present the work of five Urbanworld Screenplay Competition finalists in live readings. BET Networks is proud to sponsor the Screenplay Award category along with the Teleplay Competition.
We applaud the Urbanworld® Foundation Inc. for preserving its legacy as the premiere showcase for multicultural films and thank everyone who has diligently strived to set the standard and make this event a success.
Kind regards,
Loretha JonesPresident of Original ProgrammingBET Networks
PRESENTING SPONSOR WELCOME
2012 URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL MINI GUIDE
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ExECUTIVE PRODUCER WELCOME
Gabrielle to provide
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER WELCOME
2012 URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL MINI GUIDE
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OPENING NIGhT FILM
BEING MARy JANE(WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2012/63min/ColorDIRECTOR: Salim Akil
Mary Jane Paul happens to be part of a growing American statistic - the single, black female. Journey with this successful television news anchor as she manages her life as a mature single woman. Although she does not have a family to call her own, she does have parents, brothers, nieces and close friends to keep her well-balanced. Mary Jane may report on everyone else’s lives every night on the evening news, but now we will pull the curtain back and see how it feels “BEING MARY JANE.”
THURS., SEPTEMBER 20, 8PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
CLOSING NIGhT FILM
MIDDLE OF NOWhERE(NEW yORk PREMIERE)
USA/2012/100min/ColorDIRECTOR: Ava DuVernay
Winner of the Best Director Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, MIDDLE OF NOWHERE follows Ruby, a bright medical student who sets aside her dreams and suspends her career when her husband is incarcerated. As the committed couple stares into the hollow end of an eight-year prison sentence, Ruby must learn to live another life, one marked by shame and separation. But through a chance encounter and a stunning betrayal that shakes her to her core, this steadfast wife is soon propelled in new and often shocking directions of self-discovery - caught between two worlds and two men in the search for herself.
SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 8PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
SPOTLIGhT SCREENINGS
AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF hER BEAUTy (PRESENTED By AFROPUNk)
USA/2011/93min/ColorDIRECTOR: Terence Nance
With arresting insight, vulnerability, and a delightful sense of humor, Terence Nance’s explosively creative debut feature, AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY, documents the relationship between Nance and a lovely young woman as it teeters on the divide between platonic and romantic. Utilizing a tapestry of live action and various styles of animation, Nance explores the fantasies, emotions, and memories that race through his mind during a singular moment in time.
FRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 8:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11
BMF: ThE RISE AND FALL OFA hIP hOP DRUG EMPIRE(WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2011/60min/ColorDIRECTOR: Don Sikorski
The Black Mafia Family or BMF as they were called made close to $300 million trafficking cocaine from Atlanta to Los Angeles. Two brothers, Demetrius “Meech” Flenory and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory, ran a drug enterprise that had 200 members and was connected to one of the major Mexican cartels. In the Hip-Hop music industry, they created a front company called BMF Entertainment, which was a perfect mix of drugs, violence, and street cred that makes their story Hip-Hop’s version of The Godfather. BMF is an 60-minute documentary that explores the story of the 15 year investigation by the DEA, FBI and an elite drug task force called HIDTA that resulted in 41 defendants across the country being charged in one of the largest drug conspiracy cases ever. The film is a tale that combines the story of a criminal syndicate that lived on a code of honor and conduct that rivaled any of the five Mafia families, and ended just as dramatically.
SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 10:30PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11
SPOTLIGHT SCREENINGS
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ThE GIRL IS IN TROUBLE
USA/2011/94min/ColorDIRECTOR: Julius Onah
From executive producer Spike Lee comes the thriller “The Girl Is In Trouble,” a Lower East Side bartender becomes entangled in a murder mystery involving a desperate woman, a missing drug dealer and the scion of a powerful investment firm.
FRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 8:15PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
ThE TRIPTyCh (WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2012/71min/ColorDIRECTOR: Terence Nance
AFROPUNK Presents The TRIPTYCH, a series of bio-pics with three of the most resonant voices in art: Wangechi Mutu, Barron Claiborne and Sanford Biggers. These films contrasts the art, views and experiences three artists who are contemporaries, luminaries and friends. From fine art to pop culture, in media ranging from album covers and billboards to canvas and sculpture, these artists have used their canny observations to explore beauty and beastliness. The films are a perfect platform to explore the intersection between art, music and the Brooklyn experience.
SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 8:30PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11
WON’T BACk DOWN
USA/2012/117min/ColorDIRECTOR: Daniel Barnes
Two determined mothers, one a teacher, look to transform their children’s failing inner city school. Facing a powerful and entrenched bureaucracy, they risk everything to make a difference in the education and future of their children.
FRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 6PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11
NARRATIVE FEATURES
CANDID(WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2012/95min/ColorDIRECTOR: Vishnu J. Seesahai
A voyeur stalks women throughout the city with a DSLR camera until he crosses paths with a beautiful model who harbors a dark secret, she’s a serial killer.
SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 10PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 10
DAR hE: ThE LyNChING OF EMMETT TILL(NEW yORk PREMIERE)
USA/2012/70min/ColorDIRECTOR: Rob Underhill
In an acting tour de force, one man performs 36 roles in the telling of the Emmett Till tragedy. Experience the story, trial, and unbelievable confessions of those accused of Emmett’s murder in this riveting drama. ‘His death was a spark that ignited the Civil Rights Movement in America’, Ed Bradley, Emmy Award-winning journalist.
FRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 1:30PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11
ELzA(NEW yORk PREMIERE)
Guadeloupe/France/2011/82min/ColorDIRECTOR: Mariette Monpierre
A single mother in Paris, Bernadette tried hard to give her daughters everything. She is thrilled when her eldest, ELZA, the first college graduate in the family, completes her master’s degree. But, ELZA breaks her mother’s heart by running away to their native Guadeloupe in search of a distant childhood memory: the father she barely remembers. This feature debut by writer/director Mariette Monpierre offers an unusual insider’s view of lush island culture as she captures the passion and contradictions of this family.
SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 6PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 10
NARRATIVE FEATURES
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FOUR
USA/2012/75min/ColorDIRECTOR: Joshua Sanchez
A steamy July 4th night brings four people together in two tales of seduction and conflicted desire. Joe is a black, middle-aged, married man out on an Internet date with June, a white teenage boy. Abigayle is Joe’s precocious daughter, out herself with a hot, wisecracking, Latino basketball player named Dexter. As the two couples get to know each other intimately, their realities are tested, and the outcome is bracing. Based on the play by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Obie-winning playwright Christopher Shinn.
SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 6:30PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11
SMALL OF hER BACk(WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2011/87min/ColorDIRECTOR: Russell Leigh Sharman
A suicidal shut-in. A man at her door. And neither is who they seem. SMALL OF HER BACK is a dark romance about Piper, a troubled young woman who never leaves her apartment, and John, who appears one night offering to help. All they have in common is Mollie, John’s sister. Piper met Mollie online, and Mollie changed everything. She sent John to talk Piper out of things she’s threatening. But the truth about John may be more troubling than Piper can imagine.
FRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 3:30PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 10SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 8PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 10
ThE LAST FALL USA/2012/95min/ColorDIRECTOR: Matthew Cherry
An NFL journeyman struggles to deal with life’s complexities after his professional career is over.
SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 3:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 10
TUNNEL VISION (WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2012/82min/ColorDIRECTOR: Delila Vallot
When a jury fails to convict the serial killer who savagely murdered his family, one man must rise above his desire for revenge and descend into the deranged world of a sadistic predator to uncover the truth and finally get justice. What begins as a classic revenge tale takes a dramatic turn into a haunting land of horror and murder.
FRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 7:30PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 10SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 10:30PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
WOLF (NEW yORk PREMIERE)
USA/2012/86min/ColorDIRECTOR: Ya’Ke
A family is shaken to the core when they discover their son has been molested. As they struggle to deal with the betrayal, their son heads towards a total mental collapse because of his love for his abuser, while his abuser attempts to exorcise his own past demons.
FRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 9:30PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 10SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 12:00PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11
NARRATIVE FEATURES
2012 URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL MINI GUIDE
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DOCUMENTARy FEATURES
BENJI
USA/2011/78min/ColorDIRECTORS: Coodie & Chike
In 1984, 17-year-old Ben Wilson was a symbol of everything promising about Chicago: a beloved, sweet-natured youngster from the city’s fabled South Side, and America’s most talented basketball prospect. His senseless murder on the day before his senior season sent ripples through Chicago and the nation. BENJI tells the story of a legend who might’ve been.
SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 5:30PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
DOIN’ IT IN ThE PARk(WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2012/85min/ColorDIRECTORS: Bobbito Garcia, Kevin Couliau
Pick-up basketball is the truest essence of the sport. There is no governing body, no schedules, no coaches or referees; only unwritten rules that change from park to park. People from all walks of life voluntarily step on the asphalt wholeheartedly for the love of the game. Over decades, this passion has manifested a rich culture with its own unique language, attitude, behavior, and style. DOIN’ IT IN THE PARK: PICK-UP BASKETBALL, NYC lovingly uncovers this movement through the voices of playground legends, NBA athletes, and most importantly the common ballplayer who dreams all day about getting off work.
FRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 5:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
FROM FAThERLESS TO FAThERhOOD
USA/2012/82min/ColorDIRECTOR: Kobie Brown FROM FATHERLESS TO FATHERHOOD is a documentary film that explores the causes, effects and possible solutions to father absence in African-American communities. Additionally, the film provides examples of Black men who are fostering quality relationships with their children, families and therefore, their communities. The film is rooted in the real lives of men, women and children and buttressed by the perspectives of Multi Grammy-Award winning Gospel Recording Artist, Kirk Franklin, Dr. Steve Perry (CNN’s Eduction Contributor), Reverend DeForest B. Soaries (CNN’s Black in America: Almighty Debt) and Jeff Robinson (MBK Entertainment).
SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 1:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 10
GETTING UP: ThE TEMPT ONE STORy (NEW yORk PREMIERE)
USA/2021/73min/ColorDIRECTOR: Caskey Ebeling
Tony ‘TEMPT’ Quan is a legendary LA graffiti artist, social activist and publisher. In 2003, he was diagnosed with ALS (also called Lou Gherig’s Disease), a degenerative nerve disorder, which has rendered him unable to move, breathe or speak. But his mind and creative spirit are still intact. In 2009, Mick Ebeling and his Not Impossible Foundation brought a motley crew of international hackers and artists to Los Angeles to attempt the impossible: invent a low-cost, open source DIY device that allows Tempt to once again create art, using the only part of his body that still moves, his eyes.
SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 4:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
2012 URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL MINI GUIDE
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IN OUR hEADS ABOUT OUR hAIR
USA/2012/79min/ColorDIRECTOR: Hemamset Angaza
IN OUR HEADS ABOUT OUR HAIR examines issues Black women confront regarding hair and self-esteem. Despite a current natural-hair trend in some urban areas, many Black women say conforming to mainstream beauty standards makes it easier to find mates and corporate employment. The film encourages viewers to celebrate their natural beauty, but offers differing opinions (and wisdom) from women who have chosen otherwise, while delving into underlying historical and social factors. Women of all ages, opinions, and, of course, hairstyles get IN OUR HEADS ABOUT OUR HAIR.
FRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 5:30PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 10
JAkE ShIMABUkURO: LIFE ON FOUR STRINGS (NEW yORk PREMIERE)
USA/Japan/2012/54min/ColorDIRECTOR: Tadashi Nakamura
JAKE SHIMABUKURO: LIFE ON FOUR STRINGS is a compelling portrait of an inspiring and inventive musician whose virtuoso skills on the ukulele have transformed all previous notions of the instrument’s potential. Through intimate conversations with Shimabukuro (she-ma-BOO-koo-row), Life on Four Strings reveals the cultural and personal influences that have shaped the man and the musician. On the road from Los Angeles to New York to Japan, the film captures the solitary life on tour: the exhilaration of performance, the wonder of newfound fame, the loneliness of separation from home and family.
FRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 12PM | AMC 34TH THEATER 11
JUSTICE FOR SALE(NEW yORk PREMIERE)
The Netherlands/2011/83min/ColorDIRECTORS: Ilse van Velzen, Femke van Velzen
Congolese lawyer Claudine Tsongo is determined to search for the truth in a rape case in which suspect Masamba has fallen victim to a miscarriage of justice. Without any proof, he has been sentenced to ten years in prison for raping a woman; refusing to accept a plea bargain, he maintains his innocence and Tsongo suspects that corruption is at play. Luckily, Tsongo’s elegant interview technique encourages the prosecutor and her fellow attorneys to be surprisingly open—and allows the documentary to make right what the judge did wrong. JUSTICE FOR SALE completes Ilse and Femke van Velzen’s trilogy about rape in the Congo, following on from the acclaimed FIGHTING THE SILENCE and the award-winning WEAPON OF WAR.
FRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 10
MEN AT WORk: VOICES FROMDETROIT’S UNDERGROUND ECONOMy(WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2012/59min/ColorDIRECTOR: H. James Gilmore
Set in America’s most segregated city, where black men are disproportionally the targets of unemployment and incarceration, this documentary profiles some of the creative and resourceful voices from Detroit’s underground economy. These are the stories of how, in an economic climate apparently designed to ensure their failure, people find work on their own terms, get food and shelter, and raise their children—often making up the means to do so as they go along.
FRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 2PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 10
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
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SOUL FOOD JUNkIES
USA/2012/63min/ColorDIRECTOR: Byron Hurt
Baffled by his dad’s unwillingness to change his traditional soul food diet in the face of a health crisis, Hurt sets out to learn more about this rich culinary tradition and its relevance to black cultural identity. He discovers that the love affair that his dad and his community have with soul food is deep-rooted, complex, and in some tragic cases, deadly
SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 10
NARRATIVE ShORTS
ADVANTAGEOUS (EAST COAST PREMIERE)
USA/2012/22mins/ColorDIRECTOR: Jennifer Phang
30 years in the future the unemployment rate in the United States has skyrocketed to unprecedented proportions, affording only the wealthy access to education. In a highly competitive New York City, Gwen, a hardworking single mother, suddenly finds herself on the verge of unemployment. Determined to send her daughter to an expensive Manhattan prep school so she may enter the American elite, Gwen considers an extreme, cutting-edge procedure in order to keep her job as the spokesperson for that very technology. In an increasingly competitive world, how far will a mother go to give her daughter an advantage?
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 2PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11
BABy hALF LIE (U.S. PREMIERE)
Canada/2012/12min/ColorDIRECTOR: Kimberly Miller Pryce
Fourteen-year-old Amanda recently gained a new baby brother. But since the birth her mother hasn’t been the same. Her mother claims she has been raped by her step-dad and rushes her to the hospital for tests. Slowly things between the family begin to unravel, as Amanda searches for the truth.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IIFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
NARRATIVE SHORTS
2012 URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL MINI GUIDE
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BARBASOL (WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2011/20min/ColorDIRECTOR: Ralph K. Scott
BARBASOL - A story about a man that desires a bond with his elderly father. He realizes that he is running out of time due to his father’s increasing dementia. What he comes to realize is he needs to now turn his attention toward his own son. Just as the twig is bent, so grows the tree. BARBASOL is a story that touches on themes that will certainly lead to well needed discussions about father and son relationships as well as mental illness.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IIIFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 3:15PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
ChERRy WAVES (NEW yORk PREMIERE)
USA/2012/15min/ ColorDIRECTOR: Carey Williams
Angie Adams, a hardened yet spiritual streetfighter, faces her biggest challenge of whether to continue living her life for others or finally for herself and the woman she loves.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IIIFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 3:15PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
CROSSOVER
USA/2011/21min/ColorDIRECTOR: Tina Mabry
In 2028, in a world where separate but equal has been re-instated along socioeconomic lines, a struggling mother of two must decide whether to illegally sell her own organs in order for her kids to crossover to a community where opportunities are limitless. When she learns that her son’s autism will prevent him from crossing over, she has to make a heart-wrenching choice whether to allow her gifted daughter to crossover alone or to keep their family intact in an eroding, dangerous, and dead-end community.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IIFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
DELIVERy (U.S. PREMIERE)
France/USA/2011/12min/ColorDIRECTOR: Fabien Mariano Ortiz
Franck is a hustler from the Bronx, New York. He has a partner, Andre. One of Franck’s jobs is to smuggle clandestin people to New York. Franck is going through midlife crises of a crime officer, he wants to change his lifestyle. His next job will get him into a complicated situation where he will have to smuggle a person from the border and take him to New York. The problem is that he is not given the address where he has to take this stranger. Franck is stuck with this “package” until his partner Andre calls him to tell him where he has to go.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 2PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11
DOCkET 32357
USA/2012/14min/ColorDIRECTOR: Randy Wilkins
In an eerily quiet courtroom hallway, Lois anxiously awaits the announcement of docket number 32357. Valerie, a successful retail buyer, rushes to take a seat along the bench we find Lois sitting on. The ominous voice that bellows from the speaker inspires a conversation between Lois and Valerie. What the two women discover will change their lives moving forward. DOCKET 32357 examines the need to overcome loneliness even from the most unexpected of places and how we feel once that opportunity is squandered.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IIIFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 3:15PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
NARRATIVE SHORTS
2012 URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL MINI GUIDE
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EL COCODRILO (ThE CROCODILE)(US PREMIERE)
USA/2012/15min/Color DIRECTOR: Steve Acevedo
When Eduardo, a Mexican journalist who has reported on the corrupt ties between the cartels and the military, is pressured to reveal the names of his sources, he flees to the U.S. with his young son. Little does he know that hot on his trail is Raul, a cartel sicario dispatched to assassinate him. In a cruel twist of fate, Eduardo must succumb to his darkest impulses in order to protect himself and his son.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 2PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11
FOREVER IN hIATUS (WORLD PREMIERE)
Vietnam/USA/2012/24min/ColorDIRECTOR: Andy Nguyen
A washed up former pop star lives in exile pedaling a xich lo (bicycle taxi) aimlessly in the streets of Ho Chi Minh City until he meets a 16 year-old girl who discovers who he is.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IIIFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 3:15PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
FRISk (WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2012/7min/ColorDIRECTOR: Tahir Jetter
Detectives Byrd and Davis are on patrol, one night, in a shady section of AnyCity, U.S.A. But when the officers stumble upon a suspect whom Davis, himself recognizes, each will find his sense of duty complicated and with dire consequences.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IIFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
GRACE (WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2011/10min/ColorDIRECTOR: Christina L. Bryant
A distraught white woman tangles with a black male stranger in an isolated cabin and nothing is what it seems. Salli Richardson- Whitfield examines loss and reconnection in her short narrative directorial debut, Grace.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IIFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
hIGh CARD TRUMPS (WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2012/19min/ColorDIRECTOR: Adam Stein Watson
Lois, a headstrong woman and soon-to-be champion grandmother, is anxious to share her good news with the volunteers of her monthly Support-Our-Troops bake sale. But when an Arab mother joins them, Lois’s pride and definition of patriotism are challenged.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 2PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11
I AM JOhN WAyNE
USA/2011/17min/ColorDIRECTOR: Christina Choe
A young black cowboy struggles with the death of his best friend.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 2PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11
NARRATIVE SHORTS
2012 URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL MINI GUIDE
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IMPOUNDED (WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2012/19min/ColorDIRECTOR: Adam Stein Watson
Desperate to retrieve their stolen car, father and son embark on an urban odyssey finding compassion, cruelty and poetry along the way. Starring Colin Astor Gainey (six-and-a-half-years-old with an unmistakably old soul) and Eloy Mendez (BREAD & ROSES), and based on an injustice the director witnessed on his very first day in Los Angeles, a city he learned to love by making this movie. IMPOUNDED trains its lens on neighborhoods in LA rarely photographed and channels the spirit of THE BICYCLE THIEF; the pulsing heart of AMORES PERROS and the lyricism of DAYS OF HEAVEN.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IIIFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 3:15PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
JUNIOR (US PREMIERE)
USA/2012/11min/ColorDIRECTOR: Jeffery Elmont
Seven years after a police raid gone wrong, Detective Daniel Abrams Sr. and son Daniel Abrams Jr. (Junior) are confronted with the consequence of a mistake that proved fatal for the son of Marvin Williams Sr. Recently released from prison after a term of wrongful imprisonment, revenge-seeking Williams re-enters Abrams’ life with a sinister and unexpected plan to exact justice on his own terms.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
LOCk & kEy (WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2011/10min/ColorDIRECTOR: Dana Verde
A locksmith unlocks the door to a young musician’s apartment and discovers that he is the key to resolving his unresolved past.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IIFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
LOVERS (WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2012/23min/ColorDIRECTOR: Alan Algee
A poetic and cinematic account of a short lived yet passionate affair between two female lovers.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IIIFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 3:15PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
NANI (NEW yORk PREMIERE)
USA/2011/21min/ColorDIRECTOR: Justin Tipping
Oscar got caught spraying graffiti. Now doing community service at a nursing home, he meets Isabel who is suffering from dementia. At 84 years, Isabel may be a little “old school”, but soon the entire block is covered with her pink tag.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IIFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
RECORD/PLAy (US PREMIERE)
USA/2012/11min/ColorDIRECTOR: Jesse Atlas
War, fate, and a broken walkman transcend space and time in this sci-fi love story.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IIIFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 3:15PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
SLEEP (WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2012/12min/ColorDIRECTOR: Donald Conley
One morning changes the lives of two young brothers.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 2PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11
NARRATIVE SHORTS
2012 URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL MINI GUIDE
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ThE BLUEST NOTE (WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2012/15min/ColorDIRECTOR: Marques Green
Before losing his singing voice, Tony Mann was a well-respected recording artist. While hopeful for a change in his condition, he is silently slipping into a state of depression. His dutiful wife is concerned yet feels unable to reach him during this difficult time. Finding solace at a local nightclub, he drinks himself into an alcohol-fueled fantasy. There, he envisions a mythical Siren named Niva. Through the night she offers him a chance to sing again if he will spend the night with her. Now Tony must decide at what cost will he pursue her.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IIFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
ThE COLLEGIANS (WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2011/18mins/ColorDIRECTOR: Bryan B.A. Lewis
A swinging drama based on the story of trumpet legend Erskine Hawkins during his college days in the Depression. As a young trumpet sensation with a big ego he learns the hard way what it means to be a member of the Bama State college band, The Collegians. Horns wail as the group plays the night way, trying to raise the money to save their school.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 2PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11
ThE LAST/FIRST kISS (WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2011/16min/ColorDIRECTOR: Andrea Ashton
Two strangers meet-she, on the even of her marriage to the one man she has ever been intimate with; he a smooth talking charmer with an electric smile. As the words fly, fast, so too do the sparks, and soon only one question remains unanswered.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 2PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11
ThE TRUTh (WORLD PREMIERE)
USA/2012/15min/ColorDIRECTOR: Hill Harper
After late work nights, unexplained whereabouts and suspicious behavior, Carter, suspecting that his wife Betty has been unfaithful and demanding to know the truth, receives news that devastates their marriage and forever changes their lives, while imparting an important life lesson.
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IIFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 2:45PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9
WhITE SPACE (US PREMIERE)
USA/2011/9min/ColorDIRECTOR: Maya Washington
White Space, follows the inner life of a deaf performance poet as he makes his debut at an open-mic night for a hearing audience. Can the language of the heart emancipate the inner voice, transcending the white space between a hearing audience and a deaf man’s soul?
IN SHORTS PROGRAM IIIFRI., SEPTEMBER 21, 3:15PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 11SAT., SEPTEMBER 22, 12PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATER 9SAT., SEPTEMBER 17, 1:30PM | AMC 34TH STREET THEATRE 12
NARRATIVE SHORTS
2012 URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL MINI GUIDE
16 | SCREENING SCHEDULE
2012 URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL2012 URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL
72 | SCREENING SCHEDULE SCREENING SCHEDULE | 73
OPENING NIGHT:BEING MARY JANE
(63)
THU
RS
20
JAKE SHIMABUKURO:LIFE ON FOUR
STRINGS(54)
SHORTS PROGRAM 3(109)
THE LAST FALL(95)
DAR HE: THE LYNCHING OF
EMMIT TILL(70)
ELZA(83)
GETTING UP:THE TEMPT ONE
STORY(73)
CLOSING NIGHT FILM:MIDDLE OF NOWHERE
(100)
MEN AT WORK: VOICES FROM DETROIT’S
UNDERGROUND ECONOMY
(59)
SMALL OF HER BACK(87)
SMALL OF HER BACK(87)
IN OUR HEADS ABOUT OUR HAIR
(79)
SHORTS PROGRAM I(120)
SHORTS PROGRAM I(120)
SHORTS PROGRAM III(117)
JUSTICE FOR SALE(83)
FROM FATHERLESS TO FATHERHOOD
(82)
SOUL FOOD JUNKIES
(63)
SHORTS PROGRAM II(121)
SHORTS PROGRAM II(121)
SHORTS PROGRAM III(117)
DOIN’ IT IN THE PARK(85)
BENJI(78)
TUNNEL VISION(82)
AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY
(93)
THE TRIPTYCH(71)
THE GIRL IS IN TROUBLE
(94)
BMH: THE RISE AND FALL OF A HIP HOP DRUG
EMPIRE(63)
CANDID(95)
FOUR(75)
CANDID(95)
TUNNEL VISION(82)
WOLF(86)
WOLF(86)
AMC 34th St.Theater 9
AMC 34th St.Theater 9
AMC 34th St.Theater 10
AMC 34th St.Theater 11
AMC 34th St.Theater 9
AMC 34th St.Theater 10
AMC 34th St.Theater 11
WON’T BACK DOWN(117)
FR
IDA
Y 2
1SA
TUR
DA
Y 2
2
OPENING NIGHT:BEING MARY JANE
(63)
THU
RS
20
JAKE SHIMABUKURO:LIFE ON FOUR
STRINGS(54)
SHORTS PROGRAM 3(109)
THE LAST FALL(95)
DAR HE: THE LYNCHING OF
EMMIT TILL(70)
ELZA(83)
GETTING UP:THE TEMPT ONE
STORY(73)
CLOSING NIGHT FILM:MIDDLE OF NOWHERE
(100)
MEN AT WORK: VOICES FROM DETROIT’S
UNDERGROUND ECONOMY
(59)
SMALL OF HER BACK(87)
SMALL OF HER BACK(87)
IN OUR HEADS ABOUT OUR HAIR
(79)
SHORTS PROGRAM I(120)
SHORTS PROGRAM I(120)
SHORTS PROGRAM III(117)
JUSTICE FOR SALE(83)
FROM FATHERLESS TO FATHERHOOD
(82)
SOUL FOOD JUNKIES
(63)
SHORTS PROGRAM II(121)
SHORTS PROGRAM II(121)
SHORTS PROGRAM III(117)
DOIN’ IT IN THE PARK(85)
BENJI(78)
TUNNEL VISION(82)
AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY
(93)
THE TRIPTYCH(71)
THE GIRL IS IN TROUBLE
(94)
BMH: THE RISE AND FALL OF A HIP HOP DRUG
EMPIRE(63)
CANDID(95)
FOUR(75)
CANDID(95)
TUNNEL VISION(82)
WOLF(86)
WOLF(86)
AMC 34th St.Theater 9
AMC 34th St.Theater 9
AMC 34th St.Theater 10
AMC 34th St.Theater 11
AMC 34th St.Theater 9
AMC 34th St.Theater 10
AMC 34th St.Theater 11
WON’T BACK DOWN(117)
FR
IDA
Y 2
1SA
TUR
DA
Y 2
2
SCREENING SChEDULE
2012 URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL MINI GUIDE
| 17 SCREENING SCHEDULE
2012 URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL2012 URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL
72 | SCREENING SCHEDULE SCREENING SCHEDULE | 73
OPENING NIGHT:BEING MARY JANE
(63)
THU
RS
20
JAKE SHIMABUKURO:LIFE ON FOUR
STRINGS(54)
SHORTS PROGRAM 3(109)
THE LAST FALL(95)
DAR HE: THE LYNCHING OF
EMMIT TILL(70)
ELZA(83)
GETTING UP:THE TEMPT ONE
STORY(73)
CLOSING NIGHT FILM:MIDDLE OF NOWHERE
(100)
MEN AT WORK: VOICES FROM DETROIT’S
UNDERGROUND ECONOMY
(59)
SMALL OF HER BACK(87)
SMALL OF HER BACK(87)
IN OUR HEADS ABOUT OUR HAIR
(79)
SHORTS PROGRAM I(120)
SHORTS PROGRAM I(120)
SHORTS PROGRAM III(117)
JUSTICE FOR SALE(83)
FROM FATHERLESS TO FATHERHOOD
(82)
SOUL FOOD JUNKIES
(63)
SHORTS PROGRAM II(121)
SHORTS PROGRAM II(121)
SHORTS PROGRAM III(117)
DOIN’ IT IN THE PARK(85)
BENJI(78)
TUNNEL VISION(82)
AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY
(93)
THE TRIPTYCH(71)
THE GIRL IS IN TROUBLE
(94)
BMH: THE RISE AND FALL OF A HIP HOP DRUG
EMPIRE(63)
CANDID(95)
FOUR(75)
CANDID(95)
TUNNEL VISION(82)
WOLF(86)
WOLF(86)
AMC 34th St.Theater 9
AMC 34th St.Theater 9
AMC 34th St.Theater 10
AMC 34th St.Theater 11
AMC 34th St.Theater 9
AMC 34th St.Theater 10
AMC 34th St.Theater 11
WON’T BACK DOWN(117)
FR
IDA
Y 2
1SA
TUR
DA
Y 2
2
OPENING NIGHT:BEING MARY JANE
(63)
THU
RS
20
JAKE SHIMABUKURO:LIFE ON FOUR
STRINGS(54)
SHORTS PROGRAM 3(109)
THE LAST FALL(95)
DAR HE: THE LYNCHING OF
EMMIT TILL(70)
ELZA(83)
GETTING UP:THE TEMPT ONE
STORY(73)
CLOSING NIGHT FILM:MIDDLE OF NOWHERE
(100)
MEN AT WORK: VOICES FROM DETROIT’S
UNDERGROUND ECONOMY
(59)
SMALL OF HER BACK(87)
SMALL OF HER BACK(87)
IN OUR HEADS ABOUT OUR HAIR
(79)
SHORTS PROGRAM I(120)
SHORTS PROGRAM I(120)
SHORTS PROGRAM III(117)
JUSTICE FOR SALE(83)
FROM FATHERLESS TO FATHERHOOD
(82)
SOUL FOOD JUNKIES
(63)
SHORTS PROGRAM II(121)
SHORTS PROGRAM II(121)
SHORTS PROGRAM III(117)
DOIN’ IT IN THE PARK(85)
BENJI(78)
TUNNEL VISION(82)
AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY
(93)
THE TRIPTYCH(71)
THE GIRL IS IN TROUBLE
(94)
BMH: THE RISE AND FALL OF A HIP HOP DRUG
EMPIRE(63)
CANDID(95)
FOUR(75)
CANDID(95)
TUNNEL VISION(82)
WOLF(86)
WOLF(86)
AMC 34th St.Theater 9
AMC 34th St.Theater 9
AMC 34th St.Theater 10
AMC 34th St.Theater 11
AMC 34th St.Theater 9
AMC 34th St.Theater 10
AMC 34th St.Theater 11
WON’T BACK DOWN(117)
FR
IDA
Y 2
1SA
TUR
DA
Y 2
2
2012 URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL MINI GUIDE
18 |
TICkET INFORMATION
ADMISSION: $15.00
WEBSITE: www.urbanworld.org
BOX OFFICE: AMC Box Office 34th Street
Rush line tickets will be available 30 minutes prior to scheduled screenings to
sold out films on a first come, first serve basis as available (CASH ONLY).
Schedule Subject To Change
Advantageous
Delivery
High Card Trumps
I Am John Wayne
Sleep
The Collegians
The Crocodile
The Last / First Kiss
Baby Half Lie
Crossover
Frisk
Grace
Junior
Lock And Key
Nani
The Bluest Note
The Truth
Barbasol
Cherry Waves
Docket 32357
Forever In Hiatus
Impounded
Lovers
Record/Play
White Space
IN ShORTS PROGRAM I
IN ShORTS PROGRAM II
IN ShORTS PROGRAM III
*See a movie a day. The MoviePass™ Discover® Prepaid card is issued by MetaBank™, Member FDIC. Discover and theDiscover Acceptance Marks are service marks used by MetaBank under license from Discover Financial Services.
SHORTS PROGRAM OVERVIEW | TICKET INFORMATION
*See a movie a day. The MoviePass™ Discover® Prepaid card is issued by MetaBank™, Member FDIC. Discover and theDiscover Acceptance Marks are service marks used by MetaBank under license from Discover Financial Services.
BETDONTSLEEP
PREMIERES OCTOBER 1MON-THURS NIGHTS 11P/10C
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