Last night, Urbanworld Film Festival, in association with AT&T’s The Humanity Connection and longtime partner HBO, kicked off its 22nd annual event at the AMC Empire 25 theater in Times Square. This year features a slate of 69 official selections and seven high-profile Spotlight selections that include Viola Davis’ upcoming crime caper, “Widows,” and Amandla Stenberg’s highly anticipated film adaptation of the Angie Thomas New York Times best-seller “The Hate U Give.” Guests confirmed to appear at the festival include Boris Kodjoe, Ramon Rodriguez, Mustafa Shakir, Simone Missick, Malcolm D. Lee, Will Packer and journalist Elaine Welteroth. Other Spotlight selections include the Tasha Smith, Ronreaco Lee thriller “Running Out of Time,” indie drama “Little Woods,” starring Tessa Thompson, and critically acclaimed coming of age
drama “Jinn.”
Yara Shahidi, Zendaya, Common and LeBron James lend their voices to “Smallfoot,” the only animated selection among the Spotlight films. It chronicles the adventures of a young yeti after he discovers human beings, something he didn’t think existed. “Tyrel” stars Jason Mitchell in this fish out of water/only Black guy at this party full of white people tale. Finally, there is “United Skates,” a documentary that takes a look at the still thriving roller skating scene in many clubs across the country—a scene that remains predominantly Black.
Opening the festival was “Night School,” the new Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Hart comedy with Haddish, Hart and co-stars walking the red carpet at the SVA Theatre on 23rd Street at Eighth Avenue.
Programming for the festival includes Urbanworld Music, featuring a series of nightlife events to round out the festival. Ray Angry of The Roots performed at the opening night party. Grammy award-winning artists Bilal and artist/actor Ayo will perform Sept. 22nd at Sony Hall.
Urbanworld Digital also returns to the HBO Theater this year. HBO’s new POV campaign will make a stop, giving a panel discussion and Q&A providing an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at the creative process at one of HBO’s most popular shows “Westworld.” Panelists include “Westworld” writer Gina Atwater and producer Hale Phillips. This panel will be in addition to a daylong run of panels and workshops, with opening remarks by Stacy Spikes, founder of the Urbanworld Film Festival and co-founder of MoviePass. OkayAfrica will host a panel called “African Diaspora Migration: Cinema’s Role in Bridging Gaps.” The panel “Killer Creativity,” with panel guests Hans Charles, Jamal Noisette, Sebastien Silva and Nefertite Nguvu, will discuss the incorporation of the latest distribution platforms and storytelling techniques.
The upcoming HBO documentary “The Sentence” will premiere at Urbanworld Sept. 20. First-time filmmaker Rudy Valdez has been shooting video footage of his nieces for more than a decade so that his sister, who has been incarcerated in federal prison on a 15-year mandatory sentence for conspiracy, can watch her daughters grow up. It’s a searing look at how the prison industrial system and the practice of mandatory minimums affect women. Although men get the lion’s share of attention, it affects women and their families as well.
Inspired by the life of Lil Rel Howery (“Get Out”), Fox’s “Rel” will debut at the festival Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018. The multicamera comedy stars Howery as a successful, hardworking father and husband on the West Side of Chicago, whose perfect life is upended after discovering his wife’s affair with his barber.
This year’s Urbanworld festival will also celebrate the 30th anniversary of comedy classic “Coming to America,” with a screening Friday, Sept. 21, followed by a Q&A with its stars John Amos, Vondie Curtis Hall and Frankie Faison.
Along with founding partner HBO, key supporters of Urbanworld include BET as prestige partner and NBCUniversal as premiere partner. Industry partners include AMC Independent, ARRAY, MPAA, Directors Guild of America, Producers Guild of America and Writers Guild of America East. Visit www.urbanworld.org for
more information.