Festival to screen films and host panel focused on topic NEW YORK, July 10
NEW YORK, July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Film Life's 12th annual American Black
Film Festival (ABFF) will take place August 7-10, 2008, in Los Angeles, CA,
with Exploring Black Romance and Sexuality in American Cinema as its theme.
"The majority of American films, from PG to R have romance and sexuality
either prominently featured or as the subtext. Black romance and sexuality are
rarely part of the storyline in these films and realistic portrayals of how
and whom we love are few and far between. We intend to explore the question
'is Black romance taboo or too hot to handle?'" said Jeff Friday, CEO of Film
Life, Inc. and founder and producer of the American Black Film Festival. "When
you look at the leading actors or actresses in those films you will discover a
disturbing fact, the story line rarely involves people of color. An internet
search on IMDB found that of the roughly 350 films earning more than $100
million at the box office 50 of them had love scenes but not one of those
scenes involved a person of color," added Friday.
The ABFF is the premier international marketplace for films that showcase
the best new work by and about people of African descent. The mission of the
festival is to encourage collaboration and support between Hollywood and the
independent film community through resource sharing, education, artistic
collaboration and career development. "The ABFF takes its role as the voice of
Black independent cinema very seriously," said actor Anthony Mackie, who
serves as the 2008 ABFF Ambassador. "If we are afraid to initiate the dialog,
ask the questions and demand the answers, who do we expect will do it?" he
continued.
In its 12 years, the ABFF has screened over 500 independent films, with
seventy per cent having gone on to secure theatrical or DVD distribution.
Festival alumni include director Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard) and producers
Rob Hardy and Will Packer (This Christmas and Stomp the Yard), producer Roger
M. Bobb (Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married and Daddy's Little Girls) and
writer/director Frank E. Flowers (Haven). The ABFF was born out of the need to
generate distribution opportunities for independent Black films and promote
cultural diversity within the motion picture industry. Festival attendance is
expected to exceed 5,000 people.
In keeping with its theme, the festival will screen several classic films
with romance and sexuality at their core, culminating with a panel discussion
entitled: Can We Get Some Love? Exploring Black Romance and Sexuality in
American Cinema. The panel will take place on Friday, August 8th at 6pm at the
WGA Theatre. "There was a more than 20 year gap where there were no major
films exploring black love and romance," said Reggie Scott, festival executive
director. "We left off with Claudine and Mahogany in the 70's and picked up
with Waiting to Exhale and Love Jones in the 90s," he added.
Festival activities will be centered in West Hollywood and Beverly Hills
and Allstate(R) has signed on as the 2008 Presenting Sponsor. HBO(R), the
festival's Founding Sponsor, returns along with Target, BETJ and luxury
automaker Lincoln as Premiere Sponsors. Blockbuster and Heineken are Official
Sponsors and Nielsen Media Research, One Village Entertainment, Fox
Searchlight Pictures, Codeblack Entertainment, Nickelodeon and Fox
Entertainment Group are Supporting Sponsors. SAG Indie, Writers Guild of
America West, and the Greater Philadelphia Film Office are Industry Sponsors.
Black Enterprise, Uptown, Upscale, Black Noir, Heart&Soul, Precious Times,
Automotive Rhythms, Toy Box, Monarch, Hope Today Magazine, NV, Save the Date,
EUR Web are media sponsors.
2008 ABFF information and registration can be found online at www.abff.com
or by e-mail: abff@thefilmlife.com.
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The ABFF, co-founded by Jeff Friday in 1997, is a property of Film Life,
Inc., a New York-based film marketing and distribution company. Its mission is
to spearhead the global distribution of quality Black films and be the leading
American brand producing Black movies, television, events and digital content.
Film Life is the producer of the American Black Film Festival (abff.com), The
Turks & Caicos International Film Festival (turksandcaicosfilmfest.com), The
Black Movie Awards (blackmovieawards.com), and the ABFF DVD Series
(thefilmlife.com), a partnership with Warner Home Video.
SOURCE Film Life
