Complete Film Lineup For 2011 American Black Film Festival Announcedby Wilson Morales
June 21, 2011
The lineup for the 15th annual American Black Film Festival, taking place in Miami, July 6-9, was recently announced, with Robert Townsend’s ‘In The Hive‘ slated as the opening night film selection.
Written by Cheryl L. West, the film stars Michael Clarke Duncan, Loretta Devine, Vivica A. Fox, Ali Liebert, Percy Daggs III, Jonathan ‘Lil J’ McDaniel, Roger Guenveur Smith, Bre Scullark, Richard Kuhlman, Jontille Gerard, Michael Coley, Gordon Greene, David Baeza, and Tre Roberts.
‘In The Hive‘ is based on the real experiences of the people who attend and teach at a special school in North Carolina called “The Hive.” It’s based on a true story about this woman in North Carolina named Vivian Saunders, who basically without really any formal education, started an alternative school for all these boys who were being kicked out: gang bangers, drug dealers. And they’re all teenagers, fathers at 14 and 15.
The Hive was created to provide a safe place for troubled boys to get a second chance at an education, learn about technology and also about breaking the cycle of living life on the streets, in gangs, and in jail.
Also a highlight of this year’s festival is R&B crooner Eric Benét‘s starring role in ‘Trinity Goodheart,’ which will be the centerpiece film.
Written by Rhonda Freeman-Baraka and directed by cinematographer Joanne Hock, the film centers around a 12-year-old girl, played by Erica Gluck, on a mission to reunite her disjointed family.
Trinity Goodheart (Gluck) is an exceptionally gifted 12 year old girl who is raised by her free-spirited musician father Jeremy (Benét). When Trinity is visited by an angel who leaves her a pendant that belonged to her long-lost mother, Trinity concludes her mother is in danger and needs her help. Against her father’s wishes, Trinity begins a journey to reunite her disjointed family and, in the process, teaches them the value of love, faith and forgiveness.
‘NARRATIVE FEATURES’ (In Competition)
‘BLACK GOLD,’ directed by Jeta Amata
A powerful story of greed, murder and corruption in the murky waters of the volatile oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria, Black Gold is an epic film about environmental justice and the fight over the control of the scarce oil resources that the world runs on.
Cast includes Billy Zane, Tom Sizemore, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen, Eric Roberts, Sarah Wayne Callies, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Razaaq Adoti, and Mbong Amata
‘DAVID IS DYING,’ directed by Stephen Lloyd Jackson
A young, successful hedge fund manager has just been told that he is HIV positive. He is informed of the possibility that his unborn child could also be infected and so too the child’s mother, his long-term fiancée, Carla. Through an intense therapy session with his psychiatrist, David takes us on a pernicious journey that starts twelve months prior – the women, the sex and the demons.
Cast includes Lonyo Engele, Bridgette Millar, Allan Sealy, and Robert Hyacinth
‘DYSFUNCTIONAL FRIENDS,’ directed by Corey Grant
A comedy/ drama that’s billed as a modern day version of ‘The Big Chill,’ ‘Dysfunctional Friends‘ is about 10 friends who went to college together but have not spoken to each other in seven years. The reunite when their larger then life friend Dennis (Keith Robinson) unexpectedly dies from a freak skydiving accident.
Film stars Keith Robinson, Meagan Good, Stacey Dash, Tatyana Ali, Essence Atkins, Vanessa Simmons, Erica Hubbard, Hosea Sanchez, Wesley Jonathan, Jason Weaver, Datari Turner, Reagan Gomez, Persia White, Stacy Keibler, Rodney Jerkins, Dennis White, Antwon Tanner, Meagan Markle, Christian Keys, and Laila Odom. NFL Superstar Terrell “T.O.” Owens is making his big screen debut.
‘THE LAST LAUGH,’ directed by Kenny Young
The film follows the life of a comedian who rises from nothing to be a major superstar in comedy and Hollywood, and chronicles the star’s fall from grace. Comedic actor Tony Rock plays the titled character who falls from grace and who we follow as he tries to get back on track to become a major superstar again.
Also included in the film are Rodney Perry, Faune A. Chambers, Marla Gibbs, Clifton Powell, Kym Whitley, Joe Torry, Chris Spencer, and Michael Colyar.
‘THE TESTED,’ directed by Russell Costanzo
Based on the award winning short of the same name, the film is a life shattering tragedy that sends three people on vastly different paths to a similar goal of redemption and understanding.
Cast includes Aunjanue Ellis, Frank Vincent, Armando Riesco, Nathan Corbett, Annie Parisse and Michael Morris
HBO SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Five films compete for $20,000 grand prize sponsored by HBO.
‘FIG,’ directed by Ryan Coogler
CAST: Jontille Gerard, Jessica Tome, Charline St. Charles
Candace is a young, single mother in South Los Angeles. One night, when she is without food or money, she makes a desperate choice–and risks losing the most important thing in her life, as the bond with her daughter is put to the ultimate test.
‘FOR FLOW,’ directed by Jason Camp
CAST: Brian D. Coats, Cherrye Davis, Vladimi Versailles, Devere Rogers
Dee and Kane are two aspiring MCs (rappers) searching for a way to climb out of the hard-knock lives they’ve been forced to lead. On a lonely street corner in the Bronx, they wait for a record producer in hopes that the meeting will change their lives forever.
‘PAGE 36,’ directed by Nelsan Ellis
CAST: Roger Guenveur Smith, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Coley Mustafa Speaks
Roman Wilson, a recently paroled two-time felon, returns home to his overworked and underpaid girlfriend and their terminally ill son, who is in desperate need of medical care. With no positive employment prospects, and desperate for money, Roman signs a contract with a deadly clause.
‘SALVATION ROAD,’ directed by Ka’ramuu Kush
CAST: Russell Hornsby, Michael J. Harney, Roger Guenveur Smith
Business becomes unusual for an unsuspecting hitman who senses that he’s been witnessed murdering his traitorous mentor by a 9-year-old boy.
‘THE TURTLE & THE NIGHTINGALE,’ directed by Gershon Hinkson
CAST: Paul Barber, Lawrence Daniels-White, George Johnston, Rapha’el Olakotan
In Crystal Palace, London, as three precocious twelve-year-olds navigate their already antagonizing lives at home, they also grapple with the issue of bullying in school—and learn a lesson about friendship that might cost one of them his life.
NARRATIVE FEATURES (Out of Competition)
‘BREATHE,’ directed by J Jesses Smith
Inspired by the true story of Angela Burgin Logan, the film “Breathe” showcases how a mothers dream can turn into a nightmare.
Cast includes Samson Logan, Jazsmin Lewis, Robin Givens, Elise Neal, Miguel Nunez, Steven Williams, Clyde Jones, Angelea Preston and Ken Kushner
‘MOTHER COUNTRY,’ directed by Maria Breaux
After committing murder, Dwight Porter grows remorseful and leaves his environment with a goal: walk across the United States in search of a former teacher, the one person who believed in him
‘THE SHANGHAI HOTEL,’ directed by Jerry Allen Davis
The Shanghai Hotel is the story of a young woman named Yin Yin (Eugenia Yuan), who illegally buys her way to the USA from communist China hoping to make a better life for herself and her family. After a long, treacherous journey stowed away in a the dark hull of an overcrowded cargo ship, Yin Yin arrives in New York City for what she thinks will be the beginning of a better life. Falsely promised a job in the technology industry, her dreams are shattered when she is told by the Snakeheads, an Asian gang, that her debt is much higher than expected. To pay off that additional debt she will have to work it off by being a prostitute. Yin Yin is devastated by the news that she is being sold into the sex slave trade. The rundown, decrepit building that Yin Yin and the other prostitutes live and work in is known as the Shanghai Hotel. Women from Thailand, Korea and China all reside in the Shanghai Hotel.
‘THE EXPERIENCE,’ directed by Addison Henderson
“The Experience” follows the five individuals on their trek across Ghana as they uncover the dark history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, through the aid of locals who live where it all started. They even came across actual shackles used to chain the slaves, which had become rusted and aged over hundreds of years.
DOCUMENTARIES
‘BROWN BABIES,’ directed by Regina Griffin
Brown Babies: The Mischlingskinder Story is a powerful new documentary which tells the story of six so-called “brown babies” born in postwar occupation Germany.
‘MORE THAN CONQUERORS,’ directed by Seth Chase
‘More Than Conquerors’ is a series of thirteen awe-inspiring, exciting, and adventurous short films hosted by social entrepreneur, international speaker, networker, and writer Simon Guillebaud, which explore the calling to radical discipleship in the 21st century. Traveling through some of the world’s most dangerous and war-torn zones (Burundi, Rwanda, Congo, Tanzania, Uganda, & Sudan), the film challenges people to journey beyond the comfortable cross of contemporary Western Christianity, in order to become ‘more than a conqueror’.
‘SOLE OF A HUSTLA,’ directed by Chad Heeter
Sole of a Hustla follows Memphis-based entrepreneur Big C from small time street hustler to big time businessman and CEO of Gametime Athletics — the would-be shoe empire of every starry-eyed entrepreneur’s dreams.
‘THE SCROLL,’ directed by Parrish Smith
“The Scroll: Evidence of Life Unseen” is a collection of stories told by the most prolific religious leaders of the 21st century. This movie is an intimate portrait of the hearts of pastors and ministers out of their robes and pulpits.
Further information can be found at www.abff.com
