The 25th Anniversary Urbanworld Film Festival Announces This Year’s Winners

The 25th Anniversary Urbanworld Film Festival announced its 2021 award winners on Sunday, closing day.  Best Narrative Feature (U.S. Cinema) went to the Latinxfilm 7th and Union – directed by Anthony Nardolillo. Best Narrative Feature (World Cinema) was awarded to the Columbian drama, The City of Wild Beasts – directed by Henry E. Rincón. Best Documentary Feature went to Target: St. Louis Vol. 1, an explosive environmental racism exposé – directed by Damien D. Smith, and Ale Libre; and U.S. immigration exposé directed by Maya Cueva, was the winner of BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT.

See below for a full list of winners and Spotlight features.

This year’s Festival featured a hybrid slate of over 88 official selections, panel discussions, conversations, spotlight screenings and innovation sessions presented virtually at urbanworld.org, with a limited number of selections presented in person at Cinepolis Luxury Cinemas in Chelsea.

The 5-day festival was presented by HBO, WarnerMedia and Ally and featured appearances from Ava DuVernay, Patina Miller, RZA, Shameik Moore, Reinaldo Marcus Green, Aunjanue Ellis, Haile Gerima, Tristan Mack Wilds, Reggie Rock Bythewood, Brian Grazer, Quvenzhané Wallis, Jaden Michael, Isaiah Hill, Erika Alexander, Zolee Griggs, TJ Atoms, Aliyah Royale, Alexa Mansour, Joe Holt, Tananarive Due, Steven Barnes, Brande Victorian, Kelley Carter, Danielle Belton, Gia Peppers, Chuck Creekmur, Terrance J, Moikgantsi Kgama andMichelle Mitchell .

VIRTUAL SPOTLIGHT PRESENTATIONS included panel discussion and screenings of:

Colin In Black & White featuring Colin Kaepernick (Presented by Netflix and ARRAY)

Home Sweet Home (from Ava Duvernay and presented by NBCUniversal)

Horror Noire (Presented by Shudder)

King Richard (Presented by Warner Bros, produced by Jada and Will Smith)

Power Book III: Raising Kanan (Presented by Starz)

Queen Sugar (from Ava Duvernay and presented by OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)

Sankofa (Presented by Ava Duvernay’s ARRAY)

The Walking Dead: World Beyond (Presented by AMC Network)

Wu-Tang: An American Saga (Created by RZA and presented by Hulu)

The 2021 Urbanworld Film Festival winners are: 

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE (U.S. CINEMA) – 7th and Union – Directed by Anthony Nardolillo 

THE JURY:

• Michele Arteaga, Executive Director, Program Acquisitions, STARZ
• Mercedes Cooper, Vice President, Public Programming, ARRAY
• Ryan Jones, Senior Vice President, Production Development, Universal Pictures

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE (WORLD CINEMA) – The City of Wild Beasts – Directed by Henry E. Rincón

THE JURY:

• Carlos Aguilar, Film Critic
• Leslie Cohen, Senior Vice President, Content Acquisitions, WarnerMedia
• Stacy Spikes, Founder, Urbanworld Film Festival and Founder, Pre-Show

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE – Target: St. Louis Vol. 1 – Directed by Damien D. Smith 

Presented by NBCU News Group – $2,500 Prize

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT – Ale Libre – Directed by Maya Cueva

Honorable Mention: Wonderfully Made- Directed by Benita Ozoude

THE JURY:

• Jackie Glover, Head of Documentary, ABC
• Alexandra Hannibal, Director, Content Development, CNN Films
• Dionne Harmon, Executive Vice President, Content & Strategy, Jesse Collins Entertainment
• Yvette Miley, Senior Vice President, DEI, NBCU News Group

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BEST YOUNG CREATOR – All The Young Dudes – Directed by William Stead

Presented by Ally – $10,000 Prize

Honorable Mention: Sunday – Directed by Christian Schifano

THE JURY:

• Greta Talia Fuentes, Vice President, Film Production and Development, MACRO
• Cierra Glaude, Director
• Erica Hughes, Director, Multicultural Marketing, Ally

BEST NARRATIVE SHORT – Swimsuit – Directed by Hasan Hadi

Presented by WarnerMedia – $5,000 Prize

THE JURY:

• Axel Caballero, Head of OneFifty and Vice President, WarnerMedia Artistic & Cultural Innovation
• Brenda Gilbert, President, BRON Media
• Maria Weaver, President, WEA, Warner Music Group

BEST ANIMATION SHORT – Step Into The River – Directed by Weijia Ma

THE JURY:

• Stephanie Bang, Vice President, Feature Film Development, Dreamworks Animation
• Helena Hilario, Writer & Producer
• Carl Reed, President, Lion Forge Animation

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BEST EXPERIMENTAL SIDEBAR – Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Mama – Directed by Topaz Jones + rubberband.

THE JURY:

• Amy Andrieux, Executive Director & Chief Curator, MoCADA
• Tamara McCaw, Chief Civic Programs Officer, The Shed
• Kyoko Minegishi, Founder, Maze Bright

BEST ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIAL IMPACT – Youth V. Gov – Directed by Christi Cooper

Honorable Mention: On The Fenceline – Directed by Tara Eng, Kristen Harrison, Alex Klein, Alisha Tamarchenko

THE JURY:

• Carlton Eley, Environmental Expert
• Dilshanie Perera, Fellow, Climate Museum
• Katherine Weinstein, Acquisitions & Content Strategy, Discovery

BEST WEB ORIGINAL – Our Shag Pad – Directed by Aldo Pisano 

THE JURY:

• Sam Linsky, Co-Head, Scripted Original Programming, Warner Media
• Myles O’Connell, Director of TV/Film/SVOD Entertainment Partnerships, North America, Facebook
• Aisha Corpas Wynn, Senior Vice President, Alternative Television Programming, MACRO Television Studios

BEST MUSIC VIDEO – North Star by Mumu Fresh feat. D Smoke – Directed by T.L. Benton 

THE JURY:

• Jeff Burroughs, Senior Vice President, Brand Partnerships, Def Jam
• Colin Gayle, Founder, Africa Creative Agency
• Camille Hackney, Chief Partnerships Officer, Atlantic Records and Head, Global Brand Partnerships Council, Warner Music Group

BEST SCREENPLAY – The 84 – Written by Sonja Perryman

Honorable Mention: Inheritance – Written by Fedna Jacquet

THE JURY:

• Tayo Amos, Writer + Director
• Patrick Coker, Writer/Director/Producer 
• Melody Cooper, Writer
• Rashidi Hendrix, Founder, Metallic Entertainment
• Zora Howard, Writer + Performer

BEST FEMALE DIRECTOR, US NARRATIVE FEATURE

Women Is Losers – Directed by Lissette Feliciano

This Is Not A War Story – Directed by Talia Lugacy

Presented by New York Women In Film & Television – $1,000 Prize (Each)

THE JURY:

• Katie Chambers, Community Engagement Director, NYWIFT
• Cynthia Lopez, Executive Director, NYWIFT
• Zenaida Mendez, Board Member, NYWIFT

 Sponsors

Urbanworld’s founding partner HBO was joined by prestige partners WarnerMedia and Ally.  Supporting partners include AMC Network, Comcast Xfinity, Facebook, Hulu, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Shudder, STARZ andK. Period Media.  Industry partners include ARRAY, MPA, WGAE, DGA andPreShow Interactive.  Essence, iHeartRadio/Power 105.1, TheRoot.com, HuffPo and BuzzFeed are media partners.  Spirit and beverage sponsors are Bulleit, Diageo andFever Tree.

ABOUT URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL: The Urbanworld Film Festival was launched in 1997 by founder Stacy Spikes, co-founder of MoviePass, founder of PreShow Interactive, and a former executive at Miramax and October Films.  With estimated attendance reaching over 15,000 in-person, the five-day festival showcases narrative features, documentaries, short films, web originals, experimental, spotlight screenings and conversations, and music performances. Urbanworld’s 2021 25th Anniversary edition will be available as a hybrid festival featuring an in-person footprint in NYC, as well as an online platform showcasing official selection projects and virtual spotlight conversations.  Hollywood studios, networks and streamers, as well as established and emerging content creators, have consistently chosen Urbanworld to premiere box office hits and award-winning projects.  Anchored in creativity, culture and community, Urbanworld is an initiative of the Urbanworld Foundation, which advances the inclusion and impact of diverse content creators through its platforms provided to storytellers from around the world. Gabrielle Glore serves as Festival Director and Head of Programming.  The organization’s website is urbanworld.org.