By MCN Editor editor@moviecitynews.com
HBO HOSTS MAJOR EVENTS AT FILM LIFE’S 14TH ANNUAL AMERICAN BLACK FILM FESTIVAL, JUNE 23-26, 2010
For Immediate Release
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Spotlight Events Feature Cast Members from HBO Series, New Filmmakers, Plus Director Spike Lee
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New York, N.Y., June 22, 2010 – As the founding and premier sponsor of Film Life’s 14th Annual American Black Film Festival (ABFF), HBO will once again have a major presence at the industry retreat, being held in Miami’s South Beach, June 23-26, 2010. HBO has been working alongside the ABFF since, 1998, helping call attention to the universality of black cinema through competition, workshops and panels, networking opportunities and the sharing of creative resources and visions.
This year, HBO will celebrate its partnership and support by hosting three key events:
* The 13th Annual HBO® Short Film Award – a competition that honors the writing and directing talents of emerging Black filmmakers, the award has been presented as part of the ABFF’s competitive film program since it was established by HBO in 1998. A special screening will take place on Thursday, June 24th, to showcase the five films selected for the final round of competition: The Cycle directed by Roy Clovis, If I Leap directed by Jackie J. Stone, Moth directed by Hilton Carter, Say Grace Before Drowning by Nikyatu Jusu and Stag & Doe co-directed by Daniel Patterson and Justin Staley. The grand prize winner, who will be awarded $20,000, will be announced during the ABFF’s Awards presentation on closing night.
* HBO Panel Series – On Saturday, June 26th, a panel discussion including actors Nelsan Ellis (“Lafayette” on True Blood), Victor Rasuk (“Cam” on How to Make It in America) and Ntare Mwine (“Jacques” on Treme) will take part in what promises to be a lively chat on the “Young Faces of HBO,” moderated by writer, TV personality and social events hostess Bevy Smith.
* HBO Talk Series – Also on Saturday, June 26th, Soledad O’Brien, the award-winning CNN anchor and special correspondent, will have a one-on-one conversation with two-time Oscar®-nominated director Spike Lee. Lee will discuss the documentary If God Is Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise, his follow-up to the Emmy®-winning HBO documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. The new documentary revisits New Orleans five years after Hurricane Katrina.
Founded in 1997, the American Black Film Festival is an industry retreat and competitive marketplace for films by and about people of African descent. The festival’s mission is to facilitate distribution opportunities for quality films and introduce the top echelon of emerging artists to the industry at large. Since its inception, the ABFF has premiered over 500 films, positioning it as the leading film festival for Black and urban content. The ABFF is a property of Film Life, Inc., a New York-based event marketing, production and distribution company founded by Jeff Friday (CEO). Festival information is available online at www.abff.com.
Home Box Office, Inc. is the premium television programming subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., providing two 24-hour pay television services – HBO® and Cinemax® – to approximately 41 million U.S. subscribers. The services offer the most popular subscription video-on-demand products, HBO On Demand® and Cinemax On Demand(SM) as well as HBO GO(SM), HD feeds and multiplex channels. Internationally, HBO branded television networks, along with the subscription video-on- demand products HBO On Demand and HBO Mobile®, bring HBO services to over 60 countries. HBO programming is sold into over 150 countries worldwide.