If there’s one thing married couple Floyd Rance and Stephanie Tavares-Rance know how to do, it’s keep a secret. Last year, on the eve of the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival, its founders were tight-lipped about their 20th anniversary opening-night presenters. “I just told my mother,” says Tavares-Rance of the fact that Barack and Michelle Obama were on hand to screen their Higher Ground and Netflix documentary Descendant.
This year, the Rances face the unexpected of another kind, with the SAG-AFTRA strike beginning weeks before the Aug. 4-12 fest, which is preventing actors from promoting their projects. Says Tavares-Rance, with equanimity: “Celebrity is awesome — people love to see their favorite actor or actress on the stage, but it really is about these filmmakers of color, specifically African American filmmakers, that we want to highlight.”
Programming includes panels with the National Museum of African American...
This year, the Rances face the unexpected of another kind, with the SAG-AFTRA strike beginning weeks before the Aug. 4-12 fest, which is preventing actors from promoting their projects. Says Tavares-Rance, with equanimity: “Celebrity is awesome — people love to see their favorite actor or actress on the stage, but it really is about these filmmakers of color, specifically African American filmmakers, that we want to highlight.”
Programming includes panels with the National Museum of African American...
- 8/3/2023
- by Cori Murray
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Dreamseeker Media Releases ‘Ferguson Rises’ Trailer
Dreamseeker Media, in association with Films With a Purpose, Yoruba Saxon and PhilmCo, released a trailer for “Ferguson Rises,” opening Sept. 17 at Laemmle Monica, with a national rollout following.
Directed by Mobolaji Olambiwonnu, the film explores the aftermath of the protests in Ferguson after the police killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown Jr. Highlighting diverse voices of community members, from residents to police officers to business owners, “Ferguson Rises” chronicles the 400-day protests and rise of Black Lives Matter.
Sandra Evers-Manly, Tj Martin, Gigi Pritzker, Kai Bowe, and RZA executive produce, with David Oyelewo and Jessica Oyelowo serving as producers.
Watch the trailer below.
The Redford Center Awards Additional Grant Funding to Six Environmental Impact Documentary Projects
The Redford Center announced that six environmentalist documentary features in the current Redford Center Grants cohort will receive a total of $295,000 in second-year funding. “Demon Mineral,” “Impossible Town,...
Dreamseeker Media, in association with Films With a Purpose, Yoruba Saxon and PhilmCo, released a trailer for “Ferguson Rises,” opening Sept. 17 at Laemmle Monica, with a national rollout following.
Directed by Mobolaji Olambiwonnu, the film explores the aftermath of the protests in Ferguson after the police killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown Jr. Highlighting diverse voices of community members, from residents to police officers to business owners, “Ferguson Rises” chronicles the 400-day protests and rise of Black Lives Matter.
Sandra Evers-Manly, Tj Martin, Gigi Pritzker, Kai Bowe, and RZA executive produce, with David Oyelewo and Jessica Oyelowo serving as producers.
Watch the trailer below.
The Redford Center Awards Additional Grant Funding to Six Environmental Impact Documentary Projects
The Redford Center announced that six environmentalist documentary features in the current Redford Center Grants cohort will receive a total of $295,000 in second-year funding. “Demon Mineral,” “Impossible Town,...
- 9/14/2021
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
The 24th Annual Reel Black Men Short Film Festival kicks off on Saturday with films from Charles Burnett, David M. Massey, and 19 other Black filmmakers. The festival, which will be held virtually through August 22, is put on each year by the Black Hollywood Education Resource Center. The 21 films being screened came from 500 semifinalists that were culled from 1,700 entries submitted from across the globe.
This year’s line-up is “truly outstanding,” said John Forbes, Bherc’s executive director. “They are great stories that include drama, horror, romantic comedy, documentary, and sci-fi. The content is diverse and tells both historical and contemporary, fictional and non-fictional stories. They are compelling in many cases, including the issue of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Sandra Evers-Manly, president of the Bherc, is a former president of the Beverly Hills/Hollywood branch of the NAACP, and the cousin of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers. Last year, she became...
This year’s line-up is “truly outstanding,” said John Forbes, Bherc’s executive director. “They are great stories that include drama, horror, romantic comedy, documentary, and sci-fi. The content is diverse and tells both historical and contemporary, fictional and non-fictional stories. They are compelling in many cases, including the issue of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Sandra Evers-Manly, president of the Bherc, is a former president of the Beverly Hills/Hollywood branch of the NAACP, and the cousin of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers. Last year, she became...
- 8/7/2021
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
The 11th annual Youth Diversity Film Festival will open this weekend, featuring panel discussions and more than 60 films by young filmmakers from the U.S. and 13 other countries, including the UK, Kenya, Russia, Brazil, Bangladesh, South Korea, Iran and India. Presented by the Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center, the online festival runs January 16-31.
Bherc president Sandra Evers-Manly, a former president of the Beverly Hills/Hollywood branch of the NAACP, will open the festival on Saturday, and introduce the young filmmakers. On Monday, they’ll discuss their films and take part in a conversation on social justice.
Saturday’s panel, moderated by Frank Bennett Gonzalez, the DGA’s executive in charge of diversity programs and committees, will focus on how sound and music support storytelling. Panelists will include Glenn T. Morgan, supervising sound editor (Dear White People); Bobbi Banks, former president of the Motion Picture Sound Editors (Straight Outta Compton); Jesse Dodd,...
Bherc president Sandra Evers-Manly, a former president of the Beverly Hills/Hollywood branch of the NAACP, will open the festival on Saturday, and introduce the young filmmakers. On Monday, they’ll discuss their films and take part in a conversation on social justice.
Saturday’s panel, moderated by Frank Bennett Gonzalez, the DGA’s executive in charge of diversity programs and committees, will focus on how sound and music support storytelling. Panelists will include Glenn T. Morgan, supervising sound editor (Dear White People); Bobbi Banks, former president of the Motion Picture Sound Editors (Straight Outta Compton); Jesse Dodd,...
- 1/15/2021
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
Cooley High director Michael Schultz will be honored October 24 by the Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center as part of its 26th annual African American Film Marketplace and the S.E. Manly Short Film Showcase, which runs from October 23-November 29.
“Michael represents the best of the best in Hollywood, a true genius at what he does,” said Bherc president Sandra Evers-Manly. “Cooley High is a classic that launched the careers of several phenomenal actors and inspired a generation of filmmakers. A renaissance professional, Michael has placed an indelible imprint on the stage, film and television industries.”
Cooley High was “so important during its time because of the cultural content as well as its box office performance,” she said. “It’s a comedy turned drama coming-of-age story of high school friends that reached beyond communities and lines of color and gave voice and validation to lives never explored on the big screen.
“Michael represents the best of the best in Hollywood, a true genius at what he does,” said Bherc president Sandra Evers-Manly. “Cooley High is a classic that launched the careers of several phenomenal actors and inspired a generation of filmmakers. A renaissance professional, Michael has placed an indelible imprint on the stage, film and television industries.”
Cooley High was “so important during its time because of the cultural content as well as its box office performance,” she said. “It’s a comedy turned drama coming-of-age story of high school friends that reached beyond communities and lines of color and gave voice and validation to lives never explored on the big screen.
- 10/16/2020
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
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