Miracles, Barbie Dolls, and The RZA at the Urbanworld Film Festival

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Wednesday, 01 November 2023 13:16

Written by Brad Balfour

The 27th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival is a five-day festival, based in New York City, showcasing narrative and documentary features, short films, web originals, music videos, spotlight screenings and conversations, and live staged screenplay readings. Running November 1st to the 5th at various venues in New York City, Urbanworld was founded in 1997 by Stacy Spikes and today a slate of films, documentaries, and shorts from a variety of voices and genres.

Special presentations include Flower, directed by Lauren Finerman. In homage to Black silent films of the 1920s, Finerman directs a poignant story about a young woman named Rose (Misty Copeland), who has had to place her dreams on hold to care for her mother, Gloria (Christina Johnson), living with dementia. A potent subtext to the film is the housing affordability crisis that's devastated the Bay Area. As Rose struggles to keep a roof over their heads, she watches the neighborhood around her fade away much like her mother's memory, until the mysterious Sterling (Babatunji Johnson) helps to highlight the power of community and the strength found through unity, bringing Rose renewed hope for the future.

In Chronicles of a Wandering Saint, written and directed by Tomás Gómez Bustillo, Rita, an elderly chapel keeper, stages a miracle, setting off a series of strange events. Through intimate access to a charismatic Mattel insider, Beulah Mae Mitchell, the documentary Black Barbie delves into the cross section of merchandise and representation as Black women strive to elevate their own voices and stories, refusing to be invisible.

Having its world premiere is A Wu-Tang Experience: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, combining performances, interviews and revealing insights from various group members and associates, classical musicians and concertgoers, this feature documents the extraordinary concert at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre where The Wu-Tang Clan, backed by the 60-piece Colorado Symphony Orchestra, weaves together songs from their vast discography of group and solo albums to create a live score to a real-time screening of the seminal martial arts film "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin" - the movie that largely inspired the Clan's aesthetic and the title of their groundbreaking debut album "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)." Through exploring the question of whether hip-hop has earned the legitimacy of more prestigious musical genres, "A Wu-Tang Experience" delivers answers that inform, reveal and inspire. After the screening is a discussion with co-directors The RZA and Gerald K. Barclay.

Urbanworld Film Festival celebrates the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop with "Lights, Cameras, Rhymes: 50 Years of Hip Hop on Screen." This program includes A Love Letter to Hip Hop, a visual journey through the history of Hip Hop. Directed by Benny Boom and starring Tariq (Black Thought) Trotter, this homage brilliantly captures 50 years of Hip Hop history, from its humble beginnings to the multi-billion dollar global ecosystem and lifestyle it is today. Followed by a montage of iconic Hip Hop music videos, and a panel discussion with RZA, Benny Boom, Black Thought, and special guests.

To learn more, go to: https://urbanworld.org/

Urbanworld Film Festival
November 1 - 5, 2023

Various venues in NYC

Chelsea Film Festival 2023: Global Voices in Film

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Friday, 29 September 2023 14:58

Written by Brad Balfour

With filmmakers from around the world, The Chelsea Film Festival hits downtown NYC October 12th to the 15th, 2023. Running at the Regal Union Square (850 Broadway), the CFF features a wide array of features, shorts and documentaries looking at global issues. The Indie Episodics portion of the festival is an array of comedies, dramas, and documentaries ranging from four to thirty minutes in length, featuring unique voices in filmmaking. 

The festival opens with the world premiere of The Dirty South, directed by Matthew Yerby. In podunk Louisiana, Sue Parker (Willa Holland) manages the family bar, providing for her young brother and drunken father. Behind on their mortgage, the local big-wig, Jeb Roy (Dermot Mulroney), gives Sue 3 days to pay $30k or he takes the property. With no options, Sue catches a wanderer, Dion (Shane West), stealing from her regulars. An idea strikes, and a partnership is set. But robbing powerful people in a small town has deadly consequences.

Celebrate the Golden Age of Hip Hop with the World Premiere of Closing Film, Yasmyn. Clarity For a Day or Two. This documentary follows the journey of Yasmyn (Sinencia Jasmine Kass), a visionary artist whose roots span Dominican and Estonian heritage, a fusion that reflects her unique perspective in a world still discovering diversity. Yasmyn’s daring, experimental music carved a niche and won her a devoted following. However, when the pandemic brought live concerts to a grinding halt, Yasmyn faced a daunting challenge. Forced to navigate the uncertainties of her twenties, she found herself balancing a life as a nail technician while fiercely holding onto her musical dreams.

To learn more, go to: https://chelseafilm.org/

Chelsea Film Festival
October 12 - 15, 2023

Regal Union Square
850 Broadway
New York, NY 10003

The 35th Annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival: An International Look at Queer Cinema

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Wednesday, 27 September 2023 15:12

Written by Brad Balfour

For thirty five years New York’s LGBTQ+ Film Festival has been presenting daring and bold queer cinema, and this year’s fest is back with more premieres and special screenings. Running October 12 to the 24th in NYC and virtually the 35th Annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival will have over 130 premiere films representing queer voices from around the world.  The Opening Night film is the NYC premiere of George C. Wolfe’s Rustin, a biopic on Bayard Rustin, the extraordinary activist and organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. An opening night party will follow the screening.

One of the special screenings is the NYC Premiere of Nyad, starring Annette Bening and Jodie Foster, which tells the true story of athlete Diana Nyad. The International Centerpiece is the NYC premiere of Hirokazu Kore-ada’s Monster, winner of the Queer Grand Palme at Cannes. Closing the festival is Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers in which a writer who has just entered into a new relationship journeys to his childhood suburban home to find that his dead parents have returned.

To learn more, go to: https://newfest.org/

The 35th Annual New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival
October 12 - 24, 2023

Various Venues in NYC and Online