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Tyler Perry: Black films are on the verge of being 'extinct'
Last week George Lucas made waves when he took to The Daily Show to explain why it took 23 years to make the upcoming film Red Tails about the Tuskegee Airmen. According to Lucas, only one thing stood...
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American Black Film Festival founder Jeff Friday talks Hollywood vs. black films
Jeff Friday can name nearly every film and director making movies with predominantly black casts during the late 1980s and early 1990s, the period he calls the “glory days of black independent film.”...
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American Black Film Festival: Because Holly-wouldn’t, may the best filmmaker...
When the value of what you do is based on the people you help, magic is created. That’s the adage of American Black Film Festival founder Jeff Friday who single-handedly created a platform for some of...
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American Black Film Festival: 1st ever webisode challenge comes to South Beach
The 16th Annual American Black Film Festival not only recognized the emerging film artists of our time, but also stepped out of the normalcy of custom media to launch the first annual Webisode...
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‘Cherry Waves’ wins ABFF-HBO short film competition
“Cherry Waves” bested four other films to win the HBO Short Film Competition at the 16th annual American Black Film Festival in Miami Beach. The film, written and directed by Carey Williams, who has...
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ABFF postscript: How the American Black Film Festival impacted my life
Special to theGrio: Aspiring filmmaker Khalil Thomas writes about his experience at the 16th Annual American Black Film Festival, which was held June 20-24 in Miami Beach. For more ABFF coverage on...
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Who are the ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild?’
Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild – winner of the prestigious Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Cannes’ Camera D’Or (and a featured film at this year’s American Black Film Festival) opened this...
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Zoe Saldana to replace Mary J. Blige in Nina Simone biopic?
From Clutch Magazine: A large contingent of the black Internet were up in arms last night at the news that Zoe Saldana is now replacing Mary J. Blige in a much-discussed Nina Simone biopic. Really?...
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Nina Simone’s daughter allegedly responds to Zoe Saldana being cast as her...
From Clutch Magazine: Since word of Zoe Saldana’s casting of jazz legend Nina Simone hit the web, folks have had a lot to say. While some thought Saldana was a good fit and could pull off the role,...
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Tracey Edmonds shares wisdom on producing films, raising kids and finding...
It’s easy to dismiss Tracey Edmonds as the ex-trophy wife of Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds who parlayed her husband’s name into entrance to the C-Suite as CEO of Edmonds Entertainment Group and COO of Our...
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‘Great pitch! But do the characters have to be black?’
“Great pitch! But do the characters have to be black?” For blacks in the film industry, the question from studios and producers isn’t new — even if it isn’t always uttered aloud. So my husband, writer...
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Thoughts on ‘Dark Girls’ from a brown-skinned woman
From Clutch Magazine: The highly anticipated documentary, Dark Girls, made its debut on OWN Network last [Sunday]. In the days leading up to the world television premiere, as more and more promo...
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In wake of ‘The Butler’ success, African-American ex-White House staffers...
As the 50th anniversary of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham approached and thousands celebrated the recent March on Washington commemoration, former White House Butler George Hannie...
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Black hair: New ‘You Can Touch My Hair’ documentary captures outdoor...
Black hair continues to be a hot topic in the public arena, with ever more creative ways being employed to explore the issue. Recently an African-American woman staged a series of photographs of white...
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’12 Years a Slave’: Black audiences need more than slave narratives
I’ve been greeting the hype around the movie 12 Years a Slave with a lack of appropriate enthusiasm. Given the overwhelmingly rave reviews by critics, the film is supposed to be the best thing that’s...
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Why the black backlash against ’12 Years a Slave’?
There are many African-Americans today saying they do not want to see 12 Years a Slave, or in a similar vein, The Butler. They say — some of them prominent writers — that they do not want to see more...
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‘American Promise’ and ‘Promises Kept’: New documentary, book tackle black...
A new documentary and companion book offer a heartfelt solution to the problems facing African-American boys in our education system. Inspired by the life-long friendship of two young men, the 2013...
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How did Kevin Hart become Hollywood’s new king of comedy?
A few weeks ago in a passing conversation, an acquaintance noted that comedian Kevin Hart has no fewer than four movies on the docket in 2014. In response, I questioned aloud whether Hart – an...
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Report: Black movie attendance skyrocketed in 2013
2013 wasn’t just the “year of black film” it was also a benchmark for African-American movie attendance. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Motion Picture Association of America estimates that...
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