| "The American Black Film Festival" (ABFF), formerly called the
"Acapulco Black Film Festival", was held in Southbeach Miami Florida
June 26-30th. It was hosted by the executive
producer of the ABFF, Jeff Friday, and
Byron E. Lewis, Sr., the ABFF founder and chairman and CEO of Uniworld Group,
Inc. We arrived Tuesday night, the 25th, and checked
into the Lowes where the festival was held. If we had known
the Royal Palm, the only black owned hotel on Southbeach, was right
next door we would have stayed there, and we did for the
Billboard awards. There was a good vibe in the air and
everyone seemed to be friendly and motivated.
Wednesday the festival kicked off and we got registered and
headed in to check out a few of the movies being screened at the
Regal Cinemas. While I was waiting for the movies to start I
bumped into Rob
Hardy, director of "Trois"
and "Chocolate
City" and a fellow FAMU alumni. He told me about his new
movie "Pandora's
Box", so I checked it out and caught up with him again in a
screening of "Snap, Crackle, Pop".
We broke for lunch and got ready for the HBO Short Film
Competition at the Jackie Gleason Theater. All of the shorts
and most of them were world premieres. The films were:
"A Funeral at the Samba School
"by Dandara. shot in
Brazil it was a bout the funeral of a musician/community leader.
"Quest to Ref" by Benjamin
Watkins. This movie was funny,
for real, and it won the competition. it's about a man who
dreams to make it in the NBA as a referee, so he refs pick-up games
in the hood.
"Ubuntu's Wounds" by
Sechaba Morojele from South Africa.
This was my personal favorite. It was about a man who was
kidnapped by racist white South Africans, he escapes, but is wife is
killed and he plots revenge.
"See the Truth" by Jerold
Howard. A claymation movie about
how perceptions are transferred from generation to generation.
"Whispers" by Desha
Dauchan. A spooky movie about a
successful young man tortured by the demons of his past.
After the shorts competition we checked out the laid back opening
night party at Opium and sipped some of the free Martell, then
crashed to get ready for the workshop Thursday morning.
| Thursday
- More movies. Writer's Workshop begins. Comedy show. A few celebrities
start to show up. |
|
