Urbanworld Announces 2010 Winners

NEW YORK, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The 14th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival, presented by BET Networks, has announced the winners of the narrative feature, documentary feature, narrative short, documentary short, screenplay, teleplay and audience award categories. The five-day festival was held September 15-19 and concluded yesterday with an awards brunch at Tribeca Grill Loft. Urbanworld, which screened 71 films this year, is the largest internationally competitive festival dedicated to the exhibition of independent cinema by and about people of color.

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The 14th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival winners are:  

Best Narrative Feature

MOOZ-LUM

Written and Directed by Qasim Basir; Produced by Dana Offenbach and Samad Davis

Best Narrative Short

KATRINA'S SON

Written and Directed by Ya'Ke; Produced by Ya'Ke and Ralph Lopez

Best Documentary Feature

BOUNCING CATS

Written and Directed by Nabil Elderkin, Isaac Hagy: Produced by Nyla Hassell, George Mays, Claude Merkel and Charles Spano

Best Documentary Short

ONE OF THESE MORNINGS

Directed and Produced by Valery Lyman

Best Screenplay

GRACEY

Written by Julian Breece

Best Teleplay

LOVE AND POLITICS

Written by Tracy Oliver

Audience Award

FINDING GOD IN THE CITY OF ANGELS

Written by Simon J. Joseph, Ph.D; Directed by Jennifer Jessum; Produced by Jennifer Jessum, Simon J. Joseph and Edward Osei-Gyimah

Audience Award Honorable Mention

I WILL FOLLOW

Written, Directed and Produced by Ava DuVernay

The 14th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival Jurors are:  

Narrative Features Jury

• David Laub – Acquisitions Executive, Oscilloscope Laboratories
• Dori Begley – V.P. of Acquisitions, Magnolia Pictures
• Thomas Carter – Writer/Director/Producer

Documentary Features and Shorts Jury

• Greg Rhem – Director of Documentary Programming, HBO
• Keith Clinkscales – SVP, Content Development and Enterprises, ESPN
• Valerie Watts Meraz – VP, Content Acquisitions, Showtime Networks

Narrative Shorts Jury

• Frida Torresblanco – Producer
• Malcolm D. Lee – Writer/Director
• Meena Payne – Head of Development, Rainforest Films

Screenplay Jury

• Franklin Leonard – Director of Development, Universal Pictures
• Reggie Rock Bythewood – Writer/Director
• Tamara Gregory – Senior Director, Original Programming, BET Networks

Teleplay Jury

• Kim Watson – Writer/Director
• Pearlena Igbokwe – SVP, Original Programming, Showtime Networks
• Raynelle Swilling – Writer/Producer
• Rose Catherine Pinkney – Head of Television, Cinema Gypsy Productions
• Warren Hutcherson – Writer

For more information on the Urbanworld Film Festival, visit www.urbanworld.org.

About Urbanworld

The Urbanworld® Film Festival is the largest internationally competitive festival of its kind. The five-day festival includes features, documentaries, short films, as well as panel discussions, live staged screenplay readings, the celebrated Actor's Spotlight, Actor's Boot Camps, and introducing Urbanworld® Digital, a 1-day Conference during the festival focused on Digital and Social media.  Over the last thirteen years, Hollywood studios have consistently chosen Urbanworld® to premiere box office and award-winning hits.  Urbanworld® has also become home to some of today's top brands who wish to reach key influencers and social media leaders across the African American and Latino landscape.  The Urbanworld® Film Festival is an initiative of the Urbanworld® Foundation Inc., a nonprofit organization founded in 1997 by Stacy Spikes dedicated to redefining the multicultural roles in contemporary cinema, television and online by implementing programs and initiatives that support the development of the urban content creation community.  Gabrielle Glore serves as Executive Producer of the Urbanworld Film Festival, as well as ancillary Urbanworld Foundation endeavors.  For this year's 2010 festival, BET Networks returns as the Presenting Sponsor.  HBO continues support as the Founding Sponsor.  Principal Sponsors include My Black Is Beautiful, Lens On Talent, and Ford.  Media Sponsors include Essence, Vibe, Uptown, BlackPlanet.com, TheUrbanDaily, KISS FM, HOT 97, and Jigsaw Global.  Benefactor Sponsors include AMC Theatres, Directors Guild of America - New York, and urbanAdserve. The festival website is www.urbanworld.org.

About BET Networks

BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

SOURCE Urbanworld Film Festival