(From Gunhillroad. com) “Gun Hill Road” is the story of a family in transition.
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‘Dark Girls: Preview’ is an upcoming documentary exploring the deep-seated biases and attitudes about skin color---particularly dark skinned women, outside of and within the Black American culture. This film will be released in Fall/Winter 2011.
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As an inspirational start to February and Black History Month, ‘New Voices in Black Cinema Film Festival’ made its debut on February 4th in Brooklyn, New York. Produced by ACT NOW Foundation (ANF), and jointly hosted by BAMcinématek and NYC Council Member Letitia James, New Yorkers experienced four days and nights of little seen independent Black films.
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I watched a recent Brooklyn, New York screening of the independent film “Legacy,” starring Idris Elba, who is also the movie’s executive producer. It is my understanding that executive producers in film have a great say in casting and script decisions.
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. Every year American audiences are tortured with dozens of bad and mediocre movies in all genres and most come and go unnoticed without causing much of a stir.
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It is with an abundance of pride and enthusiasm that BBN congratulates the following recipients of the 2010 Academy Award. We celebrate your talent and contribution to American film, arts and culture.
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The last film I strongly recommended was “The Last King of Scotland” (2006). Since then, few films have moved me to make a strong recommendation beyond my immediate circle of friends and family.
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Boxing Champ, Mike Tyson: “I look at it now, and I’m embarrassed I did it. “There’s a lot of information people didn’t need to know.
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(nyt) “The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975”: Mr. Olsson called the documentary “a new way of telling a story that has been put on hold for some time and needed a fresh look,” citing a contrast between the American coverage of black power and the Swedish reportage he watched on television in the ’70s. “In America it was always connected to court trials or crime,” he said, compared with the gregarious, somewhat insular tone of Swedish coverage, which he called “the Eskimo perspective. ”. .  More...

(DominicanToday) Paris. – US actor Danny Glover, who plans an epic next year on Haitian independence hero Toussaint-Louverture, said he slaved to raise funds for the movie because financiers complained there were no white heroes. "Producers said 'It's a nice project, a great project. . .  More...

(indywire) Long-time Spike Lee editor, as well as director and producer in his own right, Sam Pollard, is currently shooting a $1. 5 million feature documentary for PBS titled Slavery by Another Name. The film is based on the 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Wall Street Journal writer Douglas Blackmon, which “challenges the belief that slavery ended with 1863’s Emancipation Proclamation… [recounting] how in the years following the Civil War, new forms of forced labor emerged in the American South, trapping hundreds of thousands of African Americans in a brutal system that lasted until the onset of World War II. ” In researching this, I read a recent report that states Pollard has apparently had some difficulty shooting parts of the film, specifically in Centreville, Alabama, where the town’s mayor and city attorney are intent on blocking his attempts to shoot and recreate scenes in their locale, because, “We are a quiet, small town, and I don’t want this to cause controversy,” according to the mayor. Pollard and his crew had already filmed in various locations in and around Centreville, but what the mayor and attorney most objected to was a reenactment scene in the town’s park, that will “depict… actors as being slaves who were tied to a stake driven into the ground.  More...

(latina) In the romantic comedy Jumping the Broom (opening in theaters nationwide today), Cuban actor Laz Alonso, 37, plays an African American character in an all-black cast that includes Angela Bassett, Paula Patton, Loretta Devine, Mike Epps, and Romeo. “I always like to say that whether you’re African American, Afro-Jamaican, Afro-Haitian, Afro-British, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Panamanian, whatever — black is black,” Alonso says. "We all came from Africa and we all ended up in different countries all over the world, but the root of the tree is stil black — period. This division that we’ve created by identifying what kind of Black you are, I think, is stupid. I’m no less black than an African American when it comes to playing an African American role, because my roots are from Africa and I was born and raised in America," he adds.  More...

(lat) Shortly after the Oscars ended Sunday, Samuel L. Jackson sent an e-mail to a Times reporter wondering why no black men had been chosen to present awards on the film world's biggest stage. "It's obvious there's not ONE Black male actor in Hollywood that's able to read a teleprompter, or that's 'hip enuf,' for the new academy demographic!" Jackson wrote. "In the Hollywood I saw tonite, I don't exist nor does Denzel, Eddie, Will, Jamie, or even a young comer like Anthony Mackie!" Jackson may be on to something, at least when it comes to the young comers. There is still a sizable number of black actors in Hollywood with box-office clout and meaty roles, a point that will be underscored when the NAACP hands out its annual Image Awards in Los Angeles Friday night.  More...

(lat) Vonetta McGee, an actress whose big-screen heyday during the blaxploitation era of the 1970s included leading roles in "Blacula" and "Shaft in Africa," has died. She was 65. McGee died Friday at a hospital in Berkeley after experiencing cardiac arrest and being on life support for two days, said family spokeswoman Kelley Nayo. Although McGee had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 17, Nayo said, her death was not related to the disease. McGee was described as "one of the busiest and most beautiful black actresses" by Times movie reviewer Kevin Thomas in 1972, the year she appeared opposite Fred Williamson in the black action movie "Hammer," and had starring roles in the crime-drama "Melinda" and the horror film "Blacula.  More...

(nydn) Jolie has been tapped to play the infamous Queen of Egypt in the upcoming adaptation of Stacy Schiff's book, "Cleopatra: A Life. " The film's producer, Scott Rudin, says he envisions Jolie in the role. The project "is being developed for and with Jolie," Rudin's office told USA Today. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author agreed Jolie was ideal for the role. "I think she'd be perfect for it and I can see a possible Oscar in her future," Schiff said.  More...

(nyt) Can Sundance’s new director redefine not just the festival but also the entire independent film industry? For the first time in two decades, America’s premiere film festival has a new director, John Cooper, and his primary goal has been to shift Sundance sharply back toward its arty roots. “Less commercial, more independent” is how he sums up this year’s selections. While the roster is still stuffed with stars, Mr. Cooper may have accomplished his goal. Movies on the whole are tougher and smaller.  More...

This is an interesting take on the film "Precious" from the UppityNegro. com: "For those that “don’t know Precious” I must ask the questions why don’t you know her, and what’s so wrong with getting to know her? In the grand scheme of things, why many (I won’t say most) black Americans don’t know “Precious” is because of the vast class differences in which many of exist. " BBN strongly recommends this blog post. . .  More...

Among the chosen few are Oscar winner Halle Berry, Angela Bassett, Ruby Dee, Cicely Tyson, Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey, Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise, Beyonce Knowles, Mariah Carey and Alicia Keys. I wonder what would-does Ntozake Shange have to say about this selection? . . . .  More...

(nyt) The documentary filmmaker Anne Aghion asks a lot of tough questions in “My Neighbor, My Killer,” the fourth and last in her series of films about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. But the most difficult, posed on the posters for her new film, may be this: after the killing has ceased, and order has been restored, “How do you make it right again?” Ms. Aghion has spent nearly a decade, starting in 1999, searching for answers to that question. She has issued progress reports along the way in the form of three documentaries, each running less than an hour; one won her an Emmy. But she said that “My Neighbor, My Killer” is the film she set out to make when she began.  More...

(theenvelope. com) "Push: Based on the novel by Sapphire" scored a rare triple victory Saturday night at the Sundance Film Festival, winning both the grand jury prize and the audience award for drama as well as a special jury prize for acting. Directed by Lee Daniels, best known for producing the Oscar-winning "Monster's Ball," and adapted by Damien Pearl from the 1997 novel, "Push" tells the raw, nightmarish story of a 16-year-old pregnant girl who tries to escape from the domination of her terrifying mother (played by Mo'Nique, who won that acting prize) and make something of her life. . .  More...

(guardian) There are many reasons why Spike Lee chose to make Miracle at St Anna, his new film about the second world war efforts of African American soldiers. Not least among these was the film-maker's assertion that his fellow director Clint Eastwood had omitted black stories from his two war films, Letters From Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers. It was perhaps inevitable that the controversy over the issue would focus minds on the veracity of Lee's own film, And sure enough, it has emerged this morning that Italian war veterans are rather upset about the US director's depiction of them in Miracle at St Anna. The film's press screening in Rome yesterday saw Lee and script-writer James McBride forced onto the defensive over the movie's linking of an antifascist Italian partisan resistance group to the 1944 Nazi massacre of 560 Italian civilians. Miracle at St Anna suggests that a partisan named Rodolfo collaborated with the Nazis, indirectly sparking the slaughter.  More...

(yahoo) Steven Spielberg and major Hollywood studios stole the plot from Alfred Hitchcock's classic 1954 film "Rear Window" in making last year's "Disturbia," a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court on Monday said. Dreamworks, its parent company Viacom Inc, and Universal Pictures, a unit of General Electric Co's NBC Universal, are accused of copyright infringement and breach of contract for making "Disturbia" without first obtaining permission from the copyright holders, the suit said. Spielberg, a Dreamworks founder, is named as a defendant. The film grossed about $80 million at the U. S.  More...

(nydn) Any doubts about how deeply homophobia is ingrained in Jamaica, West Indies, culture were put to rest in May when Prime Minister Bruce Golding told the British Broadcasting Channel that there were no homosexuals in his cabinet and none would be allowed to serve. Golding's declaration came after attacks against gays, or "batty-man" in island vernacular, prompted calls for tourist boycotts of the island nation, whose economy is highly dependent on tourism. Queens filmmaker and native-born Jamaican Selena Blake is looking at the real cost and extent of the island's contentious relationship with its current and former gay residents. Blake, 45, has tentatively titled her documentary "Taboo: Yardies. " She's interviewing gay and straight Jamaicans in this country and in Jamaica about the island's unapologetically ill treatment of its homosexual population.  More...

(cinemablend) It’s been a depressing weekend for great black artists. In the span of 48 hours the entertainment industry has lost a legendary music icon in the form of Isaac Hayes, and a still rising, yet already legendary star in comedian Bernie Mac. It’s bad news for one movie in particular, a soon to be released film called Soul Men. In one weekend, a significant portion of the movie’s primary cast has been wiped out. The film stars Samuel L.  More...

(lat) Since its launch in 1999, the New York International Latino Film Festival has always had plenty to offer on a global scale - especially with the filmmakers coming from different Hispanic backgrounds here and abroad. Despite these differences, all share one common goal: the desire to change perceptions about Latino culture through the art of film. Now in its ninth year, NYILFF runs Tuesday through Sunday at four Manhattan venues and includes several New York premieres among the more than 80 documentaries, shorts and features that not only break stereotypes about Latinos, but celebrate the diversity of the community. The directors' backgrounds are as unique as the movies themselves. Here's a look at three films with New York ties: Marlene Rhein, "The Big Shot-Caller" (Feature) Marlene Rhein is no stranger to directing - she has made music videos for Tupac Shakur and Amy Winehouse.  More...

(nydn) Two creators of a new film that warns about a serious erosion in traditional black radio joined Bernard White on WBAI (99. 5 FM) Tuesday to explain why that's such a dangerous thing. "Black radio was an eloquent voice that opened the gateway to other voices," said U-Savior, director of "Disappearing Voices - The Decline of Black Radio. " "Without that, we don't have access to information. We don't hear about the war.  More...

(lat) Sydney Pollack, the Academy Award-winning director of "Out of Africa" who achieved acclaim making popular, mainstream movies with A-list stars, including "The Way We Were" and "Tootsie," died Monday. He was 73. Pollack, who also was a producer and actor, died of cancer at his home in Pacific Palisades, according to Leslee Dart, his publicist and friend. "Sydney Pollack has made some of the most influential and best-remembered films of the last three decades," film scholar Jeanine Basinger told The Times recently. In looking at Pollack's films, she said, "what you see is how he kept in step with the times.  More...

(guardian) On February 19 1945 Thomas McPhatter found himself on a landing craft heading toward the beach on Iwo Jima. "There were bodies bobbing up all around, all these dead men," said the former US marine, now 83 and living in San Diego. "Then we were crawling on our bellies and moving up the beach. I jumped in a foxhole and there was a young white marine holding his family pictures. He had been hit by shrapnel, he was bleeding from the ears, nose and mouth.  More...

(ap/usat)Angela Bassett has had good days — giving birth to twins, winning a Golden Globe, being nominated for an Academy Award. Then there was Thursday. "Do you ever have one of those days? I woke up and the sun wasn't really shining but then it burst through the clouds and it was glorious. Hallelujah!" Bassett exclaimed to the crowd at the ceremony for the 2,358th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Bassett, 49, was joined by husband Courtney B.  More...

(nyt) In Brooklyn next Monday the studio is expected to begin shooting “Notorious,” a film biography of Mr. Wallace who, when he died at 24, was the champion of East Coast rap whose rivalry with the West Coast rapper Tupac Shakur, shot to death six months earlier, helped drive an ugly East-West feud. No one has been charged with either killing, and the death of Mr. Wallace, also known as Biggie Smalls, remains the subject of high-stakes litigation. His family has accused the Los Angeles Police Department of harboring rogue officers who were supposedly involved with the murder.  More...