The Harlemwood Film Festival has become a popular showcase for gifted filmmakers of color who are inspired by the culture and creative energy of Harlem. The Festival features filmmakers from Columbia University’s Graduate Film Program and filmmakers from the international community who live and work in Harlem. The Harlemwood Film Festival is a mosaic of nationalities, talent and interests reflecting the diversity of this mythic community of Harlem.

Festival co-founders Voza Rivers, Founding Member/ Executive Producer of the New Heritage Theater Group and Jamal Joseph (Chair of Columbia University’s Graduate Film Division) recognize Harlem as a tremendous film source, rich with resident directors, actors, writers, producers, film crews, locations, production companies and two major film schools- Columbia University and The City College of New York.

Among the films to be screened is the recent documentary of New Heritage Films filmmaker and Columbia graduate film student Osato Dixon.  Dixon’s film “Your Name is My Name” documents his experiences with albino children in Zimbabwe, Africa, and the way they are discriminated against and isolated from society; making them targets of violence because they are different. Dixon, who graduated this year from Columbia University, School of the Arts, was born with Albinism, the congenital absence of pigmentation in the eyes, skin and hair.

Also featured are a collection of films by Harlem’s 2008 Academy Award nominees the IMPACT Repertory Theatre. The films deal with a myriad of subjects young people deal with every day including peer group pressure.

The Festival will also show ”Lifted,” a film by Randall Dottin, winner of the Best Short Film 2008 Roxbury Film Festival, Best Short 2008 Texas Black Film Festival, Best Overall Film Texas Black Film Festival, Best Short Film 2008 San Francisco Black Film Festival, and New York City Urban League 2008 Honoree and ”Premature” a film by Rashaad Ernesto. Green’s film was awarded the 2008 HBO Short Film Competition at the American Black Film Festival and Best Short film 2008  International Black Film Festival. “Cred” by Sherman Payne and “The Portfolio” by Jamal Joseph, Jr., both Columbia Film Program students, will also be screened.

Doors open at 6:30 for the 7:00 PM screening at the Museum located at 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street in New York City. Admission is complimentary.  Please RSVP to Darryl T. Downing 212 926-2550 – EXT. 21.

This program is sponsored in part by the Department of Cultural Affairs New York City, New York City Council, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, New York City Council Member Inez E. Dickens, New York State Council on the Arts and the Arlen Charitable Trust. Harlemwood Films is a proud member of Harlem Arts Alliance  and the Coalition of Theatres of Color.

The series will feature short films along with a visual arts exhibition, workshops, lectures and other events, all referencing waste and need in society, environmental cause and effect, and/or the ideas of consumption through a cyclic approach of material use. Submitted work should encourage conversation on the topics of environmental degradation, consumerism, personal value, and frugality, as well as celebrate the significance of recycling, sustainable methods, and thrift-store culture as medium and subject matter for artists and designers.

To download an entry form please visit http://uica.org, under Exhibitions/Apply for a Show.

Launched in January, the website operates on a concept similar to that of MyMajorCompany.

Cybernauts can check out the website’s online  catalog of feature films, toons, docus and shorts and invest as little as $10 to become co-producers. Touscoprod then gives 80% of film’s profit to co-producers and keeps 20% for the company.

Run by founder Nicolas Bailly and content director Barbara Tonelli, the company has an eclectic lineup of arthouse films. These include Michel Piccoli-starrer “L’Insurge,” produced by Gallatee Films; “Sound of Noise,” co-produced by Wild Bunch ; and Lebanese drama “Chaque Jour est Une Fete,” co-produced by French shingle Cine-Sud Promotion.

“We can’t promise co-producers that they’ll get any returns on their investments since not every film makes a profit, but we never know,” said Bailly. “The phenomenon of ‘Welcome to the Sticks’ has shown us that local films can sometimes make a lot of money.”

A laffer set in Brittany, “Entre Nous Deux,” for instance, has been getting buzz among locals and the website has already collected E30,000 off of the e62,500 Touscoprod has said it would collect.

“For producers, the website is a source of a great marketing tool as users can create a real word-of-mouth buzz,” added Bailly.

With a $10 investment, users can get involved in the production of films and have access to confidential info, and create their own promo-reels.

“Just when it’s getting tougher and tougher for films d’auteurs to exist, Touscoprod is creating a link between cybernauts and films before they even come out,” explained Gallatee Films’ topper Nicolas Mauvernay.

In total, Toucoprod has 14 projects and 10 under wraps.

Up for grabs is a $10,000 Best Buy shopping spree, a trip to the Cannes Lions 2009 Advertising Festival and a day on the set of Spike Lee’s next production. A $5,000 and $3,500 Best Buy shopping spree will go to the second and third place winners respectively. Go to http://cannes.mofilm.com/bestbuy to view the full creative brief, download assets you can utilize such as the Best Buy logo pack, brand guidelines, images and videos, and upload your best submission.

Deadline is June 8 so there’s no time to spare.

One of the nation’s premier celebrations of the non-fiction genre. Highly regarded and influential, Hot Springs is an esteemed showcase of the work of new and established documentarians.

America’s oldest documentary festival, Hot Springs is a non-competitive event, honoring approximately 100 films each year alongside current non-fiction Academy Award nominees. This welcoming format allows for camaraderie among filmmakers – all of whom are individually acknowledged for their accomplishments. The media attention exhibiting filmmakers gain at Hot Springs alone is comprehensive.

Located in Arkansas’ beautiful Hot Springs National Park, the Festival draws in well over 22,000 movie lovers, filmmakers, and industry each year. Festival alumni include numerous accomplished documentarians such as Harry Thomason, Richard Kaplan, Albert Maysles, Ben Meade, and David Hausen. A testament to the Festival’s significance, James Earl Jones declares Hot Springs “one of the genre’s most important venues.”

Click here for more information.

As you may have already noticed, we’ve stopped putting up black film news updates. Black Film Academy will now be contributing news to Shadow and Act, a brand new collaborative effort covering the cinema of the of the African Diaspora. Please stop by for film updates and news.

Otherwise, we will continue to keep filmmakers posted about national film opportunities and local film events.

Thank you,

Issa Rae

Now in its third year, ACEFEST has already garnered a reputation for helping to take undiscovered indies to the next level. Some success stories include CRAWFORD, LIFELINES, SECOND SKIN, STALKING SANTA, and LITTLE CHENIER, among other films that have gained international distribution, national theatrical releases, and prominent media and industry attention.

Click here for more information.

Whether the films are documentary or fiction, contemporary or period pieces, drama or comedy, science fiction or animated, this series will give independent filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their artistry on a grand stage. Additionally, ActNow and partners aim to promote these films to a greater portion of the film community including industry insiders, distributors and film enthusiasts. The series will also enable filmmakers to receive public feedback and support.

ActNow is looking for new films; the deadline to submit films for consideration in the first series is May 20, 2009. All films must be produced or directed by, and star, people of African descent and be no less than 72 minutes in length for feature films or no longer than 15 minutes for short films. Screener copies must be sent on DVD movie format to ActNow Foundation’s office located at 138 South Oxford Street, Studio C; Brooklyn, NY 11217. Also, include a SASE if return of materials is requested. Further details regarding screening dates, submissions and event sponsorship opportunities will be released in weeks to come. Any specific questions can be emailed to ActNow at info@actnowproduction.org or call (347) 274-0563.

Letitia James is the New York City Council Member for Brooklyn’s 35th Council District. Elected in November of 2003, she proudly represents the neighborhoods of Clinton Hill, Fort Greene and Prospect Heights, as well as parts of Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant. Council Member James is a Brooklyn native; she chairs the Contracts Committee and serves on the committees for Economic Development, Parks & Recreation, Small Business, Government Technology, Veterans and Women’s Issues. She also is co-chair of the City Council Infrastructure Task Force.

BAMcinématek, Brooklyn’s only daily, year-round repertory film program, presents new and rarely seen contemporary films, classics from cinema history, work by local artists and festivals of films from around the world, often with special appearances by directors, actors and other guests. BAMcinématek has not only presented major retrospectives by well-known filmmakers, but has also introduced New York audiences to contemporary artists. BAMcinématek is part of the greater Brooklyn Academy of Music arts community, America’s oldest continuously operating performing arts center founded in 1861.

ActNow Foundation is a non-profit 501c(3) theatre & film organization, based in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, which focuses its productions on the full range of African-American & Latino experiences in New York City, throughout the United States and around the globe.

Contact: Aaron Ingram
Phone: 347.274.0563
Email: info@actnowproduction.org