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See Misty Copeland, the RZA, Yvonne Orji and others at the Urbanworld Film Festival in NYC
By
Ryan Kailath
Published Oct 28, 2023
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Photo by Claire Folger / Courtesy of Orion Pictures
By
Ryan Kailath
Published Oct 28, 2023
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The Urbanworld Film Festival, which began in 1997 in New York City, is one of the longest continuously running Black film festivals in the country. In recent years, programming has expanded to include content from the Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern and North African communities.
This year’s 27th edition opens Wednesday, Nov. 1, with the New York premiere of a highly anticipated release: “American Fiction,” the directorial debut of writer Cord Jefferson, starring Jeffrey Wright and Tracee Ellis Ross, with Sterling K. Brown, Issa Rae, and others.
Issa Rae and Nicole Kempskie star in "American Fiction."
Courtesy of Orion Pictures
The film, a dark comedy based on the 2001 novel “Erasure” by Percival Everett, won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival last month, and the director will be in attendance.
On Thursday, director Nia DaCosta will screen and discuss clips from “The Marvels,” starring Brie Larson and Iman Vellani.
Filmmaker Qasim Basir will also discuss his film, “To Live and Die and Live,” a story about a man who returns to Detroit to face a family death and his own struggles. The film premiered at Sundance earlier this year.
Rapper and actor the RZA will be in attendance Friday for the premiere of the Wu-Tang Clan’s new concert film, “A Wu-Tang Experience: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre,” which he codirected.
Clips from the group’s collaboration with the Colorado Symphony orchestra have surfaced online, but the feature-length documentary includes interviews with the group and their associates in both the hip-hop and classical music worlds.
The RZA
Photo by Atiba Jefferson, Courtesy of Urbanworld Film Festival
The festival takes place amid an ongoing actors’ strike, which started in July and limits many performers' red carpet and press appearances. Festival director Karen McMullen said audience members can still expect to hear from some of the films’ talent — notably the directors.
“The RZA is our festival ambassador and he can attend and speak freely where celebrities cannot,” McMullen said.
Others promoting their films at this year’s festival include Yvonne Orji, a breakout star of “Insecure,” with her directorial debut short “Jamaal,” a day-in-the-life story about a young man in L.A.
Ballet dancer Misty Copeland will be at Urbanworld for a screening and discussion of “Flower,” an experimental “story through dance” in which she stars.
Also in attendance will be the directors of the new Paramount+ series “Lawmen: Bass Reeves,” starring David Oyelowo as the first Black U.S. Marshal.
Urbanworld screenings take place across three theaters in Flatiron and Midtown: the SVA Theatre on 23rd Street, the SocDoc Screening Room a few blocks away, and the AMC at 34th Street.
General admission tickets start at $25.20 including fees. The full schedule and tickets are available here.
Tagged
film
misty copeland
tracee ellis ross
insecure
issa rae
manhattan
movies
jeffrey wright
rza
Ryan Kailath
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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