The Harlem Film House’s 6th annual Hip Hop Film Festival will present the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) Award to rapper/singer/actress/entrepreneur Dana “Queen Latifah” Owens.
Running from August 1 through September 3, the Hip Hop Film Festival will take place in person at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Brooklyn as well as online at 247films.tv and the Harlem Film House VR Metaverse.
Chuck D of Public Enemy will help kick off the Hip Hop Film Festival with The Art of the Score on August 1. Actors Isaiah Washington (Grey’s Anatomy) and Morris Chestnut (Boyz n the Hood) are scheduled to participate in the Icon Living Cypher.
“The theme for this year’s festival is unity,” said CR Capers, founder/CEO of the Harlem Film House and Hip Hop Film Festival. “This event is a continuation of our efforts to bring together a global community to create access and opportunity for filmmakers from the culture.”
More than 200 filmmakers from around the world are taking part in the 2021 Hip Hop Film Festival. “Best of the Fest” honors will be awarded in over 21 categories including Best Feature, Best Documentary, and Best Web Series.
The Harlem Film House VR Metaverse is being presented as a virtual reality world that allows festival-goers to attend select events in 2D and VR. Attendees can create avatars that are able to travel on the virtual Harlem neighborhood subway to locations hosting film screenings, live block parties, rap battles, and more.
Queen Latifah initially established herself as a Hip Hop hitmaker with songs such as “Ladies First” and “U.N.I.T.Y.” The BET Awards recognized her four-decade career in entertainment by bestowing her with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 ceremony in June.
The New Jersey-raised entertainer also acted in television shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Living Single as well as feature films like Set It Off and Girls Trip. Her performance in Chicago earned Queen Latifah a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the 75th Academy Awards.
Queen Latifah also picked up two Primetime Emmy acting nods (Life Support, Bessie). She won an Outstanding Television Movie Emmy Award as an executive producer for Bessie. Latifah’s portrayal of Ana Wallace in Life Support won the Black Reign album creator a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.