Urbanworld Film Festival Celebrates 25th Anniversary

RZA, Ava DuVernay and more stars will be part of the Urbanworld Film Festival’s 25th anniversary celebration.

The 2021 Urbanworld Film Festival will be presented virtually with a selected number of in-person events in Cinepolis Luxury Cinemas in New York. The festivities are scheduled to run from September 29 to October 3 with virtual events streaming on urbanworld.org.

“I cannot be happier to celebrate 25 years of Urbanworld with our amazing slate of films from Black, Indigenous, Latinx and content creators of color hailing from all over the world,” Urbanworld’s director and head of programming Gabrielle Glore said in a statement.

She added, “As our world continues to change, our filmmakers continue to soar towards the highest heights of excellence with their work, as they connect with our dedicated audience. After nearly two decades with Urbanworld and this being my last year with the festival, I am looking forward to working with our illustrious founder Stacy Spikes to find the next person to lead the festival.”

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Hip-Hop fans should be interested in the Urbanworld Film Festival presentation of Hulu’s Wu-Tang: An American Saga, which will feature RZA and actor Shameik Moore. The music video for Mumu Fresh and D Smoke’s collaboration “North Star” is also set to be shown at the festival.

Check out the full lineup for the 25th anniversary of the Urbanworld Film Festival below.

VIRTUAL SPOTLIGHT PRESENTATIONS
“Colin In Black & White” (Presented by Netflix)
“Home Sweet Home” (Presented by NBCUniversal)
“Horror Noire” (Presented by Shudder)
“King Richard” (Presented by Warner Bros.)
“Power Book III: Raising Kanan” (Presented by Starz)
“Queen Sugar” (Presented by OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
“Sankofa” (Presented by ARRAY)
“The Walking Dead: World Beyond” (Presented by AMC Network)
“Wu-Tang: An American Saga” (Presented by Hulu)

U.S. CINEMA NARRATIVE FEATURES
“7th & Union” – Directed by Anthony Nardolillo (New York Premiere)
“Americanish” – Directed by Iman Zawahry
“Bridges” – Directed by Maria Corina Ramirez (New York Premiere)
“The Scrapper” – Directed by Bari Kang (World Premiere)
“Ten-Cent Daisy” – Directed by Lisbon Okafor (World Premiere)
“This Is Not a War Story” – Directed by Talia Lugacy (New York Premiere)
“Women is Losers” – Directed by Lissette Feliciano (New York Premiere)

WORLD CINEMA NARRATIVE FEATURES
“A Pencil to the Jugular” (Australia/Mexico) – Directed by Matthew Victor Pastor (U.S. Premiere)
“Bantu Mama”(Dominican Republic) – Directed by Ivan Herrera (New York Premiere)
“Holidays at All Cost” (France) – Directed by Stevan Lee Mraovitch (East Coast Premiere)
“Hunger” (Korea) – Directed by Ye-Rim Rey Lee (U.S. Premiere)
“Preman” (Indonesia) – Directed by Randolph Zaini (East Coast Premiere)
“Son of Monarchs” (Mexico/U.S.) – Directed by Alexis Gambis (New York Premiere)
“Sons of the Sea” (South Africa) – Directed by John Gutierrez (East Coast Premiere)
“The City of Wild Beasts” (Colombia) – Directed by Henry E. Rincón (New York Premiere)
“The Girl In The Yellow Jumper” (Uganda) – Directed by Loukman Ali (World Premiere)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
“Dom Salvador and Abolition” – Directed by Lilka Hara and Artur K##### (U.S. Premiere) 
“Skategoat” (Australia) – Directed by Van Alpert (U.S. Premiere)
“Target: St. Louis Vol. 1” – Directed by Damien D. Smith (World Premiere)
“The Death Of My Two Fathers” – Directed by Sol Guy
“The Last Election and Other Love Stories” – Directed by Miguel Silveira (New York Premiere)
“Vicenta” (Argentina) – Directed by Dario Doria (U.S. Premiere)
“We Still Here/Nos Tenemos” (Puerto Rico) – Directed by Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi (World Premiere)

YOUNG CREATORS SHOWCASE (Presented by Ally)
“All The Young Dudes” – Directed by William Stead
“Fufu” (Canada) – Directed by Omolola Ajao (World Premiere)
“Gratuity” – Directed by Daoji Yang (World Premiere)
“Necessity of Life” (Indonesia) – Directed by Kevin Rahardjo (World Premiere)
“Sunday” (Kenya) – Directed by Christian Schifano
“Tesoro” – Directed by Roxanna Denise Stevens Ibarra
“There’s Food At Home” (Canada) – Directed by Carlos Soriano (World Premiere)

NARRATIVE SHORTS (Presented by WarnerMedia)
“¡Llamame Chinita!” (Mexico) – Directed by Stacy Chu (World Premiere)
“Americanized” – Directed by Erica Eng (New York Premiere)
“An Island Drifts” (Singapore) – Directed by Vivian Ip (World Premiere)
“Apart, Together” – Directed by Olivia Hang Zhou
“Aurinko In Adagio” – Directed by Elisee Junior St Preux
“Be Good” – Directed by Jessica Damouni (World Premiere)
“Beauty Boys” (France) – Directed by Florent Gouelou (New York Premiere)
“But Tomorrow” – Directed by Lin Que Ayoung (World Premiere)
“Cherry Lemonade” – Directed by Aisha Ford
“Death & Deathability (A Period Piece)” – Directed by Maria Victoria Ponce
“Five Tiger” (South Africa) – Directed by Nomawonga Khumalo (New York Premiere)
“Geri and Rick” – Directed by Vincent Turturro (World Premiere)
“Hector’s Woman” (La mujer de Héctor) (Puerto Rico) – Directed by Ricardo J Varona
“I AM” (Germany) – Directed by Jerry Hoffmann
“IKARUS” (Trinidad) – Directed by Shaun Escayg
“I’m A Vampire” (Mexico) – Directed by Sofia Garza-Barba (New York Premiere)
“I Like It Here” (Ghana) – Directed by Amartei Armar (New York Premiere)
“Lakutshon’ Ilanga/When The Sun Sets” (South Africa) – Directed by Phumi Morare (New York Premiere)
“Lovesick In The West Bank” (Palestine) – Directed by Said Zagha (World Premiere)
“Omolara” (Italy) – Directed by Andrew Vasquez
“Purple, Green, Blue” – Directed by Eugene. K (East Coast Premiere)
“Stigma, Style” (Singapore) – Directed by Cheryl Wong Ye Han (East Coast Premiere)
“Summer Dream” (Brazil) – Directed by Luan Dias (U.S. Premiere)
“Swimsuit” – Directed by Hasan Hadi (World Premiere)
“Tasbeeh” (United Kingdom) – Directed by Iqbal Mohammed (World Premiere)
“The Last Days” (United Kingdom) – Directed by Dipo Baruwa-Etti (New York Premiere)
“The Pie Shop” (United Kingdom) – Directed by Tyler Pierreson (World Premiere)
“The Trucker” – Directed by Raven Johnson
“Wouldn’t Mean Nuthin’” – Directed by Tristan Mack Wilds (World Premiere)
“X US” (United Kingdom) – Directed by Akinola Davies (U.S. Premiere)

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
“Ale Libre” – Directed by Maya Cueva (New York Premiere)
“Halima” – Directed by Dina Valentin (World Premiere)
“The Road to Justice” – Directed by Kaliya Warren, Brendan Hall (New York Premiere)
“Wonderfully Made” – Directed by Benita Ozoude (New York Premiere)

ANIMATION SHORTS
“Footsteps on the Wind” (Brazil/United Kingdom) – Directed by Maya Sanbar, Gustavo Leal, Faga Melo (New York Premiere)
Lines – Directed by Claire Fleming (New York Premiere)
“Nuevo Rico” – Directed by Kristian Mercado Figueroa
“Step Into the River” (China/France) – Directed by Weijia Ma (New York Premiere)
“The Ballad Of Joe Pass” – Directed by Jordan Hendrickson
“The Black Disquisition” – Directed by Quincy G. Ledbetter (New York Premiere)

EXPERIMENTAL SIDEBAR
“At The Wall” (Mexico) – Directed by Sandra Varona (World Premiere)
“Black Love Manifesto” – Directed by Liza Jessie Peterson and Jason K. Battle (World Premiere)
“Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma” – Directed by Topaz Jones and rubberband.
“The Antimatter Suite” – Directed by Steven E. Mallorca (World Premiere)
“Why Do I Love Us So Much?” (United Kingdom) – Directed by Jade Hackett (World Premiere)
“Would You Kill God Too?” – Directed by WJ Lofton and Natalie Lauren

ENVIRONMENT + SOCIAL IMPACT SIDEBAR
“On the Fenceline: A Fight for Clean Air” – Directed by Tara Eng, Kristen Harrison, Alex Klein, Alisha Tamarchenko (New York Premiere)
“Once Upon A Time in Venezuela” (Venezuela) – Directed by Anabel Rodríguez Ríos
“Youth v. Gov” – Directed by Christi Cooper

WEB ORIGINALS SHOWCASE
“Kontaxt” – Directed by Andrew Bachelor (East Coast Premiere)
“Last Bodega In Brooklyn” – Directed by Mosiah Moonsammy and Jared Glenn (World Premiere)
“Ms/Manage” – Directed by Caralene Robinson and Michael “Boogievision” Pinckney (New York Premiere)
“The Corps” – Directed by Tijuana Ricks (East Coast Premiere)
“Our S### Pad” – Directed by Aldo Pisano

MUSIC VIDEOS
“Calendário” (Featuring ANAVITÓRIA) (Brazil) – Directed by The Fridman Sisters (U.S. Premiere)
“Tesfay” (Featuring Witch Prophet) – Directed by Leah Vlemmiks
“Take Your Time” (Featuring Fool The Fox and Jamie Broad) (Jamaica/United Kingdom) – Directed by Rasheed Bailey
“North Star” (Featuring Mumu Fresh and D Smoke) – Directed by T.L Benton (East Coast Premiere)

SCREENPLAYS
“Gun Powder” – Written By R Cadell Cook
“Inheritance” – Written By Fedna Jacquet
“Tarabull” – Written By Esdras Romero
“The 84” – Written By Sonja Perryman