San Diego Black Film Festival
Encyclopedia
The San Diego Black Film Festival is one of the largest black film festival
s in the country. It is held in southern California
recognizes African American
and movies and production. The festival was founded in 2003, and takes place every year during the last week of January in San Diego, California
. People from all over southern California and even across the United States
attend this festival every year and in the year 2010, famous musical artist, Jay-Z
attended. There are numerous stars who attend the festival and is proven to be a popular event for the “greater” figures of the United States. The festival’s motto is "Spotlight on African American and African Diaspora
Cinema.” The San Diego Black film festival was created in order to preserve African American film and has succeeded in this so far.
”, so they changed the event name to the San Diego Black Film Festival. Since then, the festival attendance has boomed. By 2011, This festival is known as one of the biggest black film festivals in the United States and one of the biggest festivals in all of southern California. This year (2011) 15,000-30,000 attended the festival. The organizers of the festival cannot believe how far the festival has come since its stint at a Gaslamp Hotel and its organizers are amazed by the quantity of people that attend this event of African American Film preservation. The Black Film Festival is centered at downtown San Diego’s Westfield Horton Plaza
Mall. The movies and films are shown at Regal United Artists Theatre and this theatre is located on the forth and fifth floor of the plaza mall.
The San Diego Black Film Festival screens more than 100 films each year. There are a variety of categories and they include; Comedy, Drama, Documentaries, Animation, GLBT, Horror, Religious, Foreign/African Diaspora, Shorts, Feature Films and music video
s. The event continues to grow and currently (2011) stands as one of the top tier festivals in the United States and one of the biggest on the west coast (3).
is as follows (3):
Film Screening Schedule: 8 - 10 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27 Opening Day 6 - 10 p.m. Friday Jan. 28 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. Saturday Jan. 29 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30 Closing Day
With more than 100 films screening during its four-day run, the San Diego Black Film Festival is one of the largest of its kind. To help narrow it down, organizers offer up their must-see “Big 8” films. These films are regarded as the best of the year and all cover different genres of African American film.
The event continues to improve year after year and in 2011 it made the following additions and changes to the festival;
There is now a Big 8 Film Pass for $30 and this pass enables the person to view all eight of the Big Eight films. The Big 8 Films (as seen above) are regarded as the eight biggest films of the 2011 San Diego Black Film Festival.
Also, another event EXPO 2011, a partner event to the San Diego Black Film Festival, will have vendors, exhibitors, art, food, and merchandise on the second floor of the Westfield Horton Plaza Mall. They are also kid-friendly and even have an area for kids to play during the festivals. EXPO will be running from 11 a.m.- 8 p.m., and is open during the San Diego Black Film Festival without charge.
Jan. 27
7:30 p.m., “The Three Way”
Director Julian Renner takes a comedic look at the fallout a couple experiences when a secret comes out.
Jan. 28
7:30 p.m., “Infiltrating Hollywood (The Rise and Fall of ‘The Spook Who Sat by the Door’)”
The controversial 1973 film “The Spook Who Sat by the Door” was ultimately pulled from theaters by the FBI. Featuring interviews with cast and crew, this documentary sheds light on a dark moment in American history.
Jan. 29
11 a.m., “Dog Jack
”
Louis Gossett, Jr.
narratives director Edward Mcdougal’s Civil War
tale about an escaped slave boy who, along with his dog, Jack, joins a Northern regiment and faces his former captors.
1:30 p.m., “Happy Holiday”
When a ladies man befriends a young boy with a big Christmas wish, he re-evaluates everything he thought about true love. Directed by Harry Arnold.
3:30 p.m., “The Company We Keep”
In this romantic comedy directed by Roy Campanella II
, an ambitious female executive at a struggling record label struggles to balance her love life with her endangered career.
5:30 p.m., “Shaft or Sidney Poitier”;
In this feature-length documentary, director Jonathan Gayles examines the origins of black masculinity and the influence of race in comic book
s during the late 1960s and ’70s.
7 p.m., “Church”
Sunday services are anything but boring in this uplifting musical set inside an African-American church. Directed by Cory King
.
Jan. 30
11 a.m., “The Human Web”;
Based on the hit stage play “The Sacrifice,” director Benedict Dorsey tells the fictional tale of a young man struggling to make sense of his life amid a complex web of lies, betrayal, drugs and revenge.
In the year 2011, the following awards were given out to the participants (2):
Best Film (Infiltrating Hollywood, the Rise and Fall of the Spook Who Sat By the Door)
Best Director (Julian Renner)
Best Short (Underground)
Best Actor (Al Thompson
)
Best Drama (Dog Jack)
Best Documentary (Gang Girl)
Filmmakers Choice (The Three Way)
Best Religious (Church)
Best Comedy (The Three Way)
Best Diaspora (Heaven Garden)
Best GLBT (CHANGE)
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
s in the country. It is held in southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
recognizes African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
and movies and production. The festival was founded in 2003, and takes place every year during the last week of January in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
. People from all over southern California and even across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
attend this festival every year and in the year 2010, famous musical artist, Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
attended. There are numerous stars who attend the festival and is proven to be a popular event for the “greater” figures of the United States. The festival’s motto is "Spotlight on African American and African Diaspora
African diaspora
The African diaspora was the movement of Africans and their descendants to places throughout the world—predominantly to the Americas also to Europe, the Middle East and other places around the globe...
Cinema.” The San Diego Black film festival was created in order to preserve African American film and has succeeded in this so far.
Founding
The San Diego Black Film Festival, originally known as the Noir Film Festival, was started nine years ago in a room at a Gaslamp hotel (3). There were only three films shown, and less than 100 people attended. In 2006 the name of the festival was changed because the organizers of the event figured out that many people were getting “Noir Film” confused “Film NoirFilm noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
”, so they changed the event name to the San Diego Black Film Festival. Since then, the festival attendance has boomed. By 2011, This festival is known as one of the biggest black film festivals in the United States and one of the biggest festivals in all of southern California. This year (2011) 15,000-30,000 attended the festival. The organizers of the festival cannot believe how far the festival has come since its stint at a Gaslamp Hotel and its organizers are amazed by the quantity of people that attend this event of African American Film preservation. The Black Film Festival is centered at downtown San Diego’s Westfield Horton Plaza
Westfield Horton Plaza
Horton Plaza, officially Westfield Horton Plaza, is a five level outdoor shopping mall located in downtown San Diego and remarkable for its bright colors, architectural tricks and odd spatial rhythms. It stands on six and a half city blocks and is adjacent to the city's historic Gaslamp Quarter. ...
Mall. The movies and films are shown at Regal United Artists Theatre and this theatre is located on the forth and fifth floor of the plaza mall.
The San Diego Black Film Festival screens more than 100 films each year. There are a variety of categories and they include; Comedy, Drama, Documentaries, Animation, GLBT, Horror, Religious, Foreign/African Diaspora, Shorts, Feature Films and music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s. The event continues to grow and currently (2011) stands as one of the top tier festivals in the United States and one of the biggest on the west coast (3).
Events
2011 was the San Diego Black Film Festival’s ninth year and it was celebrated with a diverse collection of exciting, groundbreaking and hilarious films. During that San Diego Black Film Festival, films are being shown throughout the day and night and this is what makes the event so incredible. A normal schedule for the film screeningFilm screening
A film screening is the displaying of a motion picture or film, generally referring to a special showing as part of a film's production and release cycle...
is as follows (3):
Film Screening Schedule: 8 - 10 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27 Opening Day 6 - 10 p.m. Friday Jan. 28 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. Saturday Jan. 29 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30 Closing Day
With more than 100 films screening during its four-day run, the San Diego Black Film Festival is one of the largest of its kind. To help narrow it down, organizers offer up their must-see “Big 8” films. These films are regarded as the best of the year and all cover different genres of African American film.
The event continues to improve year after year and in 2011 it made the following additions and changes to the festival;
There is now a Big 8 Film Pass for $30 and this pass enables the person to view all eight of the Big Eight films. The Big 8 Films (as seen above) are regarded as the eight biggest films of the 2011 San Diego Black Film Festival.
Also, another event EXPO 2011, a partner event to the San Diego Black Film Festival, will have vendors, exhibitors, art, food, and merchandise on the second floor of the Westfield Horton Plaza Mall. They are also kid-friendly and even have an area for kids to play during the festivals. EXPO will be running from 11 a.m.- 8 p.m., and is open during the San Diego Black Film Festival without charge.
Awards and recipients
Below is a list of the San Diego Black Film Festival award winners and honorees.2011
The “top” 8 films shown in the year 2011 included (2);Jan. 27
7:30 p.m., “The Three Way”
Director Julian Renner takes a comedic look at the fallout a couple experiences when a secret comes out.
Jan. 28
7:30 p.m., “Infiltrating Hollywood (The Rise and Fall of ‘The Spook Who Sat by the Door’)”
The controversial 1973 film “The Spook Who Sat by the Door” was ultimately pulled from theaters by the FBI. Featuring interviews with cast and crew, this documentary sheds light on a dark moment in American history.
Jan. 29
11 a.m., “Dog Jack
Dog Jack
Dog Jack is a 2010 film based on the book of the same name by Florence W. Biros.The story revolves around an escaped slave boy named Jed who joins the 102nd Pennsylvania Regiment during the American Civil War...
”
Louis Gossett, Jr.
Louis Gossett, Jr.
Louis Cameron Gossett, Jr. is an American actor best known for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman and Fiddler in the 1970s television miniseries Roots...
narratives director Edward Mcdougal’s Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
tale about an escaped slave boy who, along with his dog, Jack, joins a Northern regiment and faces his former captors.
1:30 p.m., “Happy Holiday”
When a ladies man befriends a young boy with a big Christmas wish, he re-evaluates everything he thought about true love. Directed by Harry Arnold.
3:30 p.m., “The Company We Keep”
In this romantic comedy directed by Roy Campanella II
Roy Campanella II
Roy Campanella II is a television director and producer.-Biography:Born Roy Campanella II, he is the son of professional baseball great Roy Campanella. After directing some short films, the younger Campanella began directing episodic television...
, an ambitious female executive at a struggling record label struggles to balance her love life with her endangered career.
5:30 p.m., “Shaft or Sidney Poitier”;
In this feature-length documentary, director Jonathan Gayles examines the origins of black masculinity and the influence of race in comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s during the late 1960s and ’70s.
7 p.m., “Church”
Sunday services are anything but boring in this uplifting musical set inside an African-American church. Directed by Cory King
Cory King
Cory King is an African-American television actor who is best known as "Gordon" on The WB's The Parent 'Hood. King has also appeared in ER, Sister, Sister and The Steve Harvey Show, he has also appeared in the Made-for-tv movie, After All co-starring with Holly Robinson Peete.-External links:...
.
Jan. 30
11 a.m., “The Human Web”;
Based on the hit stage play “The Sacrifice,” director Benedict Dorsey tells the fictional tale of a young man struggling to make sense of his life amid a complex web of lies, betrayal, drugs and revenge.
In the year 2011, the following awards were given out to the participants (2):
Best Film (Infiltrating Hollywood, the Rise and Fall of the Spook Who Sat By the Door)
Best Director (Julian Renner)
Best Short (Underground)
Best Actor (Al Thompson
Al Thompson (actor)
Al Thompson is an American film and television actor and stuntman. He has also been a casting director and producer.-Filmography:*The Impostors , stunts*For Love of the Game , as Pete*Flawless , as Paramedic...
)
Best Drama (Dog Jack)
Best Documentary (Gang Girl)
Filmmakers Choice (The Three Way)
Best Religious (Church)
Best Comedy (The Three Way)
Best Diaspora (Heaven Garden)
Best GLBT (CHANGE)