GUEST POST: 5 Favorites by Ava DuVernay

AFI Fest 2010

Hi my name is Ava DuVernay.  I make and market films.  A good sister named Karen who runs this very cool site, ReelArtsy.com, asked me to name 5 things that excite me in black film at the moment.  What a cool concept.  Just like Karen. And her site. Cool. So… here goes…

5) Matthew A. Cherry

I like this brother's style. He shoots. And shoots. And shoots. Music videos. Shorts.  And coming soon - his first feature. He works with open arms. Embracing fellow filmmakers. Embracing social media. Embracing the energy currently brewing around the black indie film aesthetic. Here's his latest video which just dropped this week for Foreign Exchange. The guy makes, like, a video a week, I swear. I love it. Work! 

4) Black Swan Theory

This is a short film that I dig a lot for a couple of reasons.  First: because this fierce black woman filmmaker smashed it.  Her name is Nikyatu Jusu and she is a bad, bad sister - in the best way.  Can't wait to see more from her and loved her previous short.  Second reason I love this small film is that it was made with funds from a guy who puts his money where his mouth is: Tambay Obenson of ShadowandAct.com.  I appreciate people who mean what they say and say what they mean. And by funding Nikyatu's film through the Shadow and Act Filmmaker Challenge, Tambay did just that. This film represents everything we should be doing as black filmmakers and black film advocates. Creating vibrant, self-determined images and moving them forward with our passion and elbow grease.

3) Remigration

The latest from Barry Jenkins via the FutureStates series. What else needs to be said? The brother is not for the children. He's for grown-ups. Love his work. Love FutureStates.  If you're not aware of either, please get to Googlin'.  I met Barry for the first time at Sundance during our AFFRM dinners just a few weeks ago.  I liked his vibe and really can't wait to see 'Remigration,' when it debuts on March 21.  Plus it stars Russell Hornsby who is a ridiculously talented actor.  I had the pleasure of working with him as a publicist both on stage and on our dearly departed TV series, "Lincoln Heights."  Keep an eye out for all involved with this piece, especially Barry.

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Poster - I Will Follow

[click for bigger version]

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AFI Fest Photos - I Will Follow Premiere

Ava DuVernay's I Will Follow had its West Coast premiere at the AFI Fest (presented by Audi). Photo contributor Wilki Tom snapped these photos on the red carpet of Reel Artsy favorite Salli Richardson-Whitfield and cast.

[Photos via WilkiImage]

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I Will Follow (trailer)

I Will Follow casts Salli Richardson-Whitfield (SyFy's Eureka) in what looks like a subtle, character-driven story about a woman overcoming the grief of losing her aunt. If the movie matches the tone in the trailer I'll be pleased (meaning more landscape shots and a soundtrack that leans toward the post-rock side). The film screens closing night at the Urbanworld Film Fest in NYC later this month.

Official Site: Facebook

[HT Shadow & Act]

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Pastor Brown

Salli Richardson-Whitfield is one of those under-the-radar actresses I've been wanting to see in starring roles. If you're a sci-fi fan then you're probably familiar with her playing Dr. Allison Blake on Eureka. In Pastor Brown, Richardson takes a role quite opposite of her Eureka character to star and produce in this indie film about church and family politics...

When her father unexpectedly falls terminally ill, exotic dancer Jessica "Jesse" Brown returns home for the first time in more than a decade. Her father's dying wish - that she take over as head of Mount Olive Baptist Church - turns her life and her family's life upside down.

I still haven't found a screencap from the movie but here's a picture of Richardson and her husband, Dondre Whitfield, who is also in the film with her. Don't they make an adorable couple?


[H/T Shadow & Act]

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Sioux City

One of my late night movie rentals yielded this: vintage Lou Diamond Phillips and Salli Richardson circa 1994. There's no way I could pass that up!

Not only does Lou Diamond Phillips star in the film he also directs it and sings on the soundtrack with his band The Pipefitters. When did he get a band? Seriously, the '90s went by way too fast. Anyhow, if you can get pass the cheesy musical score then you might enjoy this film.

A Native American doctor, adopted and raised by an affluent Jewish family from Beverly Hills, returns to his native reservation to seek out his natural mother, a Lakota tribeswoman, only to discover she's been murdered

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