By Ramona Prioleau

Good things are typically associated with the number seven. And for the American Black Film Festival, its seventh year was no exception. Throughout it history, ABFF has enjoyed a healthy slate of widely recognized corporate backers. This has been due in no small part to the festival’s early association with the advertising agency UniWorld Group, Inc. and its Executive Director Jeff Friday’s background in event and entertainment marketing.

In addition, Friday’s demonstrated insistence on fostering an environment in which the needs of sponsors are catered to and generally where sponsors are afforded top-notch bang for their buck helped engender sponsor loyalty to an event initially located along the Gulf of Mexico.

“Companies like HBO, Lincoln, ABC, Inc. and Blockbuster are returning to the ABFF year after year, not only because we present some of the most promising African American talent, but also because we provide a growing marketplace of affluent film consumers that are eager to support their brands” acknowledged Jeff Friday..

Having relocated in 2002 to the South Beach resort area of Florida, ABFF snagged the corporate brass ring when AOL Time Warner signed on as presenting sponsor in 2003. An entertainment behemoth, AOL has a long history of promoting diversity in the arts and has supported such entities as the Apollo Theater and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

In remarking on her company’s sponsorship of the festival, Gerri Warren-Merrick, Vice President of Corporate Community Relations of AOL, noted that “AOL is committed to finding and developing the widest possible diversity of talent.”

“The ABFF is a particularly important opportunity for [AOL] to help bring to light the creative genius of black filmmakers and to infuse the entire film industry with new ideas, perspectives and energy,” continued Ms. Warren-Merrick.

While its corporate parent came fashionably late to the party, AOL’s subsidiary HBO has been a long-term sponsor of the festival and underwrites as well as produces the HBO Short Film Competition, one of the most popular offerings during the five-day event.

Where big backers and big bucks are found, the big time is sure to follow. So 2003 saw ABFF revamp its schedule to include a number of marquee attractions. To its slate of indie films, panel discussions, intensive workshops and award show, the festival added events that created quite a buzz and had Miami residents wondering how they could get in on the action.

Festivalgoers were generally thrilled during separate events that featured filmmaker/thespian Laurence Fishburne and the creator and cast of HBO’s The Wire. But, it was the screening of The Spook Who Sat By the Door and the talkback with Sam Greenlee the film’s firebrand writer/producer that engendered the most impassioned applause and raucous cries of heartfelt appreciation. Friday explained that “at Robert Townsend’s suggestion, [ABFF] launched the new event to feature a film of the past, called Classic Cinema with Robert Townsend.” According to Friday, in its current manifestation, “[ABFF is] committed to reflecting on what has happened and projecting what’s to come.”

Townsend, who sits on ABFF’s advisory board, has supported the festival since its inception because it provides a necessary outlet for diverse voices. “This festival is all about empowerment. What this film festival is about for filmmakers of color is really about encouraging them to release their voices. They really don’t have that many places,” said Townsend at the festival press conference.

Each year the festival celebrates its own with awards bestowed upon industry veterans and ingénues. In 2003, special awards were given to Gabrielle Union (AOL Time Warner Rising Star Award) and Russell Simmons (AOL Time Warner Innovator Award).

Entrepreneur Russell Simmons, best known for co-founding Def Jam records, has also made his mark in other industries, including fashion, advertising television and film. Remarking on his success at the festival press conference, Simmons also took the time to comment on the business implications of marginalizing products that speak to a certain segment of society. Stating that businesses do so at their financial peril, Simmons encouraged the community to “continue to push and point out where problems [of access] exist, develop our talent and hope that the corporations will catch up with the people.”

In addition to awards to established performers, festival awards also went to indie films and performers in those projects. Award recipients included:

• Writer/director Frank E. Flowers for Swallow – HBO Short Film Award ($20,000);
• Director Sacha Parisot for Skin Deep – Lincoln Filmmaker Trophy award (Two-year lease of a Lincoln Navigator);
• Writer/director Christine Swanson for All About You – Blockbuster Audience Award for Best Feature Film ($15,000);
• Janice Richardson for Anne B. Real – Best Performance by an Actress; and
• Steve White for Skin Deep – Best Performance by an Actor.

Filmmaker Frank E. Flowers was mindful of the impact that winning the HBO Short Film Award would have on his career in particular and Cayman Island cinema generally. “It feels great that I was able to tell a story that I believed in as well as something that’s close to my heart. To be congratulated like this and to be honored like this, it really validates the project and all the hard work.”

“[My success at ABFF] is a great stepping stone in a way validating the stories we want to tell [in the Caribbean]…It’s a great launching pad to begin a career of excellent work telling stories about our people in the most excellent fashion. It shows that Caribbeans are making good movies, not good West Indian movies, not good Black movies, but great movies about our people, experience and subculture that has yet to be seen,” Flowers added.

The festival awards served also to inspire one of its special honorees. Aglow after receiving the AOL Rising Star Award, Gabrielle Union took a moment to praise the skill of the actresses competing in the festival’s Best Actress category. Union noted that the strong performances of those actresses were motivational and that “[the competition] helps you stay hungry knowing that you need to improve and you can’t rest on your last performance.”

Even with a festival that has grown almost tenfold in seven years, challenges still exist for ABFF, including securing additional theater screens at venues during the blockbuster summer season and managing the growth of the festival. “Our first year, we had about 300 people and this year we had about 3,000 and one of the things I remember about those [early] days was the intimacy and I think that is what made it special. It was an intimate group of the people and we all got to know each other in those five days,” Friday recollected at the festival press conference.

“The biggest challenges are maintaining the intimacy as you get bigger and providing access so people can get to know each other. My thing is I just want people to build interpersonal relationships this week and I don’t want ever to get so big that that dynamic goes away,” Friday stressed.

With all that ABFF has achieved so far and with the festival’s guiding principles, Friday and his staff are up to the task. M

June 2003