THE OBENSON REPORT

Covering Cinema From All Across The African Diaspora
Showing posts with label film festival highlight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film festival highlight. Show all posts

Dubai Film Fest Favors North African Films

Posted on 11:08 AM comments (1)
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North African cinema was the big winner at the 5th annual Dubai Film Festival, which wrapped up late last week, with the Franco-Algerian co-production Masquerades winning the Muhr Award for best film.

The comedy about an Algerian man who tries to marry off his narcoleptic sister, also won the festival’s inaugural Fipresci prize.

Another Franco-Algerian co-production, Dernier Maquis, won the special jury prize, as well as nods for editor and composer. The film is about a group of immigrant workers in a Paris suburb who protest when their boss attempts to build an on-site mosque.

Moroccan filmmaker Nour-Eddine Lakhmari’s Casanegra won the best actor prize - shared between Anas Elbaz and Omar Lotfi - as well as best cinematographer.

And, lastly, Algerian actress Hafsia Herzi picked up the best actress award for her turn in Moroccan director Souad El-Bouhati's debut feature Francaise.

I'm not sure if any of these films will ever reach American shores - likely not. But I'll certainly be on the alert.

Although the African Diaspora Film Festival is notable for its ability to attract films like these for those of us in these United States.

See the entire list of winners here: DUBAI FILM FEST
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L.A. Film Festival Dispatch - 'Prince of Broadway' Review

Posted on 11:03 AM No Comments
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I'm not in L.A. to attend the L.A. Film Festival, but I'll certainly be paying attention to the blogs of those that will be present, in search of coverage on any African Diasporic content, like Matt Dentler's blog which is part of the indieWIRE Blog Network.

Matt saw Prince of Broadway yesterday, Monday, a film I posted an entry on which you can read HERE. Here's what he had to say about it... it's not what I would call a thorough review, but there's enough there to chew on for now:

On Monday, I caught Sean Baker's third feature, Prince of Broadway, having its world premiere in the strong LAFF Narrative Competition. Baker's film follows a Manhattan counterfeit hustler named Lucky, who makes ends meet by selling imitation sneakers and handbags. One day, an old girlfriend drops an 18-month-old baby in his hands, claiming it's his son and that he must take care of him now. More than just a remodeled version of Baby Boom, Baker's film explores issues of class and race in modern America. Prince Adu (a non-professional first-timer) delivers a great performance as Lucky, an African native living illegally in New York. And, Baker captures the intensity and irreverence of the circumstances with equal parts sadness and humor. It's a tough balance, and a concept that could have easily failed. Instead, Prince of Broadway is an indie must-see.

Check out Matt's blog HERE. No word yet on distribution.

Film Festival Highlight - 'Prince of Broadway'

Posted on 1:53 PM comments (4)
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The Los Angeles Film Festival started today, and I've been keeping my eyes and ears alert for any projects worth mentioning, specifically those by and/or about people of the African Diaspora. I already mentioned Medicine For Melancholy below this post, which just got blessed with a distribution deal thanks to IFC Films, and will be screening thrice at the festival, which runs from the 19th to the 29th of this month.
Here's another one: It's a fictional narrative called Prince of Broadway.

The synopsis: Lucky rules New York. Well, at least the short strip of sidewalk where he runs a nonstop spiel hustling wary tourists into the back room of a clothing store to sell them all manner of knock-off designer merchandise. Watching Lucky work his magic, anything seems possible for the Ghanaian immigrant - right up until his ex-girlfriend drops their 2-year-old son in his arms and disappears.

The trailer for the DV feature follows below.

My quick thoughts: I've still not entirely acclimated myself to the cold, harsh edges of digital video. I'm a celluloid snob, I know :o) But I did shoot my feature, Beautiful Things, with a Sony VX2000 Mini-DV camcorder, although I did almost everything I could to mash the quality of the images so that they looked, not necessarily like film, but as unlike DV as possible. I think I succeeded mostly... some audiences were fooled!

When I watch trailers like this one for Prince of Broadway, I can't help but feel indifferent about what I see, regardless of how compelling the content might be. I press the play button, and I immediately turn cold and apathetic thanks almost solely to the visual presentation. It's not the film nor the filmmaker's fault, mind you. It's me and my "elitist" preferences. Like I started off saying, I'm a celluloid snob... but I'm coming along... slowly... gradually... I realize that once I'm able to get past the look of "prosumer" digital video footage, I'll be able to fully enjoy what films produced on that format have to offer.

So, all that to say, given my celluloid bias, I'm not sure if I'm fully qualified to say how good this trailer makes the film look. The story seems primed for lots of tender, comedic moments and feels vaguely familiar - a single, independent, usually immature man's life is suddenly shaken up by the emergence of a young child he never knew he had, thrusting him into a life he likely eschewed up until that point, and in the end forcing him to, essentially, grow up - from boy to man! At least, that's what I gather from the 2 1/2 minute trailer below.

I will still see it if it comes to my neck of the woods. Given that it's playing at the Los Angeles Film Festival is definitely a plus, because it gives it a certain prestige that I wouldn't afford it, if I was instead talking about the American Black Film Festival or the Hollywood black Film Festival! Sorry ABFF and HBFF... it's just one man's opinion, of course!

Learn more about the film at its website HERE.

Anyway, here's the trailer for Prince of Broadway. Whadaya think?:

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