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Detroit
ACE to
help
launch
inaugural
Film
Festival
featuring
nationally
acclaimed
native
Detroiters
•
Detroit’s
newest
festival
goes
digital
with 30
short
and
feature-length
films
•
Besides
films,
the
DETBFF
will
feature
master
classes
with
industry
stars
DETROIT
-
Trinity
Films
Entertainment
Group
(TFEG)
announces
the
launch
of the
inaugural
Detroit
Black
Film
Festival,
featuring
award-winning
films
and
acclaimed
native
Detroiters
in the
film and
television
industry.
The
two-day,
digital
festival
will
debut
September
18, 2020
in
partnership
with the
Charles
H.
Wright
Museum
of
African
American
History
and the
Detroit
Office
of Arts,
Culture
and
Entrepreneurship
(ACE).
The
festival
will
showcase
30 short
and
feature-length
movies
created
by
African-American
independent
filmmakers,
said
festival
co-Directors,
Lazar
and
Marshalle
Favors.
“Our
aim is
to
elevate
narratives
that
center
the
experiences
and
culture
of Black
people
globally,”
the
Favors
said in
a
statement.
Detroit
“has a
wealth
of film
talent
in front
of and
behind
the
camera,”
said
Rochelle
Riley,
director
of arts
and
culture
for the
City.
“The
City is
proud to
help
showcase
that
talent.”
Information,
film
trailers
and all
films
can be
seen at
https://detbff.eventive.org/welcome.
Tickets
are
available
at
https://detbff.eventive.org/films
Festival
Ambassador
-
Deborah
Joy
Winans
The
2020
festival
ambassador
is famed
actress
and
singer
Deborah
Joy
Winans,
who
starred
in the
OWN
family
drama
series
“Greenleaf,”
which
was
executive-produced
by Oprah
Winfrey.
Deborah
Joy was
born
into a
legendary
musical
family,
but her
first
passion
was
acting.
She only
started
singing
seriously
when she
was
asked in
2016,
along
with her
brother
Juan, to
portray
their
real-life
aunt and
uncle,
Bebe and
Cece
Winans,
on stage
in the
musical
“Born
for
This.”
Deborah
Joy has
also
made
guest
appearances
on
multiple
Grammy
Award-winning
projects,
such as
Mary
Mary's
“The
Sound”
and
Kelly
Price's
audio
book.
She also
contributed
to the
“Greenleaf”
soundtrack
with the
single
"The
Master's
Calling,"
which
broke
the Top
20 on
the
Gospel
Billboard
Chart
two
weeks
after
its
release.
Deborah
Joy is
also
featured
alongside
Grammy
Award-winning
artist
Patti
LaBelle
on the
lead
single
"Changed"
on the
Greenleaf
Season 3
soundtrack.
The
festival
also
will
feature
Master
Class
conversations
with
award
winning
writers/directors
Christine
Swanson
and
Qasim
Basir as
well as
with
industry
executives
Michael
Swanson
and
Brian
Smiley
Award-winning
Director
Christine
Swanson’s
latest
film,
“The
Clark
Sisters:
First
Ladies
of
Gospel,”
aired in
April
2020.
The film
broke
the
record
on the
Lifetime
network
with a
staggering
2.7
million
viewers.
It was
the
highest-rated
movie on
Lifetime
in the
last
four
years.
To date,
the
movie
has been
viewed
by
almost
14
million
people.
Christine
has
developed,
written
and/or
directed
movie
projects
for HBO
Films,
Magnolia
Pictures,
State
Street
Pictures,
TV One
and
Faith
Filmworks.
Christine
received
a 2015
NAACP
Image
Award
nomination
for
Outstanding
Direction
of a
Television
Motion
Picture.
Other
award-winning
projects
Christine
has
written
and/or
directed
include:
“Two
Seasons”
(winner
of the
HBO
Short
Film
Competition
and a
Sundance
selection)
and “All
About
You”
starring
Renée
Elise
Goldsberry,
Terron
Brooks
and
Debbie
Allen.
The film
won the
Audience
Choice
Award at
the
Chicago
International
Film
Festival,
the
Grand
Jury
Prize
Hollywood
Black
Film
Festival
and the
Festival
Award at
the Pan
African
Film
Festival.
Qasim
“Q”
Basir
is an
award-winning
filmmaker,
whose
2010
first
feature
film
“MOOZ-lum”,
starred
Nia
Long,
Evan
Ross and
Danny
Glover.
The
coming-of-age
tale
about a
Muslim
boy
going to
college
around
the
September
11
attacks
received
critical
acclaim,
with
nominations
for the
NAACP
Image
Awards
and the
Black
Reel
Awards.
It won
Best
Narrative
Feature
at the
14th
Annual
Urban
World
Film
Festival
in New
York.
Basir
also
wrote
and
directed
“Destined,”
starring
Cory
Hardrict.
Basir
won Best
Director
at the
American
Black
Film
Festival
for that
film.
His film
“A Boy,
A Girl,
A
Dream,”
starring
Omari
Hardwick
and
Meagan
Good was
selected
for the
2018
Sundance
Film
Festival.
Rochelle
Riley
will
interview
him.
Michael
Swanson
is an
Emmy
Award-winning
producer
and
studio
executive,
who has
produced
critically
acclaimed
films
for the
past 20
years
through
his
production
company,
Faith
Filmworks.
In 2010,
Michael
was
invited
to join
NBC
Universal
as a
studio
production
executive
for
Universal
Television.
He
oversees
production
operations
for some
of the
studio’s
most
popular
TV
series
including
“Brooklyn
Nine-Nine”
(Fox)
starring
Andy
Samberg
and
Andre
Braugher,
“Master
of None”
(Netflix)
starring
Aziz
Ansari,
“The
Good
Place”
(NBC)
starring
Kristen
Bell and
Ted
Danson,
“Parks
and
Recreation”
(NBC)
starring
Amy
Poehler,
“Community”
(NBC/Yahoo)
starring
Joel
McHale,
Murray
Povich
(Syndication)
and
“Food
Fighter”
(NBC).
Michael’s
other
productions
include
the
multiple
award-winning
romantic
feature
films,
“All
About
You” and
“All
About
Us,”
written
and
directed
by his
wife,
filmmaker
Christine
Swanson.
“All
About
Us”
stars
Boris
Kodjoe,
Ryan
Bathé,
the late
Ruby Dee
and a
special
appearance
by
Academy
Award
winner,
Morgan
Freeman.
Bryan
Smiley
is
President
of Film
and
Television
for
mega-comedian
Kevin
Hart’s
Hartbeat
Productions.
Smiley
is the
former
Vice
President
Of
Production
for Sony
Pictures
Entertainment.
Smiley
was
instrumental
in the
multi-year
development
and
production
deal
with
superstar
athlete
Stephen
Curry
across
its
film,
television,
and
worldwide
partnerships
operations
in the
biggest
media
deal of
any
athlete
to date.
Before
joining
Columbia
Pictures,
Smiley
co-founded
No Label
Productions,
a
multicultural
film &
television
company.
He has
also
consulted
for
several
top
media
companies
including
Fox
Digital
Entertainment
and Fox
Digital
Studios.
Celebrity
Interview
with
Mara
Hall The
festival
will
feature
a
celebrity
interview
with
Mara
Hall,
who has
worked
on a
number
of
independent
projects
and
starred
in such
TV shows
as
“Saints
&
Sinners,”
“Scandal,”
and
“Grey’s
Anatomy.”
She
currently
portrays
Darcia
Lancaster
on the
OW hit
drama,
“Ambitions.”
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