[MIAMI BEACH] – The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) today announced its lineup of 12 spotlight screenings from its studio and network partners. The screenings include premieres and previews of feature films, documentaries and episodic series. Regarded as the preeminent showcase for quality Black content, the festival will take place live in Miami Beach June 15-19 and continues virtually June 20–30 on ABFF PLAY, the festival’s custom-designed online platform.
The Line-up
This year’s collection of live spotlight screenings include, Rap Sh!t, the new series created by award-winning actress/director/writer/producer and 2022 Festival Ambassador Issa Rae presented by HBO Max; Down With the King, starring rapper Freddie Gibbs from Sony Pictures Entertainment; a sneak peak of Prime Video’s A League of Their Own starring Chanté Adams; Onyx Collective and ABC News Studio’s Aftershock, a film that explores America’s maternal health care crisis; Disney+’s TheProud Family: Louder and Prouder, the critically acclaimed revival of Disney Channel’s groundbreaking original series “The Proud Family;” TV One’s upcoming Stranger Next Door from Emmy Award® winning director Victoria Rowell; A&E’s Right to Offend: The Black Comedy Revolution, an exploration documenting how Black comedians used laughter to push social boundaries and cultural change.
A first look at The SpringHill Company’s After Jackie documentary from Emmy Award® winning and Academy Award® nominated filmmaker Stanley Nelson and critically-acclaimed director Andre Gaines premiering on the HISTORY Channel®; a new episode of Black Love, entitled There Isn’t One Way, featuring couples Remy Ma & Papoose and Kenric & Sonequa Martin Green from Confluential Films, and; a compilation of shorts from BET Her, focusing on issues affecting the mental and physical health in the Black community, Behind the Smile! directed by Naturi Naughton and The Pink Fight directed by LisaRaye McCoy. Previously announced, the festival will open with the Netflix documentary CIVIL, an intimate verité look at the life of maverick civil rights attorney Ben Crump directed and produced by award-winning filmmaker Nadia Hallgren and produced by Kenya Barris, Roger Ross Williams and Lauren Cioffi.
ABFF Mission
“ABFF continues to be an unparalleled resource for studios, networks and streamers. To promote and publicize their upcoming releases to Black audiences. We are excited to share these films and series with this year’s attendees.”
-Jeff Friday, founder and CEO ABFF Ventures LLC.
Virtual spotlight screenings to be featured on ABFF PLAY include Color Of Change’s eye-opening documentary What’s Costing Hollywood?. A mini-documentary that explores how data is often used to inform executive-level decision-making in Hollywood. With a talkback moderated by Kendrick Sampson and A Beautiful Resistance from The Boston Globe. Right to Offend: The Black Comedy Revolution will have an encore presentation on the platform.
