Courtesy photo
The 29th annual American Black Film Festival is set for June 11-15 in Miami Beach, to be followed by an online segment June 16-24 on ABFF PLAY (https://abffplay.com/) for those who can’t make it.
Hosted by three-time Emmy-nominated actor and author Dondré Whitfield, the following films, directed by, or written and produced by persons of African descent, are garnering buzz:
“Freight: The Five Incarnations of Abel Green,” a filmed version of the one-man J. Alphonse Nicholson (“P-Valley”) stage play produced by Tabitha Brown.
The world premiere of “HOORAH 99!” featuring Jeff ‘Ja Rule’ Atkins.
Sundance Festival hit “Love, Brooklyn” starring André Holland, Nicole Beharie and DeWanda Wise.
Zoey Martinson’s Venice Film Festival winner “The Fisherman” produced by Yvonne Orji.
The world premiere of Jamal Dedeaux’s “The Late Night Creep” with Jason Mitchell and Leslie Jones.
“The Reject” written, produced and starring Percy Romeo Miller.
“Fight Like A Girl,” a fact-based Congolese film produced by former NBAer Serge Ibaka.
Michael Jai White will also be flexing at the ABFF with two premieres: “Trouble Man,” which he produced, directed and starred in with Method Man, Mike Epps, Orlando Jones and Lala Anthony; and Tamera Hill’s “The Secret Between Us” which he produced and starred in with Lisa Arrindell and Victoria Rowell.
Documentary features include the Cece Winans-produced “Fatherless No More,” the Stephen Curry-produced Watts-based “Good Shot,“ and “Love, Joy & Power: Tools For Liberation” about the co-founders of the Black Voters Matter Fund, Cliff Albright and LaTosha Brown.
Tiffany Jackman’s “I Hate My Love Life” with Reggie Hayes (“Girlfriends”), Terri J. Vaughn and Roy Wood Jr.; and Kinnik Sky’s “IntelliGent” with Ernest Thomas lead the series segment.
Highlights for the HBO Short Film Award Showcase include Sam Henderson’s “ADO” starring Jenifer Lewis; the Naturi Naughton-Lewis helmed “333” with Birgundi Baker (“The Chi”) and Vanessa Bell Calloway; “Don’t Hang Up” starring Paula Jai Parker; Tristan Barrock’s “Sugar Dumplin” with Oliver Samuels; and the world premiere of Kerry Coddett’s dark barbershop satire “Zeke” starring Hassan Johnson, Stephen Cofield and Sam Jay.
For more information, visit www.abff.com/miami/.
ME TOO: “I haven’t seen a film like [‘Sinners’] in years. I was jumping up and down, like I’m courtside at the garden and we’re kicking the Celtic’s ass. … I remember waiting in line in freezing weather to see ‘The Exorcist.’ I remember waiting in line to see ‘Jaws.’ And ‘Alien,’ and ‘The Godfather.’ Where the theater is packed, that feeling when the film is hitting on levels! I don’t care how big your TV is in your living room, [the theater] is a community.” – SPIKE LEE to Boardroom
CLIPPETTES: Ernest Ranglin, the architect of ska, reggae and Jamaican jazz guitar who was the arranger behind the first global Jamaican hit, Millie Small’s “My Boy Lollipop,” and who played on Bob Marley’s first hit, “It Hurts to Be Alone,” has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a definitive legacy box set. For more info on the campaign running through his 93rd birthday on June 19, visit: ErnestRanglin.com …
May 23 has Murs at the El Rey Theatre while two-night stands are the order for Kendrick Lamar & SZA at SoFi Stadium and guitarist Stanley Jordan at Catalina Jazz Club …
The Delfonics croon at Venice West on May 24, as Lee Fields with The Emkays are at Riverside’s Farm House Collective, and Seth MacFarlane and his Chamber Orchestra are at Vibrato Grill & Jazz …
Leimert Park Jazz Festival’s Sunday Jazz features the Weldon Scott Quartet on May 25 at 3:30 p.m. In the evening, Cory Henry Presents: Church at The Miracle Theater, and Rubén Blades Presenta Fotografías Tour Con Roberto Delgado Big Band at the Peacock Theater …
UCLA holds its annual Jazz Reggae Festival at 11 a.m. May 26, while Weather Report drummer Peter Erskine’s Lounge Art Ensemble is back by popular demand for two shows and an artist reception at Mount Wilson Observatory. Later, it is Monderays with DeRay Davis at The Improv …
The Grammy Museum welcomes legendary L.A. punk funk band Fishbone on May 27 for an evening discussing their highly anticipated ninth studio album “Stockholm Syndrome” and their creative process, with a performance to follow …
British musical siblings Sheku Kanneh-Mason & Isata Kanneh-Mason are spotlighted May 28 at Walt Disney Concert Hall, as October London & Tamar Braxton are at the Peacock Theater, soulful pianist Eric Wortham plays The Sun Rose, The War and Treaty’s Plus One Tour lands at the Troubadour, folk sensation Jensen McRae gets two nights at the El Rey Theatre, and Comedy Crush featuring Tiffany Haddish is held at The Improv …
Sting, Shaggy and others team for The Cherrytree Music Company 20th Anniversary Concert at the Belasco Theater on May 29 while Jazz Is Dead presents drummer/composer Nate Smith at the Lodge Room, the Fonda Theatre hosts Kash Doll, and The Improv holds Hollywood Vybz featuring Shang, Arzo Dotson, Cristina Payne and other comics.
CONGRATS TO: Your next “American Idol” Jamal Roberts, the 27-year-old PE teacher from Meridian, Mississippi who became the first Black man to win since Ruben Studdard. The Temptations’ “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)” was part of his repertoire on the Season 23 finale that also featured Salt-N-Pepa (who are suing UMG for rights to their master recordings), Kirk Franklin, Jennifer Holliday, PJ Morton, Jelly Roll, Myles Smith, and more.
TC ON TV: May 23 – “Fountain of Youth” (Apple TV+): Guy Ritchie (“MobLand“) directed this epic adventure starring John Krasinski and Natalie Portman as estranged siblings partnering to find the mythological site. With Eiza González, Laz Alonso, Carmen Ejogo and Stanley Tucci. “Good Morning America” (ABC): Courtney B. Vance (“Lilo & Stitch”) “3rd Hour Today” (NBC): Shaquille O’Neal, Dawn Staley “Live with Kelly & Mark” (ABC): Method Man (“Bad Shabbos”) “Pee-Wee As Himself” (HBO):
May 24 – “Jerrod Carmichael: Don’t Be Gay” (HBO): The Emmy-winning comedian from Winston-Salem, N.C. returns to the stage for his fourth HBO stand-up special.
May 26 – “2025 American Music Awards” (ABC): Jennifer Lopez hosts live from the all-new luxury resort Fontainebleau Las Vegas this show honoring Janet Jackson who will be making her first television performance since 2018. “Kevin Costner‘s The West” (History): An eight-episode documentary series that shows the complex history behind the land grabs that became routine in the American West. “Global Soul Kitchen” (FYI): Best-selling Atlanta author and chef Deborah VanTrece is back for a second season of fusing international dishes with a Southern American soul food fusion like tonight’s menu of Jamaican beef pot pie, boudin and crawfish arancini.
May 27 – “Sitting Bull” (History): This two-night documentary event narrated by Mo Brings Plenty (“Yellowstone”) and starring Kul Wičaša Lakota actor Michael Spears (“Dances with Wolves,” “1923”), charts the heroic life and legacy of the renowned leader of the Lakota people from his origins as a tribal warrior, to his involvement in defending native lands, to his leadership in guiding the Lakota people through a tumultuous time in American history. “The Kelly Clarkson Show” (Syn): Victoria Monet, Scarlett Johansson
May 28 – “Captain America: Brave New World” (Disney+): The Marvel sequel starring Anthony Mackie, Carl Lumbly and Harrison Ford has its streaming premiere. “Adults” (FX): Stefani Robinson (“Atlanta,” “What We Do in The Shadows”), under her overall deal with the streamer, is an executive producer of this ensemble comedy series about a group of 20-somethings in New York trying to be good people, despite being neither “good” nor “people” yet.
May 29 – “To Get Her” (BET+): Amber Stevens West (“Run the World“) stars as a mother who unites with her sister (Ashley A. Williams of “Double Cross”) and friend (Paige Hurd of “Power Book II: Ghost”) to rescue her missing daughter in a foreign country. “The Better Sister” (Prime Video): Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks are executive producers and leads of this eight-episode crime drama with Lorraine Toussaint and Gloria Reuben. “Savor The City” (TV1): Big props to Chef Jenard Wells for warmly hosting one of the best culinary travel shows on TV. The previous episode on Martha’s Vineyard was culturally rich. This week’s destination? DC, Maryland and Virginia.
END QUOTE: “I live under my means. I think it’s incredibly important. If I have $1 million in my pocket, my rent is going to be $1,500 — that’s how underneath my means I’m talking. My car note is going to be $340. I don’t need a [Bentley] Bentayga, I’ll ride in a Lexus.” – KEKE PALMER on “Club Shay Shay”
As featured in the Los Angeles Wave and Independent, Tasty Clips is one of the leading entertainment columns in the nation, serving nearly one million weekly readers. Bill Vaughan may be reached at tastyclips@yahoo.com, via Twitter @tastyclips, or Instagram @tasty_clips.
