Category Archives: Entertainment News

Is Zoe Saldana being overlooked by the media?

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Allison Samuels of entertainment blog the Daily Beast asks a pointed question: Would Zoe Saldana be on the cover of major magazines if she were white?

Poignant examples that beg an answer include the fact that Ms. Saldana was suspiciously absent from Vanity Fair magazine’s 2009 Hollywood issue…even though she had three (count ‘em, three) major films in the top 20 earners –including the over the top “Avatar”. (Yes, she was animated, but that’s besides the point.)

“A brown face just doesn’t resonate with nonminorities when it’s on the cover of magazines.” –Bethann Hardison

Other examples include the ever present (read: annoying) full court press whenever someone like Angelina Jolie is in a film. Even fellow Latina Jennifer Lopez is plastered, promoted and marketed, when she’s doing a film –even though she arguably hasn’t made a good film since Selena.

“(W)hile both Beyoncé and Rihanna appear on Instyle and Glamour magazine covers this month, both women are singers, which is a more traditionally accepted role for women of color. Dominating the box office is not.”

The article gets into some basic missteps regarding race and ethnicity, but overall it’s fairly well covered. A note: Zoe Saldana has never implied that she wasn’t Black. She said that she’s not African American and she’s emphasized that her race should not matter when it comes to roles, though she’s built a solid career on Hollyhood (“Drumline,” “Guess Who,” and “Blackout” to name a few). An ethnicity is land-based, not race based. Any “race” can be an American, just like any “race” can be Latino/Hispanic. Zoe Saldana is Domincan (yes, the other side of the island is Haiti) and Puerto Rican –both places with a sizable Black/African-descent population.

Aside from the ethnicity versus race comments in the article, it’s an insightful look into the politics of image, media and race.

Read more at the Daily Beast…

IBWFF Call for Film Submissions!

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CALL FOR FILM SUBMISSIONS
INTERNATIONAL BLACK WOMEN’S FILM FESTIVAL
Click to go to web-site/more info: festival.ibwff.com 

ENTRY FORM + INFORMATION: 
festival.ibwff.com

Download the Press Release (PDF)

Regular Deadline
March 10, 2012

ACCEPTED FILMMAKERS NOTIFIED ON:
March 31, 2012

PAY FEE & MAIL DVD TO:
Adrienne Anderson
548 Market St #38322
San Francisco, CA 94104

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Lead character prominently features a woman of African descent/African Diaspora in a non-stereotypical role.

AND

Film may feature the experiences, viewpoints, lifestyles, socio-economic position or stories of Black women, but it is not required for eligibility.

OR

Film was directed and/or produced by a Black woman/woman of the African diaspora (this includes women of the following groups/cultures: Adivasi, Aboriginal Australians, Dravidian, Pilipino Negrito / Ati, Seminole, Dalit, African Latino, Arawak, Carib, Garifuna, “Black Indian”, Black African groups/tribes, East Timorese, Solomon Islander/indigenous Pacific Islander, African/indigenous Caribbean, African Brazilian, indigenous Fijian, indigenous Maori, multi/bi-racial, et al.).

More About Requirements

Films should be timely or directly feature issues, specifically, activities, policies, politics, culture, societal or economic that influence the lives of Black women around the world or in a specific geographical area.

Digital shorts, animation and experimental films may present any issue, but filmmakers should be Black women or prominently feature a Black woman character or issue.

Formatting

All films (digital, animation, etc.) must be transferred onto a DVD for screenings. The IBWFF no longer accepts VHS or BETA tapes!

Online Films for Online Viewing, Only
Online films can be uploaded to a password-protected site; however, if your online film is selected for online viewing, you must upload it to a public web server or your own web server and send a viewing link.

If you’d like your online film to be considered as a “premiere,” then it cannot be available publicly until it is uploaded for an IBWFFviewing link via such services as YouTube, Vimeo, Brightcove, etc.

 

Tia of “Tia & Tamera” shows her newborn son

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Many will remember Tia Mowry-Hardrict and her twin sister Tamera Mowry-Housely from the syndicated series “Sister, Sister,” also starring Tim Reid and Jackee Harry, and others know Tia from the current series “The Game” –a spin-off of the cancelled “Girlfriends.”

Well, Tia is officially all grown up –if the sexy storylines in “The Game” didn’t convince you.

US Weekly magazine recently featured her and her now 2-month old son, Cree, and her husband Cory Hardrict.

Take a look at the new baby and catch Tia and Tamera on their own reality series on the Style Channel, “Tia & Tamera,” Mondays at 9/8c.

Nekisa Cooper reunited with Pariah director and producing new film

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Nekisa Cooper is the producer of the acclaimed movie Pariah, which wowed audiences at Sundance. Ms. Cooper is being reunited with Pariah director Dee Rees for a thriller called Bolo, which is being carried by Focus Features.

Nekisa Cooper (left) with Pariah director Dee Rees (right)

In addition to Nekisa’s producing projects, she’s also working with first-time director/writer Maris Curran for the independent film, Five Nights in Maine. The film is about an interracial couple in the South whose relationship is incredibly instantly disrupted by tragedy, leaving one to pick up the pieces and discover more about the other.

Ms. Cooper’s production is looking for funding and is on Kickstarter.com (http://kck.st/nzSGZR).

Pariah director Dee Rees signs with WME and works with Viola Davis

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Director Dee Rees made a huge splash at Sundance with her feature film Pariah, a coming-of-age film about a young, Black girl discovering her identity. The film was picked up by Focus Features in January 2011.

Riding her the success of Pariah, Dee signed with UTA but found a need to change and is now signed to WME Entertainment. When she signed to Focus Features, she also penned a deal to do another film for them –a thriller called Bolo. The film will pair her back up with Pariah producer Nekisa Cooper, who is also making waves in her own right. (Read August 24, 2011, post.)

Ms. Rees is also in talks for a small screen series (30 minutes) featuring The Help star Viola Davis. The project is still untitled. Ms. Davis will be the lead role. According to Variety.com, “The series is said to be a look at the corruption of a city through the eyesof the headmaster of an exclusive prep school who has her eye on bigger things.”

According to Dee, Pariah is scheduled for release in Winter 2011.

 

Stylist to the Stars L’Toska Powell Passes Away

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The Chicago-Sun Times reported that Mrs. L’Toska Powell –stylist to the stars– passed away at 97 years old in Chicago, IL.

L’Toska Powell was there to see the beginnings of African Americans in Hollywood.

The Grenada, Mississippi, native’s family migrated to Chicago, Illinois, 1930′s in search of jobs and a better life. While in Chicago, she was inspired and awed by the thriving Black nightlife that was filled with music, dancing, and glamorous stars. 1930′s Chicago was also home to a growing and bustling mob scene with such crime outfits as the legendary figures as Al Capone and Bugs Moran.

Mrs. Powell was able to carve a niche out of the magnificence of Chicago’s Club DeLisa in the Bronzeville district. African American stars often came through her town and she was able to find an opportunity in doing their hair. Then –as now– few salons would be able to adequately style Black hair, let alone want to do it. She apparently did hair so well that she soon began doing the hair of such stars as Lena Horne, Mahalia Jackson and Dinah Washington.

A graduate from Morgan Park High School, Mrs. Powell studied hair styling under Marjorie Joyner, a protege of the famous Madame C.J. Walker, the nation’s first African American millionaire.

Mrs. Powell is also survived by her nieces Pamela Brown and Patricia Cordell, and her cousins Viola Turrett and Opal Nealy.

A viewing will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Carter Funeral Chapels, 2100 E. 75th St., with a funeral service at the chapels at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Burial is at Lincoln Cemetery at 123rd and Kedzie.