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Isaiah Washington, Common, Kimberly Elise on List of Grand Jury Nods at 16th ABFF

GFBC NEWS STAFF — Sun, 20 May 2012 11:33:15 +0000

*NEW YORK, NY – Film Life Inc., today announced the Narrative Features Competition selections and Grand Jury Award nominees for the 16th Annual American Black Film Festival (ABFF) taking place in South Beach Miami, FL, June 20th – 23rd. Kimberly Elise, Isaiah Washington, Common and S. Epatha Merkerson are among the stellar list of thespians nominated to receive the Grand Jury prize for their work.

Isaiah Washington and Malinda in a scene from Russ Parr's 'The Undershepherd'

The films in ABFF’s 2012 Narrative Features section reflect a creative multiplicity which can be seen, felt and heard in controversy through rhythmic Jamaican patois (Better Mus’ Come) to a young Parisian woman’s search for her father (Elza). Struggle and disappointment between generations is candidly explored (LUV) and two men of the cloth face consequences (The Undershepherd).

Each film in the narrative features section must be directed by a person of African descent, tell a story of the Black experience or feature a person of African descent in a leading role. Films that are submitted for consideration are reviewed by a team of film industry professionals, which comprises the ABFF’s screening committee. Each film is graded on artistic merit and impactful subject matter. As this year’s Grand Jury President, Actor, Mekhi Phifer (“Lie to Me,” “ER”) will serve as a judge and will present prizes in front of the festival audience at The Winners Circle awards presentation on the closing day of the festival.

The complete list of the 2012 Narrative Feature films is as follows:

BETTER MUS’ COME
Written and directed by Storm Saulter, produced by Paul Bucknor
CAST: Sheldon Shepherd, Nicole ‘Sky’ Grey, Everaldo Creary, Ricardo Orgill and
Roger Guenveur Smith
SYNOPSIS: The film follows warring political factions in 1970s Jamaica as they enlist the support of gangs to enforce their policies and advanced their political agenda.
THE DARK PARTY
Written by William Wells, Kadeem Hardison, Salenta Baisden and Terry Wilkerson, produced by Terry Wilkerson, Deji LaRay, Salenta Baisden and William Wells, directed by Kadeem Hardison
CAST: Kadeem Hardison, Marcus Patrick and Tiffany Hines
SYNOPSIS: When two best friends want to find true love, a radio talk psychologist helps them throw the ultimate blind date party and serous social experiment.

THE LAST FALL
Written and directed by Matthew Cherry, produced by Ellis Hobbs, Monique Hobbs, Nikki Love and Scott Hebert
CAST: Lance Gross, Nicole Behari, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Obba Babatundé, Darrin DeWitt Henson, Michael Moss, Harry Lennix, Keith David
SYNOPSIS: An NFL journeyman struggles to deal with life’s complexities after his professional career is over at twenty-five.

LUV
Written and directed by Sheldon Candis and Justin Wilson, produced by Jason Berman, Datari Turner, W. Michael Jenson, Gordon Bijelonic, Joel Newton, James Rosenthal, Common and Derek Dudley
CAST: Common, Michael Rainey Jr., Dennis Haysbert, Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton, Michael Kenneth Williams and Meagan Good
SYNOPSIS: An orphaned eleven-year-old boy is forced to face an unpleasant truth about his beloved uncle during one harrowing day in the streets of Baltimore.

ELZA
Written and directed by Mariette MonPierre and Mama Keita, produced by Mariette MonPierre, Gerard LaCroix, Eric Basset
CAST: Stana Roumillac, Vincent Byrd Le Sage, Christophe Cherki, Sophie Berger
SYNOPSIS: A young Parisian woman of Caribbean descent returns to her native island of Guadeloupe in search of the father she has never known.

THE UNDERSHEPHERD
Produced and directed by Russ Parr, produced by Russ Parr, Eric Tomosunas, Scott Aronson and Isaiah Washington
CAST: Isaiah Washington, Louis Gossett Jr., Lamman Rucker, Malinda Williams, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Elise Neal, Robinne Lee, Clifton Powell, Keith David and John Wesley
SYNOPSIS: Two minister’s opposing decisions destroy their friendship as the ascension of evil verses the struggle of an honest church impact the entire community.
Film awards presented include: Grand Jury Prize for Best Screenplay, sponsored by Ciroc; Grand Jury Prize for Best Director, sponsored by Cadillac; Grand Jury Prize for Best Actor, sponsored by Gold Peak Tea; Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature, sponsored by BET Networks; and Best Documentary sponsored by CNN. Prizes will be presented at ABFF’s culminating ceremony, The Winners Circle on June 23.

The four films in the narrative features category compete for ABFF’s Grand Jury Prizes for:
Best Screenplay, presented by Ciroc
Best Director, presented by Cadillac
Best Actor, presented by Gold Peak Tea
Best Narrative Feature, presented by BET Networks

The specific nominees are as follows:
Grand Jury Prize for Best Screenplay, presented by Ciroc
Storm Saulter – BETTER MUS’ COME
Matthew Cherry – THE LAST FALL
Mariettte MonPierre and Mama Keita – ELZA
Russ Parr – THE UNDERSHEPHERD

Grand Jury Prize for Best Director, presented by Cadillac
Sheldon Candis – LUV
Matthew Cherry – THE LAST FALL
Russ Parr – THE UNDERSHEPHERD
Storm Saulter – BETTER MUS’ COME

Grand Jury Prize Best Performance by an Actor (Male or Female), presented by Gold Peak Tea
Common – LUV
Lance Gross – THE LAST FALL
Sheldon Sheppard – BETTER MUS’ COME
Isaiah Washington – THE UNDERSHEPHERD
Nicole Behari – THE LAST FALL
Kimberly Elise – TIES THAT BIND
Malinda Williams – THE UNDERSHEPHERD
Grand Jury Prize for Narrative Feature, presented by BET Networks
THE LAST FALL
ELZA
LUV
THE UNDERSHEPHERD

Grand Jury Prize for Documentary, presented by CNN
THE CONTRADICTIONS OF FAIR HOPE, co-directed by S. Epatha Merkerson and Rockell Metcalf
FORCE M.D.s RELIVED, directed by Frazier Prince
THINK NFL, LOVE DAD (The DeSean Jackson Story), co-directed by Byron Jackson and Kern Konwiser
SOUL FOOD JUNKIES, directed by Byron Hurt

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg And Girlfriend Priscilla Chan Update Status To ‘Married’ (PHOTOS)

GFBC NEWS STAFF — Sun, 20 May 2012 11:01:26 +0000

By Sreeja VN

A day after Facebook went public, its co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg Saturday updated his relationship status to “married”. Zuckerberg had an eventful “timeline” this week with the addition of two events – Facebook IPO Friday and his wedding with his longtime girl friend Saturday.

This photo provided by Facebook shows Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan at their wedding ceremony in Palo Alto, Calif., Saturday, May 19, 2012. Zuckerberg updated his status to "married" on Saturday. The ceremony took place in Zuckerberg's backyard before fewer than 100 guests, who all thought they were there to celebrate Chan's graduation. (AP Photo/Facebook, Allyson Magda Photography)

Zuckerberg (28) tied the knot with his girlfriend Priscilla Chan (27) in a simple ceremony held in their backyard Saturday. The multi-billionaire placed a simple “ruby sparkler” in Chan’s finger in the ceremony which was attended by less than 100 guests in Palo Alto, California.

The wedding came as a surprise to the guests as they thought they were attending a party to celebrate Chan’s graduation from the UCSF medical school. The guests were informed about the marriage after they arrived at the event.

Both Zuckerberg and Chan announced their wedding on Facebook by changing their relationship status and by adding a “Life Event” to their Facebook timeline along with their photo in wedding dresses. Zuckerberg wore a dark blue suit and tie with a white shirt while Chan was dressed up in a traditional white laced wedding dress with a veil.

The event and the status were being “liked” by thousands of people and hundreds were commenting their wishes to the couple in their timeline.

Zuckerberg met Chan in Harvard in 2003 before he co-founded Facebook in 2004 and they had been dating for the last nine years.

Chan, born in Braintree in Massachusetts, did her schooling at Quincy High School and worked at FASE as director/mentor before completing her graduation from Harvard in 2007, according to her Facebook profile. For a year, she worked as a teacher at the Harker School and later joined the UCSF for her medical education.

Chan has written in her profile that she “likes cooking, the food network, warm places, sun dried tomatoes and diet a&w. i am a simple creature.”

Source: IBT

3 NATO protesters arrested, accused of plotting attacks on Obama Campaign HQ

GFBC NEWS STAFF — Sat, 19 May 2012 18:50:42 +0000

An Illinois judge set bail at $1.5 million for each of the three suspects accused of traveling to Chicago “to commit acts of domestic terrorism” during the NATO summit.

In court, prosecutors accused the three men of “preparing for violence and destruction” such as stockpiling Molotov cocktails and other weapons and planning attacks on police.

According to the AP and MSNBC, prosecutors accused the three men of plotting attacks on President Barack Obama’s local campaign headquarters, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s house, police stations and other targets.

But the defense called those accusations “propaganda” and contended authorities “infiltrated” a peaceful group and set up the three men.

The judge set the three defendants’ next court date for Tuesday.

Grenada foreign affairs minister Karl Hood resigns

GFBC NEWS STAFF — Sat, 19 May 2012 15:20:45 +0000

Grenada’s foreign affairs minister resigned amid increased bickering between the prime minister and his Cabinet on the eastern Caribbean island.

Karl Hood stepped down after serving nearly four years in his post and accused the Cabinet of repeatedly refusing to approve and fund his proposed projects.

Karl Hood, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Grenada

His resignation comes nearly three weeks after Tourism Minister Peter David stepped down after the island’s information minister refused to retract public comments in which he accused Mr David and others of plotting to remove prime minister Tillman Thomas.

Fighting child sexual abuse in the Caribbean

GFBC NEWS STAFF — Sat, 19 May 2012 15:07:09 +0000

KINGSTON, Jamaica, 18 May 2012 – A nine-year old boy was systematically raped by his pastor while his mother was at work; an 18-month old baby boy died of internal damage after being raped by his uncle; a little girl was infected with gonorrhoea, syphilis, herpes and HIV by an uncle who was in and out of prison.

These are some of the cases Sandra Knight, a general practitioner at the paediatric hospital in Kingston, has treated over the years. The abuse tormented her, compelling her to speak out to the press. Dr. Knight’s accounts have created an uproar in the Eastern Caribbean, and an avalanche of front-page stories about child sexual abuse has followed.

“I felt that my peers were becoming complacent about this issue,” Dr. Knight said. “But I felt I had a tsunami in front of me, which was affecting me because I also have a 6-year-old daughter. I saw these children dying, getting sick, being traumatized for life.”

A silent emergency

Child sexual abuse is shrouded in secrecy and abetted by shame. While most abuse is hidden and up-to-date statistics are scarce, it is known that nearly 150 million girls and 73 million boys under 18 around the world have experienced forced sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual violence worldwide.

In the Caribbean region, sexual violence against children is greatly underreported, and this abuse is often culturally sanctioned. A study in Jamaica indicated that men often believe they have a right to engage in sex with girls under their care, while children in Guyana reported believing that sexual violence can be blamed on a victim’s clothing. Sexual violence against boys is especially underreported, and in some countries, is not even recognized as a crime.

“Sexual abuse happens everywhere – at home, school and in other institutions, and has a serious physical, psychological and social impact, not only on girls and boys, but also on the fabric of society. It is one of the main factors that contribute to HIV infections, and that is why it is not surprising that this region has one of the highest prevalence of HIV and AIDS worldwide,” said Nadine Perrault, UNICEF Regional Child Protection Adviser for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Our experiences in preventing and responding to sexual abuse have taught us that laws by themselves have been ineffective in protecting children, mainly because of the silence surrounding the issue and the risks that victims face in speaking out – risks such as stigma, shame, harm and further violence. And then, often, children do not know where to turn.”

Source: UNICEF TV