Unfortunately, none of them is opening wide enough to reach every single one of you, but if those of you who are lucky enough to have any of these films open at a theater near you do your job, and fill the seats, each has the potential to travel even further.
Although two of them are already schedule to expand into wider release in successive weeks, anyway.
AFFRM’s multi-platform distribution label ARRAY will open Neil Drumming’s Slamdance 2013 Official Selection dramedy Big Words, today, Friday, July 19, in New York City and Los Angeles, which will be followed by playdates during successive weeks, via AFFRM partners: Imagenation, Urbanworld Film Festival, BronzeLens Film Festival, ReelBlack Film Series, Langston Hughes Film Festival, Howard University’s Parallel Film Collective and Houston Museum of African-American Culture.
The Brooklyn-set Big Words centers on members of a once-promising hip-hop group, now in their late 30’s, struggling with regret, disappointment and change, set against the backdrop of Election Night, 2008 – when Barack Obama was elected.
The film stars Dorian Missick, Yaya Alafia, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Darien Sills-Evans, Zachary Booth and Jean Grae.
Read Vanessa’s review HERE and Jasmin’s interview with Neil Drumming HERE.
Phase 4 Films opens Jorge Hinojosa’s Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp, today, in NYC, Friday, July 19. It’ll expand to other cities throughout the rest of the summer, so to see upcoming playdates, click HERE.
Directed and executive produced by Hinojosa, his first filmmaking credit according to imdb, Iceberg Slim features interviews with the notorious pimp-turned-author himself, as well as the likes of Chris Rock, Ice-T, Snoop Dogg, Quincy Jones and others.
Here’s the full synopsis:
‘Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp’, examines the tumultuous life of legendary Chicago pimp Iceberg Slim (1918-1992) and how he reinvented himself from pimp to author of 7 groundbreaking books. These books were the birth of Street Lit and explored the world of the ghetto in gritty and poetic detail and have made him a cultural icon. Interviews with Iceberg Slim, Chris Rock, Henry Rollins, Ice-T, Snoop Dogg, and Quincy Jones.
Produced by Danny Bresnik and Jeff Scheftel and also exec produced by Ice-T, Phase 4 Films acquired US and Canadian rights to the film last December.
Vanessa recently interviewed Ice-T about the film – an interview you can read HERE.
Watch a 1-minute clip below.
And finally, Juan Andrés Arango’s La Playa D.C., is getting a special one-week theatrical run here in NYC, starting today, Friday.
It’ll run at the Rerun Theatre in Brooklyn, from July 19 to 25.
The drama centers on Tomas, an Afro-Colombian teenager struggling with the difficulties of growing up in a city (Bogota) of exclusion and racism against those who look like him; When his younger brother disappears, Tomas is forced to leave his home to look for him. With the help from his older brother Chaco, Tomas roams the city’s streets, as his search becomes more of a journey in which he’s forced to face his past, and to leave aside the influence of his brothers in order to find his own identity.
It’s a quiet, contemplative coming-of-age drama that was also acquired by ArtMattan Films, the company handling the film’s release.
Luis Carlos Guevara stars as Tomas, Andrés Murillo plays younger brother Jairo, and Jairo James Solis plays older brother Chaco.
