I'll return to highlight films we haven't already covered, in individual posts. In the meantime, here's a summary of what you can expect…

Most of these films you should already be familiar with (especially if you're a regular reader of this site), like the Closing Night film, Middle Of Nowhere; the films in the Spotlights section, with the surprise there being the Viola Davis/Maggie Gyllenhaal drama Won't Back Down; in the Narrative Features section, you'll recognize a lot of those titles, but it's good to see the Nicole Beharie drama Small Of Her Back finally make its debut; in the Documentary Features section, nice to see the ESPN 30 For 30 feature Benji, which I missed earlier this year at Tribeca; and finally the Narrative Shorts section, which will see lots of premieres, from names you'll recognize like Salli Richardson-Whitfield and Hill Harper, as well as new short films by filmmakers whose past work we've highlighted, like Tina Mabry and Tahir Jetter, and some shorts we've previewed but haven't officially premiered yet, like The Bluest Note, and The Last / First Kiss.

And just as I did last year, I'll be back as one of the judges of films in the Narrative Shorts section. I'm looking forward to screening some short films I haven't seen yet!

You can check out the full lineup (the Opening Night film hasn't been announced yet – any guesses as to what it could be?), as well as ticketing info, by visiting the Urbanworld Film Festival's website HERE.

It runs from September 19-23.