The Playboy Foundation Joins The Tribeca Film Institute in Honoring Filmmakers of Color
April 07 2005 - 2:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
The Playboy Foundation Joins The Tribeca Film Institute in Honoring
Filmmakers of Color Tribeca All Access Awards and Closing Night
Party to Be Held on April 28th NEW YORK, April 7 /PRNewswire/ --
The Playboy Foundation will join the Tribeca Film Institute in
paying tribute to U.S.-based directors and screenwriters of color
at The Tribeca All Access Awards Ceremony and Closing Night Party
during the Tribeca Film Festival on April 28. Now in its second
year, Tribeca All Access (TAA) Connects, the Tribeca Film
Institute's unique program for fostering relationships between
U.S.-based filmmakers of color and the film industry, has selected
29 projects in a variety of categories. One filmmaker in each
category who shows extraordinary strength of vision and exceptional
filmmaking promise will be awarded the Tribeca All Access Creative
Promise Award which comes with a prize of $10,000 for narrative and
documentary and $5,000 for screenplay only, presented at the
Tribeca All Access Awards and Closing Night Party sponsored by the
Playboy Foundation at the Tribeca Grand Hotel. Of the 29 selected
projects, 13 are narrative (scripts with a director attached),
eight are documentary proposals, five are screenplay only and three
are part of the Signature Series. Of those filmmakers selected to
participate, 33 percent are African American, 16 percent are
Latino, 26 percent are Asian American, six percent are Native
American, two percent are Pacific Islanders and 17 percent are
Middle Eastern, Indian and Arab American. "We are delighted to be
participating in this noteworthy awards ceremony which creates
opportunities and awareness for filmmakers of color," said Christie
Hefner, Playboy Enterprises, Inc. chairman and chief executive
officer. "The Playboy Foundation has always worked to protect the
individual's right to express one's self, which embodies the spirit
of the TAA program and independent films. The Tribeca Film
Institute and its founders Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig
Hatkoff have had a profound effect on independent filmmakers, films
and the revitalization of downtown Manhattan and we are proud to be
a part of it this year." "The Playboy Foundation has recognized the
value of developing diverse voices in the filmmaking community and
we are grateful for their enormous support," said Madelyn Wils,
President & CEO of the Tribeca Film Institute. Among this
year's jurors for the Narrative and Screenplays Category are
entertainment and arts figures such as: Antoine Fuqua, director of
King Arthur and Training Day; Lisa Gay Hamilton, actress and
director of last year's Beah: A Black Woman Speaks; Ruben
Santiago-Hudson, screenwriter for Lackawanna Blues and actor from
Their Eyes Were Watching God; Academy Award(R) nominated actress
Rosie Perez; Native-American director Chris Eyre; Mary Schmidt
Campbell, dean of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts;
actor B.D. Wong from Seven Years in Tibet and Law & Order SVU;
and Bruce Ferguson, dean of Columbia University School of the Arts.
The Documentary jury will include: Warrington Hudlin, producer of
House Party; acclaimed Native American poet and musician John
Trudell; model and designer Bethann Hardison; producer and director
of cultural and political films St. Clair Bourne; Thelma Golden the
deputy director for Exhibitions and Programs at The Studio Museum
in Harlem; and award-winning documentary producer and president of
Documentary and Family for Home Box Office Sheila Nevins. The
Playboy Foundation has long recognized the power of film to
advocate social change. Since 1977, the Foundation has provided
support for post- production and distribution of nearly 150
documentary film and video projects, including winners of the
Academy Award(R) and the Emmy. Foundation-funded films have
included: Murder Ball, Family Fundamentals, E Minha Cara/That's My
Face, 900 Women, and Wanted: Mothers for Hire. About the Playboy
Foundation The Playboy Foundation supports local and national
nonprofit organizations that protect the rights of the individual
in a free society. Since 1977, the Playboy Foundation has provided
grants for post-production and distribution for non-fiction films
dealing with issues involving social change. From 1993-2003, the
Playboy Foundation partnered with the Sundance Film Festival to
present the Freedom of Expression Award to honor the film that best
educates and informs the public on an issue of social concern.
About Tribeca Film Institute The Tribeca Film Institute creates
innovative programs that draw on the unifying power of film to
promote understanding, tolerance and global awareness. Our
commitment is to educate, entertain and inspire filmmakers and
audiences alike, while strengthening the artistic and economic
fabric of New York City and its Lower Manhattan community.
DATASOURCE: The Playboy Foundation CONTACT: Lauren Melone of
Playboy Enterprises, Inc., +1-212-261-5000 ext. 3188, , or Kimberly
Bernhardt of Rubenstein Communications, Inc. for Tribeca Film
Festival, +1-212-843-8056,
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