Movies and Film

NNPA NEWSWIRE — In a live interview with the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s morning news show, “Let It Be Known,” Cuffie-Jones explained that she just wrapped on directing her first feature film, “Twice Bitten,” scheduled for a fall release and the second season of “Stuck With You,” a hit that’s streaming on the ALLBLK network.

NNPA NEWSWIRE — “We are writing the narrative of human spaceflight right now, as we go to the moon, and we go on to Mars,” said Dr. Sian Proctor. “What do we want that to look like? How do we make space really for everyone? Bring all of humanity along? Inspiration 4 is the perfect example."

NNPA NEWSWIRE — For three days - from Aug. 20-22, 2021 - nationally and locally acclaimed playwrights, filmmakers and actors of color will be sharing their wisdom, perspectives, and talent toward the cause of encouraging more people of color to also step up and create pathways to tell their own stories. The all-virtual festival – which is themed “Our Voice. Our Story, Our Way” - runs, and will include thought-provoking stage readings, panel discussions led by local and national industry professionals, and short films, including “Reviving the Black Nod: A Love Letter to Black Portland,” directed and produced by award-winning Portland filmmaker Elijah Hasan. You can learn more details and buy festival passes at https://pnmcfestival.org.

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Streaming fans who have watched Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul know that Bob Odenkirk can project the persona of a grimy, sociopathic and pathological liar quite well. Here, he goes coldly about his business as a killing machine on autopilot. Passion seeps in occasionally but tears, happiness and overt anger are not in his DNA. He may look like a middle-aged dude who couldn’t beat up a sixth grader, but when he gets his killer groove on, damn. Car chases, bombings, impalements and broken jaws ensue.

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The virtual 7th IFAFF International will screen feature-length documentaries, feature films, and topical shorts, all with themes centered on the epidemic of mass incarceration, the criminal (in)justice system, racism and white supremacy, gun violence, police brutality, unfair housing, immigration, social unrest, and other human rights violations.

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The film’s most poignant moments are Ali telling stories about the indignities he encountered as a Black man and the challenges he faced for his convictions. An incident in a racist restaurant turned into a favorite anecdote: Wait staff: “We don’t serve Negroes!” Ali: “I don’t eat them. So, serve me some food.” His position on the war in Vietnam, which cost him his title and boxing licenses and caused him to serve jail time, was summed up succinctly: “You want me to go somewhere and fight, and you won’t even stand up for me at home,” Ali raged to a room full of reporters.

ROLLING OUT - Berry is executive producing the film, which will also feature John Ortiz and Molly Parker. According to the film’s synopsis released to Deadline, Berry will play Sara Mose, a woman who has to navigate her life following the disappearance of her husband from their farmland the previous year. She soon discovers an extraterrestrial object under her home. Sara and her children race against time to find out just what the link is between this object and the disappearance of the head of their family.

JACKSONVILLE FREE PRESS - If gospel music had a Mount Rushmore, The Clark Sisters would be on it. With songs like “You Brought the Sunshine” and “Is My Living in Vain” in their repertoire, they’ve released 17 albums and garnered a collective three Dove, four Grammy and 15 Stellar awards, including an honorary James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. Plus — can we get an amen? — they are the highest-selling female gospel group of all time. Even so, their testimony hasn’t been without some tests.

NNPA NEWSWIRE - Evelyn Abbott (Blunt) is a survivor. She walks perilously around her deserted environs with her deaf teen daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), tween son Marcus (Noah Jupe) and her baby, always looking over her shoulder, scared creatures will hear and kill them. She hauls their rifle and a makeshift baby carriage. The two older kids carry what’s left of their valuables and a speaker that can emit ear-splitting noises. Their mission is to find a safe haven and other survivors. And if they can locate help, how will they be received? “You can’t stay.”

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Narrated by Phylicia Rashād, TWENTY PEARLS journeys through 113 provocative years. Only 40 years past the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, nine Black college women enrolled at Howard University where they organized and built a sisterhood in 1908.