Festival to be held June 23-26 in Miami, FL
NEW YORK, NY (May 20, 2010) – Film Life, Inc., Jeff Friday, is pleased to announce Oscar nominated Producer-Director Lee Daniels as honoree at the 14th Annual American Black Film Festival (ABFF). In celebration of his success and in recognition of his great talent, Daniels will be honored with the Career Achievement Award at the festival’s culminating event, ABFF Honors, taking place on Saturday, June 26th, at the New World Symphony Lincoln Theater in Miami, FL. The tribute to Lee Daniels will be presented as the highlight of ABFF’s annual awards ceremony where the festival’s independent film awards are presented and artists are saluted for their achievement in cinema and passionate portrayal of stories about people of color. Past honorees have included: Spike Lee and Melvin Van Peebles.
This past award season, Daniels received tremendous attention for his film Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. The film received 6 Oscar nominations of which one was for Best Director, distinguishing Daniels as the second African-American to be honored in such a way. In 2002, Daniels also made Oscar history for his film Monsters Ball earning two Oscar nominations – best original screenplay and Best Actress, for which Halle Berry won the Oscar. This impressive accomplishment made Daniels the first African-American sole producer of an Oscar-winning and Oscar nominated film. Daniels is also the first African American to be nominated for a Directors Guild Award.
Daniels wore many hats traveling his road to success. His career in the film industry progressed from screenwriting and managing actors, to producing, followed by directing. In 2001, Daniels made his debut as a producer with Monster’s Ball. In 2004, he produced The Woodsman, in 2006 he made his directorial debut with Shadowboxer and then he went on to direct Precious in 2009. Other film credits include Tennessee starring Mariah Carey, which released in 2008, and Selma, a film about Martin Luther King Jr. and Lyndon Baines Johnson’s lives around the signing of the Civil Rights, due to be released in 2011.
HBO® is the festival’s Founding and Premier Sponsor. Other sponsors on board for this year include: Grey Goose and Wells Fargo (Premier); BET Networks (Official); Nielsen, Nickelodeon, Gold Peak Tea, Stella Artois and Code Black Entertainment (Supporting); Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority and the City of Miami Community Redevelopment Agency (Host); SAG Indie, WGA West and Coty Inc. (Industry partners). Media Sponsors include: AOL Black Voices, Black Enterprise, Uptown, Monarch, Heart & Soul, and Precious Times.
Established in 1997, the core mission of the ABFF is to promote cultural diversity within the motion picture industry by strengthening the Black filmmaking community through resource sharing, education, artistic collaboration and career development. Through its film showcases and special contests, it annually introduces the top echelon of emerging artists to the film and television industry. The ABFF is a property of Film Life, Inc., a New York-based event marketing, production and distribution company founded in 2000 by Jeff Friday (CEO).
For media inquiries, call Lisa Sorensen (LSPR) at (646) 330-5458 or via email at lisa@ls-pr.com. General registration information can be obtained by visiting www.abff.com, calling 646-375-2144, ext 1, or contacting the festival via email at abff@thefilmlife.com .