{"id":15692,"date":"2019-10-10T15:23:26","date_gmt":"2019-10-10T19:23:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.abff.com\/?p=15692"},"modified":"2019-10-16T15:36:56","modified_gmt":"2019-10-16T19:36:56","slug":"smithsonian-national-museum-of-african-american-history-and-culture-acquires-objects-photographs-and-documents-from-the-american-black-film-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.abff.com\/miami\/smithsonian-national-museum-of-african-american-history-and-culture-acquires-objects-photographs-and-documents-from-the-american-black-film-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture Acquires Objects, Photographs and Documents from The American Black Film Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>LOS ANGELES, (October 10, 2019)<\/em> &#8211; Today, ABFF Ventures, LLC., announced that objects, photographs, documents and other memorabilia from The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) archives have been acquired by the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. The items will join the museums\u2019 permanent collection and commemorate the ABFF\u2019s rich 24-year history.<\/p>\n<p>The American Black Film Festival (formerly Acapulco Black Film Festival), was first held in June 1997 by its original founders, Jeff Friday, Byron E. Lewis and Warrington Hudlin.  In 2002, the Festival moved stateside to continue its commitment to community, providing a platform for up-and-coming filmmakers of color and bringing together creatives in appreciation of one another\u2019s work, to challenge, encourage and uplift each other.  ABFF is dedicated to recognizing black talent and showcasing quality film and television content by and about people of African descent, and continues to be a vehicle to strengthen the black entertainment community by fostering resource sharing, education and artistic collaboration. <\/p>\n<p>Ryan Coogler (<em>Black Panther<\/em>), Steven Caple, Jr. (<em>Creed II<\/em>), Will Packer (<em>Girls Trip<\/em>), Issa Rae (<em>Insecure<\/em>), Omari Hardwick (<em>Power<\/em>) and Kevin Hart (<em>Night School<\/em>), are among the beneficiaries of ABFF\u2019s unique and prestigious talent pipeline programs designed to identify, introduce and showcase artists \u2014 including directors, actors, writers and other content creators \u2014 to the industry at large. <\/p>\n<p>The museum has selected 10 American Black Film Festival artifacts to join its historical collection:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Awards: ABFF Wood Trophy\/Award designed by fine artist and sculptor Cheryl R. Riley, presented to Bill Duke in 1997 for Distinguished Career Achievement as a Filmmaker<\/li>\n<li>Documents:  1997 ABFF Program Guide, 1997 ABFF All Access Pass and VIP Pass, &#8220;Hav Plenty&#8221; VHS video tape (1997)<\/li>\n<li>Photographs:  A collection of six (6) photographs of celebrity attendees by photographer Karl Crutchfield. Celebrities include Bill Duke, Halle Berry, Denzel Washington, and more.<\/li>\n<li>Objects: Watch, Sterling Silver Necklace, Sterling Silver Bracelet. Items given to VIP attendees at the 1997 Festival. Recipients included: Debbie Allen, Morgan Freemen, Halle Berry and more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The above items were donated by Nicole and Jeff Friday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Recognizing the cultural significance and historical import of the long-standing American Black Film Festival, it is thrilling to have objects from ABFF join the museum\u2019s permanent collection. For nearly a quarter century, ABFF has been at the forefront of celebrating the history and cultural value of African American storytelling and image-making, so receiving objects that highlight the vision and creative spirit of ABFF was deeply important,&#8221; said Rhea Combs, Supervisory Museum Curator of Photography &#038; Film, Smithsonian, National Museum of African American History and Culture. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Being a part of the NMAAHC\u2019s prestigious collection of historical artifacts is an amazing honor and significant milestone for the ABFF.  It brings a great sense of pride and excitement that ABFF\u2019s legacy is recognized as an important piece of African American history and culture,&#8221; said Jeff Friday, ABFF Ventures CEO.<\/p>\n<p>The American Black Film Festival has been helmed a &#8220;top Festival&#8221; by reputable media outlets, including <em>One of the Coolest Festivals in the World<\/em> by <strong>MovieMaker Magazine<\/strong>; <em>10 Best Film Festivals<\/em> by <strong>USA Today<\/strong>; <em>Top 100 Events in Miami<\/em> by <strong>BizBash Magazine<\/strong> and <em>One of the Best Events Around the World<\/em> by <strong>PROHBTD<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>ABFF Ventures continues to expand the Festival programming initiatives and will grow its brand year-round to include the About Women Conference, ABFF Global Series (ABFF London debuted September 2019), ABFF Fit (Health and Wellness series) and ABFF Honors (annual awards show honoring Hollywood creatives).<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>ABFF SOCIAL MEDIA:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Twitter: <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/abff\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@ABFF<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Facebook: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/American-Black-Film-Festival\/47321635722\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">American Black Film Festival<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Instagram: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.Instagram.com\/AmericanBlackFilmFestival\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@AmericanBlackFilmFestival<\/a><\/li>\n<li>YouTube: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/ABFFTV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">American Black Film Festival<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Hashtags: #ABFF20, #WeAreABFF<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>ABOUT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE:<\/strong><br \/>\nThe National Museum of African American History and Culture opened Sept. 24 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Occupying a prominent location next to the Washington Monument, the nearly 400,000-square-foot museum is the nation\u2019s largest and most comprehensive cultural destination devoted exclusively to exploring, documenting and showcasing the African American story and its impact on American and world history. For more information about the museum, visit nmaahc.si.edu or call Smithsonian information at (202) 633-1000.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ABOUT ABFF VENTURES:<\/strong><br \/>\nABFF Ventures LLC (ABFFV) is a multifaceted entertainment company specializing in the production of live events and branded content. Its mission is to entertain and inspire communities of color while promoting diversity in Hollywood. Headquartered in Los Angeles, ABFFV was formed to stimulate business growth through expansion into other events and services. Its tent-pole properties are the American Black Film Festival (ABFF), cited by <em>MovieMaker<\/em> magazine as &#8220;One of the Coolest Festivals in the World;&#8221; and &#8220;ABFF Honors,&#8221; a televised annual awards gala saluting the top stars of film and television. In creating ABFF Ventures, CEO Jeff Friday channeled his passion for film and television, as well as his discomfort with the underrepresentation of people of color in Hollywood, into an organization with the ultimate goal of advocating for diversity within the entertainment industry. Through his vision and perseverance, ABFF Ventures has become a highly respected enterprise, generating goodwill throughout the Hollywood and corporate communities.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>PRESS CONTACT:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Michelle Huff Elliott<br \/>\nStrategic Heights Media<br \/>\n212-634-7176<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:michelle@strategicheights.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">michelle@strategicheights.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LOS ANGELES, (October 10, 2019) &#8211; Today, ABFF Ventures, LLC., announced that objects, photographs, documents and other memorabilia from The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) archives have been acquired by the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. The items will join the museums\u2019 permanent collection and commemorate the ABFF\u2019s rich 24-year history. The American Black Film Festival (formerly Acapulco Black Film Festival), was first held in June 1997 by its original founders, Jeff Friday, Byron E. Lewis and Warrington Hudlin. In 2002, the Festival moved stateside to continue its commitment to community, providing a platform for up-and-coming filmmakers of color and bringing together creatives in appreciation of one another\u2019s work, to challenge, encourage and uplift each other. ABFF is dedicated to recognizing black talent and showcasing quality film and television content by and about people of African descent, and continues to be a vehicle to strengthen the black entertainment community by fostering resource sharing, education and artistic collaboration. Ryan Coogler (Black Panther), Steven Caple, Jr. (Creed II), Will Packer (Girls Trip), Issa Rae (Insecure), Omari Hardwick (Power) and Kevin Hart (Night School), are among the beneficiaries of ABFF\u2019s unique and prestigious talent pipeline programs&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":15698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2019-press-releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15692"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.abff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15693,"href":"https:\/\/www.abff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15692\/revisions\/15693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}