SITE TOOLS
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ABFF 2001 - One Step Forward, Two Steps Back, cont'd
Jacked
ABFF’s format of morning workshops, afternoon screenings and panels as well
as evening entertainment and parties has changed little over the years. While this
year’s plan didn’t vary significantly, the outcome of certain events was less
than stellar. The most notable events in that regard were: |
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The Actors Boot Camp - For two
years Sgt. Major Bill Duke drilled acting plebes in an effort to prepare them to battle
Hollywood’s gatekeepers. This year Duke was M-I-A and, initially, so was a suitable
replacement. On Day 1 of the Boot Camp, recruits found Mekhi Phifer and LisaRaye front and
center prepared to give them the benefit of their “vast” experience. While Mekhi
Phifer, managed to impart wisdom and maintain his professional integrity, LisaRaye
reportedly chose the occasion to pepper her commentary with scatological terms in an
attempt to “keep it real.” Luckily, noted stage and screen actor Roger Guenveur
Smith arrived on Day 2 to commandeer the troops, but not in time to prevent some recruits
from storming festival headquarters and demanding refunds.
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The Industry Panels - In an age
where interactivity is hot and pontification is not,
a forum that limits audience participation bites. In the future,
select moderators that possess the dynamism to generate lively discussion among panelists
and encourage adequate audience participation. Doing so will facilitate the exchange of
information between the Hollywood cognoscenti and cinema’s new jacks and janes. Care
is also necessary in selecting celebrity participants. Avoid panelists that lack the
decorum to show up sober to a panel. The ‘boy, now resident of an upscale ‘hood,
showed a blatant disregard for ABFF, its sponsors and attendees by arriving at the Black
Hollywood 2000 panel late and tipsy. Baby boy, in the future, get a watch and put the
tequila down!
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The Coca Cola Film Score Competition -
Seeking to define its marketing relationship with ABFF, Coca Cola sponsored the inaugural
Film Score Competition to recognize achievement in music composition. Unfortunately, the
event failed to effectively brand itself as a top-notch affair in terms of execution,
entertainment value and audience appreciation. The event hit rock bottom when a stunt
scripted to titillate half of the audience ended up offending the other half. Finding a
formula that works begins with presupposing a higher level of audience musicianship.
Although the choreographed performances enlivened the show, revamping the program to give
greater attention to the contestants and less to audience instruction is necessary. But
most of all, fire the comic and anyone else who believes that resorting to the base humor
of a brazenly clad female stage escort is appropriate in a professional setting.
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The Island Hopper Comedy Show -
Admittedly, I skipped most of this event to cheer on the Sixers. However, I arrived
in time to catch the headliner conclude the show. To put it succinctly, Bruce Bruce was
wack wack. Few clever variations on the “beat your kids” jokes remain. B2’s
disciplinary comedy missed the mark and failed to yield more than polite chuckles.
Here’s wishing him better laughs as he assumes the mantle of BET’s Comic View.
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Acapulco After Dark - Giving
attendees a nightly opportunity to groove at the area’s hottest discos has resulted
in many people attending the festival just for the parties and not for the professional
offerings. That said, a few of the bashes were far from smashes. The DJ’s predictable
play list probably had something to do with it.
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Even in a year when ABFF reached a
substantive low, “Black Cinema’s Annual Retreat” attracted a great number
of people to Acapulco - many of them mere hangers on. ABFF 2001 suffered from an influx of
3,200 people and is at a level where its popularity has become a curse. Similar to the
hordes of gallivanters that descend on South Beach, Oaks Bluff and Freaknik, ABFF teemed
with the types that hit on married women in the presence of their husbands and those that
feel it’s their duty to reveal every nook and cranny of their booty. Lost in the
quagmire of folk for whom partying was primary and not ancillary were well-intentioned
artisans honing their craft and cinemaphiles embracing diverse visions of ethnic life and
culture.
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