The 2023 American Black Film Festival (ABFF) is set to honor Kerry Washington, Courtney B. Vance, Charles D. King and Janelle Monáe with a special tribute during its annual awards ceremony that salutes excellence in the film and television industry.
Washington, an Emmy Award winner and SAG and Golden Globe nominated actor, director and producer, will be presented with the Excellence in the Arts Award (female), while two-time Emmy Award winner Vance will accept the Excellence in the Arts Award (male). ). MACRO Founder and CEO King will be presented with the Industry Leadership Award, while eight-time nominated artist, producer and actor Monáe will receive the Renaissance Award. Kasi Lemmons’ 1997 drama “Eve’s Bayou” will be honored with the Classic Cinema Award.
The fifth ABFF Honors Gala will take place Sunday, March 5, and is hosted by Emmy-nominated writer, actor, and comedian Deon Cole. The non-televised intimate dinner and award ceremony is executive produced by Nicole and Jeff Friday (under ABFF Ventures) in association with Rikki Hughes (for Magic Lemonade) and de Passe Jones Entertainment.
Jeff Friday, founder and CEO of ABFF Ventures, said in a statement announcing the special honorees. “Kasi Lemons” Eve’s Bayou is a cinematic gem that deserves this honor on its 25th anniversary. “
Written and directed by Lemmons in her directorial debut, “Eve’s Bayou” was produced by Caldecot Chubb and Samuel L. Jackson. Trimark Pictures star Jurney Smollett stars, telling the story through the eyes of 10-year-old Yves-Baptiste as she discovers her family’s existence is just a front over the course of a long, hot Louisiana summer. The acclaimed cast includes Jackson, Lynn Whitfield, Megan Good (in her first film role), Debbie Morgan, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Roger Jennifer Smith and the late Diahann Carroll. Upon its release in 1997, “Eve’s Bayou” won the Film Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature and earned seven NAACP Image Award nominations, including Best Picture. In 2018, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
Previous ABFF Honors recipients include Denzel Washington, Ava DuVernay, Regina King, Tiffany Haddish, Ryan Coogler, Don Cheadle, Will Packer, Queen Latifah, Lena Whitty, Terence Howard, F. Gary Gray, Billy Dee Williams, Issa Rae, Amari Hardwicke, Louis Gossett Jr., the late Diahann Carroll and the cast as “Martin”, “The Wire”, “Hollywood Shuffle” and “Love Jones”.
Washington is known for her barrier-breaking career in film, television, theater, digital media, advocacy, and more. With her role as crisis manager Olivia Pope on the hit ABC drama Scandal, Washington made history as the first black woman to headline a network television drama, earning two Emmy Award nominations, a Golden Globe nomination, a SAG nomination and two NAACP Image Awards. for her work. Washington also produced (under the Simpson Street banner) the Emmy, Critics’ Choice, and WGA-nominated “Confirmation,” in which she portrayed Anita Hill, as well as the Hulu series “Little Fires Everywhere,” for which she received Emmy and SAG Award nominations for her role. in the tournament opposite Reese Witherspoon. Simpson Street also produced “Five Points,” “American Son,” and the Emmy Award-winning second edition of ABC’s Live in Front of a Studio Audience, which reimagined classic sitcoms “All in the Family” and “Good Times.”
Washington recently starred in Netflix’s “The School for Good and Evil,” and will later appear in “Unprisoned,” a sitcom produced by Disney’s Onyx Collective on Hulu, for which she also serves as executive producer, as well as the upcoming Lionsgate movie “Shadow Force.” , which she simultaneously stars in and produces. Washington will also produce and lead the cast of Tyler Perry’s World War II drama “Six Triple Eight” for Netflix.
Vance is a Harvard scholar and Yale School of Drama trained actor whose stellar career on stage and screen has earned him two Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award nomination, among other awards. Vance can be credited with winning an Emmy for his stunning portrayal of Johnny Cochran in “The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” — which also earned him a Critics Choice and NAACP Image Award, as well as SAG and Golden Globe nominations — and for a role in “Lovecraft.” Country” on HBO. Last year, Vance won a NAACP Image Award for his portrayal of CL Franklin, Aretha Franklin’s father, in Nat Geo’s Genius: Aretha.
He most recently starred in AMC’s “61st Street,” and will next appear in “Heist 88,” a feature film in which he stars and is produced by Bassett/Vance Productions, which he co-founded with his wife, Angela Bassett. For his stage work, Vance won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in “Lucky Guy” in 2013 and received two more nominations for his work in “Fences” and “Six Degrees of Separation.” In 2019, Vance was nominated for a Grammy Award for his version of Appendix to War.
King is best known as the founder and CEO of MACRO, a cross-platform media company that represents the voice and perspectives of Black, Indigenous people, and people in front of the camera and behind the scenes, under company business segments including MACRO Film Studios, MACRO Television Studios, M88, UNCMNN, and MaC Venture Capital . Formerly a partner/senior agent, William Morris Endeavor, King was the first-ever black partner in the company’s 100-plus year history and the first black partner in any Great talent agency. When “Judas and the Black Messiah” was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2021, King made history once again, along with Ryan Coogler and director Shaka King, as the first team of black producers to be nominated for the award. Overall, MACRO’s film projects have received 15 Academy Award nominations and three wins.
Monáe’s selection for the Renaissance Award follows the award-winning performance of artist, producer, author, and actor in the Netflix sequel “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Monáe was named Best Supporting Actress by the National Board of Review, among other awards.) The singer also announced. And the eight-time Grammy-nominated songwriter recently announced the release of new single “Float,” which will debut on February 16, ahead of a brand new album.
Monáe has also been recently recognized for her work as an artist and advocate, being awarded Critics Choice’s 2023 SeeHer Award last month and being honored by The Trevor Project as Suicide Prevention Advocate of the Year last fall. Monáe serves as co-chair of Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote, and founded the Fem the Future initiative, which aims to create opportunities for young creatives. Her first novel, “The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories from Dirty Computer,” a collaborative effort between Monáe and other writers, debuted on the New York Times bestseller list in April 2022.
