Terrace Martin and Alex Isley released the video for “2 Step In The Living Room.” A couple becomes nostalgic about their relationship as they dance together in the house surrounded by memories. Martin and Isley later appear in the clip at the piano and walking around the room. Their collaborative album, I Left My Heart In Ladera came out in 2023.  They previously shared the video for their cover of Sade’s “Paradise” and fans hope that “Honey” will be the next song to have a video. 

Rza, Misty Copeland, Yvonne Orji, and more appeared at the 2023 Urbanworld Film Festival. The Wu-Tang Clan member was the ambassador for the festival and the co-director of A Wu-Tang Experience: Live From Red Rocks Amphitheatre with Gerald Barclay.  The event is on day three of the five-day event. Various industry people have attended, including Nelson George, Misty Copeland, and Leyla Fayyaz, the producers of the film Flower. Benny Boom, who directed A Love Letter To Hip-Hop, also attended the festival in New York City. Orji made her debut as a director with the feature JAMAAL. dream hampton’s Freshwater and the experimental film Paradise from Terrace Martin & Alex Isley will also be presented at the festival. American Fiction director Cord Jefferson received the Visionary Award on opening night. Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood attended the screening and Q&A for Genius: MLK/X, which they executive-produced. The festival is in its 27th year and is the nation’s largest multicultural competitive film festival. This year, the festival screened 73 official selections, 7 spotlight screenings, 3 spotlight conversations, and featured 5 Urbanworld Innovation sessions and 4 original screenplay finalists. The winners have been announced. 

 

 

                                                             2023 Winners

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE (U.S.) – Frybread Face and Me – Directed by Billy Luther

THE JURY:

Darcy Heusel – VP of Audience Engagement and Impact, NEON

Efuru Flowers – Founder and CEO, Flourishing Films

Sue Ellen Chitnuya – Filmmaker and Academy Member

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE (WORLD) – Sira – Directed by Apolline Traoré

Honorable Mention: Inky Pinky Ponky – Directed by Damon Fepulea’i and Ramon TeWake

THE JURY:

Darcy Heusel – VP of Audience Engagement and Impact, NEON

Efuru Flowers – Founder and CEO, Flourishing Films

Sue Ellen Chitnuya – Filmmaker and Academy Member

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE – Brief Tender Light – Directed by Arthur Musah; Presented by ESPN Films

THE JURY:

Jackie Glover – Emmy-Winning Executive Producer

Leslie Fields-Cruz – Executive Director, Black Public Media

Sarah Eshaghian – Coordinator, HBO

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT – Slice – Directed by Zaire Love

Honorable Mention – Things Long Left Unsaid – Directed by Antonia Thornton

THE JURY:

Jackie Glover – Executive Producer

Leslie Fields-Cruz – Executive Director, Black Public Media

Sarah Eshaghian – Coordinator, HBO

BEST YOUNG CREATOR – The Old Young Crow – Directed by Liam LoPinto

Honorable Mention – Shallots and Garlic – Directed by Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto

Presented by The Walt Disney Studios

THE JURY:

Ramona Wright – Founder and CEO, WrightOne Media Group

Phillip Domfeh – Senior Manager, Disney+ Launchpad

Julian Newman – Founder and CEO, Culture Creative

Will Schnable – Programs Manager Equity and Inclusion, Warner Bros. Discovery 

BEST NARRATIVE SHORT (U.S.) – Spaceship – Directed by Jorge G. Camarena

Honorable Mention – Jerome – Directed by Gianfranco Fernández-Ruiz; Death and Ramen – Directed by Tiger Ji

THE JURY:

Amanda Ross – Director, TV Programming DEI, NBCUniversal

Kecia Cole – Director, Fiction, BRIC

Kierna Mayo – Writer, Editor, and Media Executive

Marquis Daisy – Producer, ESPN Films

BEST NARRATIVE SHORT (WORLD) – Yellow – Directed by Elham Ehsas

THE JURY:

Tamara McCaw – Chief Civic Program Officer, The Shed

Ivonne Cotorruelo – Film Programmer

Amy Andrieux – Executive Director, Chief Curator, Mocada

BEST ANIMATION SHORT – Tomato Kitchen – Directory by Junyi Xiao

Honorable Mention – Lil Ruby – Directed by Bartek Kik

THE JURY:

Ramona Wright – Founder and CEO, WrightOne Media Group

Phillip Domfeh – Senior Manager, Disney+ Launchpad

Julian Newman – Founder and CEO, Culture Creative

Will Schnable – Programs Manager Equity and Inclusion, Warner Bros. Discovery 

BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM – Quiet As It’s Kept – Directed by Ja’Tovia M. Gary

THE JURY:

Tamara McCaw – Chief Civic Program Officer, The Shed

Ivonne Cotorruelo – Film Programmer

Amy Andrieux – Executive Director, Chief Curator, Mocada

BEST SCREENPLAY – Long Live AJ – Written by Marvin Van Buren

Honorable Mention – The Washroom – Written by Elie El Choufany and Omar Al Dakheel

THE JURY:

Tracey Moore – EP, The Spirited Actor Podcast (iHeart Radio); Celebrity Acting Coach

Sonja Perryman – Writer, Producer, Actress

Joshua Sanchez – Screenwriter + Member of Writers Guild of America, East

Jenny Mayer – Screenwriter, Playwright + Member of Writers Guild of America, East 

URBANWORLD AUDIENCE AWARD BEST SHORT – Homing – Directed by Ricardo Varona

URBANWORLD AUDIENCE AWARD BEST FEATURE – Brief Tender Light – Directed by Arthur Musah

NYWIFT AWARD for BEST FEMALE DIRECTOR, US NARRATIVE FEATURE

Sira – Directed by Apolline Traoré

Presented by New York Women In Film & Television

NYWIFT AWARD for BEST FEMALE DIRECTOR, US NARRATIVE SHORT

Lunch Box – Directed by Anne Hu

Reunion – Directed by Zainab Jah

Presented by New York Women In Film & Television

 

Terrace Martin arrives with his Drones album. The Crenshaw native revealed in an interview with Stereogum that he was inspired by the disconnect people have from each other in society. He spoke with Kendrick Lamar about what it means to be a drone and the title track was born. According to Martin, Drones is about the oneness of us all and how we are all living like androids. Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Channel Tres, Smino, Leon Bridges and Robert Glasper are among the guests on the album. There is funk, R&B, hip-hop, jazz and more being expressed on Drones. Martin describes Black life in America as Black Disneyland and this is the theme of Drones. 

 

Robert Glasper, 9th Wonder, Kamasi Washington and Terrace Martin have released an album as Dinner Party. The jazz, hip-hop, soul project has a comfort zone between 9th Wonder’s production and the live approach from the musicians and guest singers. The warm vibes of the album address love and the current strife in the country around the response to police brutality. The friends and colleagues chose the Dinner Party moniker to reflect years of friendship, conversations over dinner and working together.