The Urbanworld Film Festival, founded in 1997 by Stacy Spikes, is the largest internationally competitive festival of its kind, hosted in New York City. The five-day festival includes narrative features, documentaries, short films, web originals, music videos, spotlight screenings and conversations, live staged screenplay readings, Urbanworld Innovation focused on digital and social media, and Urbanworld Music highlighting artists in live performances during the festival. Since its inception, Hollywood studios, indie film distributors, and established and emerging filmmakers have consistently chosen Urbanworld® to premiere box office and award-winning hits. Urbanworld has been supported over the years by Founding Sponsor HBO, as well as other industry and brand partners.
Known as the filmmaker's festival and the people's festival, where it's all about celebrating and supporting amazing independent film, Urbanworld will host its 26th year in Manhattan, which has been a home for the festival, since inception in 1997 . Last year, Urbanworld featured filmmakers from around the world in a hybrid festival, screening close to 100 projects in-person and virtually, with spotlight conversations featuring industry talents including Ava DuVernay, Aunjanue Ellis, Reinaldo Marcus Green, Haile Gerima, Rza, and Zolee Griggs. Over its 26 years, Urbanworld has welcomed the likes of Chadwick Boseman, Jennifer Lopez, Halle Berry, Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington, Kate Hudson, Viola Davis, and Rosie Perez, among so many more. Queen Latifah, Melvin & Mario Van Peebles, Justin Simien, Gina Prince Bythewood, Larenz Tate, Reginald Hudlin, Kasi Lemmons, and Tyrese Gibson have all served as Festival Ambassadors.
Urbanworld Innovation provides a forum featuring case study presentations, panel and roundtable discussions, as well as immersive experiences and intensive workshops on relevant industry subject matter. Participating content creators enjoy hosted industry events by festival partners that foster community with industry peers and executives. After dark, Urbanworld Music celebrates the intersection of music and film, with indie musicians and DJs sharing their music with festival attendees during evening after parties. Simply put...Premieres, Panels, Parties is what Urbanworld delivers.
The Urbanworld Film Festival is an initiative of the Urbanworld Foundation Inc., a nonprofit organization that redefines and advances the presence and impact of the multicultural community in cinema and cross-platform media. By implementing initiatives that actively support and develop content creators of color, Urbanworld significantly contributes to the evolution of the media and entertainment landscape and the inclusion that it reflects. The festival website is www.urbanworld.org.
The Urbanworld Film Festival celebrates and honors films/filmmakers who compete across the following categories: Best Narrative Feature (US Cinema), Best Narrative Feature (World Cinema), Best Documentary Feature & Short, Best Narrative Short, Best Young Creators (Ages 18 - 25 Years Old), Best Music Video, Best Web Original, Best Experimental, Best Environmental Impact, and Best Screenplay, as well as Special Jury Awards. A category-specific jury -- comprised of studio/network/streaming executives, entertainment attorneys/managers/ agents, content creators, and other industry experts -- selects the winner (and any deserving honorable mentions) in each category. Additionally, Urbanworld festival attendees vote to select an Audience Award winner in the Best Feature and Best Short categories. Winners are announced via press release to key industry trade outlets. Each year, various award categories are sponsored by companies who provide cash and/or in-kind prizes to the winners.