SOUTH BEACH, FL - "The Riff," written and directed by Mark Allen won the Lincoln Filmmaker Trophy Award at the sixth annual American Black Film Festival (ABFF). The film tells the story about friendship and betrayal, of youth and age and one man's struggle to come to terms with his tragic past. Set against the backdrop of the New Orleans jazz scene, the film stars Antonio Fargas as an aging New Orleans jazz musician and Nia Peebles as the girlfriend of the musician's agent. Producer Roger M. Bobb accepted the Lincoln Filmmaker Trophy and also received a two-year lease on a Lincoln Navigator.
Formerly known as the Acapulco Black Film Festival, the event just completed its inaugural run in South Beach, Miami Beach, Florida this year. "Florida is proud to host the American Black Film Festival," said Governor Jeb Bush. "Our state's cultural diversity as well as our connection with the film industry make this the perfect venue to celebrate African-American achievement in film. We intend to build on our relationship with the ABFF as it further expands and develops in the coming years. We also believe that Hollywood has just scratched the surface of the creative energy of the Sunshine State, and we are committed to making Florida a haven for filmmakers."
The ABFF also presented the first Blockbuster Audience Award for Best Feature Film. The winner in that category was "Civil Brand." Directed by Emmy Award winner Neema Barnette, the film is a hard-edged hip-hop tale about young black women caught up in abuse and exploitation, and reality of prisons as modern-day plantations. The women discover that a corporation is paying for the entire "plantation setup" and making huge profits off their labor. The script was written by Joyce Lewis and Preston Whitmore. Jeff Clanagan is executive producer of "Civil Brand" which received a $15,000 prize from Blockbuster, Inc. The cast includes LisaRaye, Mos Def, N'Bushe Wright, Monica Calhoun, Da Brat, MC Lyte, Clifton Powell (who won the 2002 Best Actor Award for his performance in the film) and Tichina Arnold. 
Monica Calhoun made quite an impact at this year's festival. In addition to her work in "Civil Brand," she also appeared in "Pandora's Box," for which she received the Audience Award for Best Performance by an Actress.The HBO Short Film Award, with a grand prize of $20,000, went to "Quest to Ref," written and directed by Benjamin Watkins, who also starred in the film.
The ABFF Awards Show was presented by Lincoln and co-hosted by Robert Townsend and Shaun Robinson at the Jackie Gleason Theatre in South Beach. The star-studded gala culminated ABFF's five-day festival event.
In a special, moving tribute to the work and artistry of industry veteran Robert Townsend, actors Chris Tucker and Keenen Ivory Wayans surprised Mr. Townsend with ABFF's Career Achievement Award - Male.Mekhi Phifer won the "Rising Star" Award and costumer Ruth E. Carter, a two-time Academy Award nominee, the Career Achievement Award - Female. Director John Singleton and actress Sanaa Lathan presented to Ms. Carter, and actor Delroy Lindo, to Mr. Phifer.
Other presenters in various categories included: Nicole Ari Parker, Boris Kodjoe, Anthony Anderson and Kenya Moore. As an added bonus, the world-acclaimed Creative Outlet Dance Theatre performed an original work under the direction of Jamal Gaines at this year's ABFF Awards Show.Founded by Byron Lewis in 1997, the mission of The American Black Film Festival is to redefine, discover and honor artistic excellence in black cinema. About the move Lewis said, "The vast array of cultures represented in Miami will serve as the perfect template for the future of the Festival and our hope to create a year-round multicultural filmmaking center."
WEST HOLLYWOOD, California - Przemyslav Reut's "Paradox Lake" won the Target Filmmaker Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Eighth Annual IFP/Los Angeles - Los Angeles Film Festival in a ceremony held at the Bel Age Hotel in West Hollywood.
A Special Jury Award was given to "Spellbound," Jeffrey Blitz' fascinating survey of the life of gifted kids in America. With the National Spelling Bee competition as the backdrop, "Spellbound" explores the American Dream in all its amazing permutations and glory. The film "goes above and beyond what would be expected from an inherently dramatic subject matter to create a surprising, hilarious and exhilarating piece of Americana told in two electric acts. With an extra-special mention to Yana Gorskaya for her crafty, unpredictable editing," said the Documentary Feature Jury, which consisted of indieWIRE's Eugene Hernandez, MOMA's Jytte Jensen, and Boston Globe's Wesley Morris. The Special Jury Prize included a Canon XL1-S camera donated by Canon USA.
The documentary jury added in giving the Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature to "OT: Our Town," Scott Hamilton Kennedy's film about Manuel Dominguez High School in Los Angeles and their production of Thornton Wilder's 1938 play, "Our Town," the school's first in 20 years. It was honored for "honing an unwieldy situation into a fair, powerful, formally ingenious emotional document that exposes the universality of social mores."
The winner of the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature, which was wasn't decided in time for the award presentation went to Alfredo de Villa's "Washington Heights." The film takes place in New York City's neighborhood of Washington Heights, where a young comic book artist is faced with some tough choices when his father is shot during an attempted robbery. The award was announced at the Closing Night Gala for Miguel Arteta's "The Good Girl." 
The 2002 IFP/West - Los Angeles Film Festival kicked-off on June 20
with Nicole Holofcener's comedy "Lovely & Amazing." The film focuses on Jane Marks (Brenda Blethyn), her two adult biological daughters (played by Catherine Keener and Emily Mortimer) and Annie (Raven Goodwin), the eight-year-old African American girl that she has adopted. In this intriguing character study, each of these people is forced in some way to confront issues of self-worth and self-image.
Also of note was the screening of "Hav Plenty" director Christopher Scott Cherot's latest feature, "G." A contemporary reworking of "The Great Gatsby," set against hip-hop culture's arrival in the Hamptons of New York. The film stars Richard T. Jones as Summer G, a quiet but powerful music mogul that over the last ten years has amassed a substantial fortune in the hopes of winning back Sky (Chenoa Maxwell of "Hav Plenty"), the love of his life. The film also stars Blair Underwood as Sky's lecherous financier husband.