NEW YORK, NY (October 31, 2022) – The 26th Annual Urbanworld® Film Festival (www.urbanworld.org), along with presenting partner Visa, prestige partners Warner Bros. Discovery and Ally Financial, and founding partner HBO, announced the 2022 award winners for the best narrative feature, documentary feature, documentary short, young creator, narrative short (U.S. and World Cinema), animated short, experimental, environmental and social impact, original episodic, music video, sound design, screenplay, as well as the inaugural creative producer award and New York Women in Film and Television awards for best feature and short; as it closed its festival yesterday.
The nation’s largest competitive multicultural film festival screened 118 official selections, three spotlight screenings, three spotlight conversations, and featured 20 Urbanworld Innovation sessions and four original screenplay finalists.
The 2022 Urbanworld Film Festival winners are:
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE (U.S./WORLD CINEMA) – Me Little Me – Directed by Elizabeth Ayiku
THE JURY:
Lucy Mukerjee, Film Creator
Steven Pryor, Director, Global Brand Experience – Global Brand & Product Innovation Marketing Visa Inc.
Minah Oh, Producer and Filmmaker
Gregory Gates, Chief Executive Officer of ImageNation Film Festival, Inc.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE – Silent Beauty – Directed by Jasmín Mara López
THE JURY:
Alex Hannibal, Director, CNN FILMS at CNN
Cedar Sherbert, Programmer for Urbanworld, Tribeca Film Festival and AFI Fest
Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Documentary Filmmaker
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT – Kylie – Directed by Master Sterling
THE JURY:
Opal H. Bennet, Programmer and Shorts Producer at POV
Denise Greene, Director of Programs at Black Public Media
Noland Walker, Content VP at ITVS
BEST YOUNG CREATOR – The Spirit that God Gave Us – Directed by Michael Donte
Presented by Neutrogena – $1,000 Prize
THE JURY:
Che Chisholm, Founder and Creative Director of Automatic Studios, Inc,
Hopi Noel Morton, Founder of HOPIWORKS
John C. Williams, Founder of Reel Works
BEST NARRATIVE SHORT (US) – Yokelan/66 – Directed by TANG Yi
Presented by Warner Bros Discovery – $2,500 Prize
THE JURY:
Audrey Rosenberg, Film Producer
Leonard E. Burnett, Jr., Head Of Media and Chief Revenue Officer, Co- Founder CEO, Uptown Media Ventures
Maria Clinton, Filmmaker, Producer and Consulting Editor
BEST NARRATIVE SHORT (WORLD) – Hiama – Directed by Matasila Freshwater
Presented by Warner Bros. Discovery – $2,500 Prize
THE JURY:
Sebastian Rea, Filmmaker
J. Chris Hamilton, Producer, Entertainment Attorney, and Professor (Syracuse University)
Amy Andrieux, Executive Director and Chief Curator at MoCADA
BEST ANIMATION SHORT – New Moon – Directed by Jeremie Balais, Jeff LeBars, Raúl Domingo
THE JURY:
Opal H. Bennet, Programmer and Shorts Producer at POV
Denise Greene, Director of Programs at Black Public Media
Noland Walker, Content VP at ITVS
BEST EXPERIMENTAL – Flowers – Directed by Dumas Haddad
THE JURY:
Kenya Gipson, Media Executive at iHeartRadio
Nichelle Sanders, Managing Director at R/GA
Steven Pryor, Director, Global Brand Experience – Global Brand & Product Innovation Marketing Visa Inc.
BEST ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIAL IMPACT – August Sky – Directed by Jasmin Tenucci
THE JURY:
Ellery Spikes, Urbanworld Programmer and Student Leader at Climate and Resilience Education Taskforce
Elissa Telez Munoz, National Wildlife Federation’s Climate and Resilience Education Taskforce Coordinator
Pamela French, Independent Film Producer and Director
BEST ORIGINAL EPISODIC – Chiqui – Directed by Carlos Cardona
THE JURY:
Christopher Poindexter, Co-Creator, Writer, and Producer of BRIC TV’s Brooklynification
Sidra Smith, Executive Producer of Essence’s Film & TV Studio
Carletta Higginson, Global Head of Music Publishing at YouTube
BEST MUSIC VIDEO – Different Than Before – Mayumi Yoshida
Presented by Visa – $5,000 Prize
THE JURY:
Kenya Gipson, Media Executive at iHeartRadio
Nichelle Sanders, Managing Director at R/GA
Steven Pryor, Director, Global Brand Experience – Global Brand & Product Innovation Marketing Visa Inc.
BEST SOUND DESIGN – Talia’s Journey – Christophe Rolin
Presented by Visa – $5,000 Prize
THE JURY:
Lucy Mukerjee, Film Creator
Steven Pryor, Director, Global Brand Experience – Global Brand & Product Innovation Marketing Visa Inc.
Minah Oh, Producer and Filmmaker
Gregory Gates, Chief Executive Officer of ImageNation Film Festival, Inc.
CREATIVE PRODUCER AWARD – The Bond – Jahmil Eady
Presented by Ally Financial- $5,000 Prize
THE JURY:
Simone Ling, Programmer at Urbanworld, Creative Producer and Story and Artist Development Consultant
Karen McMullen, Head of Programming at Urbanworld
Sharese Bailey, Festival Director and Chief Innovation Officer at Urbanworld
BEST SCREENPLAY – Hyper/Space – Written By Moon Molson
THE JURY:
Justin Carter, Writer, Producer, Actor and Member of the WGA Committee For Inclusion & Equity.
Ama Quao, Comedy Writer and Urbaneorld 2020 Screenplay Winner
URBANWORLD AUDIENCE AWARD BEST SHORT – Brownsville Bred – Directed By Elaine Del Valle
URBANWORLD AUDIENCE AWARD BEST FEATURE –The Melt Goes On Forever: The Art and Times of David Hammons – Directed By Judd Tully and Harold Crooks
VISA FINTECH PITCH COMPETITION
$25K- First – Demetrius Curry with College Cash
$10K- Second – Su Sanni with Dollaride
$5k- Third – Calvin Williams Jr. with Freeman Capital
Jurors included: Mary Ann Reilly (Chief Marketing Officer, North America at Visa), Paula Campbell Roberts (Managing Director at KKR), and Christie George (Founder at New Media Ventures), Philip McKenzie (Head of Culture and Strategy at Aperture VC)
NYWIFT AWARD for BEST FEMALE DIRECTOR, US NARRATIVE FEATURE
Silent Beauty – Directed by Jasmin Mara Lopez
Presented by New York Women In Film & Television – $1,000 Prize
NYWIFT AWARD for BEST FEMALE DIRECTOR, US NARRATIVE SHORT
The Code of Family – Directed by Kayla Sun
Presented by New York Women In Film & Television – $1,000 Prize
THE JURY:
Katie Chambers, Community Engagement Director, NYWAlyxIFT
Cynthia Lopez, Executive Director, NYWIFT
Zenaida Mendez, Board Member, NYWIFT
Urbanworld’s founding partner HBO is joined by key supporters including presenting partner Visa and Warner Bros. Discovery and Ally Financial as prestige partners. Supporting partners include Peacock, NBCUniversal, Starz, Apple TV+, Movie Pass, Adventr and Sony Pictures. Industry partners include NYC Media and Entertainment, MPA, WGAE, DGA and Neutrogena Studios. LA Times, iHeartRadio and The Feature Presentation Studio are media partners. Spirit and beverage sponsors are Bulleit and Diageo.
ABOUT URBANWORLD FILM FESTIVAL
The Urbanworld Film Festival was founded in 1997 by Stacy Spikes, award-winning entrepreneur whom USA Today calls one of the 21 Most Influential Black People in Technology, and co-founder of MoviePass. With estimated attendance reaching over 15,000 in-person, the five-day festival showcases narrative features, documentaries, short films, web originals, experimental, spotlight screenings and conversations, and music performances. Hollywood studios, networks and streamers, as well as established and emerging content creators, have consistently chosen Urbanworld to premiere box office hits and award-winning projects. An initiative under the Urbanworld Foundation, the Festival is supported by Founding Partner HBO, Presenting Partner Visa, Prestige Partners Ally Financial, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros. Discovery, and Supporting Partners STARZ, Peacock and NBCU Comcast. Sharese Bullock-Bailey serves as Festival Director and Chief Innovation Officer and Karen McMullen as Head of Programming. Visit www.urbanworld.org for more information.