Urbanworld Film Festival (2023)

The official 2023 slate for the 27th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival includes a clips and conversation event with Marvel Studios’ The Marvels writer/director and Urbanworld alum Nia DaCosta, along with the world premiere of A Wu-Tang Experience: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, directed by The RZA and Gerald Barclay.

Spotlight presentations include the HBO Documentary Films feature Stand Up & Shout: Songs from a Philly High School, directed by Amy Schatz and executive produced by Mike Jackson, John Legend and Ty Stiklorius of Get Lifted Film Company; the upcoming series Lawmen: Bass Reeves, presented by Paramount+ and starring Executive Producer David Oyelowo (Selma) as the titular Reeves, which tells the untold story of the first Black U.S. Marshal. The series is created for television by Executive Producer and Showrunner Chad Feehan and executive produced by Oscar Nominee Taylor Sheridan.

Prime Video will present the documentary feature Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story, a portrait of the writer, actor, filmmaker, studio head and media mogul. National Geographic Documentary Films will present a special youth screening of The Space Race, directed by Diego Hurtado de Mendoza and Urbanworld alum Lisa Cortés.

The festival also highlights the work of Urbanworld alums, such as the Sundance faves To Live and Die and Live, directed by Qasim Basir and starring Amin Joseph (Snowfall) and Omari Hardwick (The Mother, Power); Young. Wild. Free., directed by Thembi Banks with Sanaa Lathan (The Best Man: The Final Chapters) and Mike Epps (The Upshaws); and Berlinale audience award winner Sira, directed by Apolline Traoré.

Rounding out the short films is ESPN’s presentation of Black Girls Play, directed by award-winning documentary team Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson.

Disney+ is showcasing six shorts from its Disney+ Launchpad incubator program of diverse filmmakers whose unique and evocative voices bring new perspectives to storytelling: The Ghost, directed by Erica Eng; Black Belts, directed by Spencer Glover; Beautiful, FL, directed by Gabriela Ortega; The Roof, directed by Alexander Bocchieri; Maxine, written and directed by Niki Ang and Project CC, directed by Cashmere Jasmine.

The slate of nearly 100 titles includes shorts from notable names such as Yvonne Orji (Insecure) and Zainab Jah (False Positive), who will screen their respective films, Jamaal and Reunion as first-time directors. Executive producer and long-time Urbanworld alum Nelson George will present the short art film Flower, starring world-renowned ballerina Misty Copeland. A Love Letter to Hip Hop directed by Benny Boom and starring Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and Part of Me: Anuar Khalifi by Yasiin Bey starring Yasiin Bey (fka Mos Def) celebrate the art of music and culture.