Film Festival Secrets

Independent film by black director gets Oprah’s plug

By chris in notable films

Sandy Cohen, writing for the Washington Times:

The rebirth of black independent film is taking place in a small office in the San Fernando Valley.

This is where filmmaker Ava DuVernay and her staff of two operate AaFFRM, the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement, a boutique distribution company dedicated to discovering and promoting black directorial voices. The fledgling company has released just four films since 2010, but one of its artists already has caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey: Ms. DuVernay herself.

Miss Winfrey repeatedly has told her 14 million Twitter followers about Ms. DuVernay’s latest film, “Middle of Nowhere,” which expanded to 14 more cities Friday after opening in six theaters the previous week. She described the film as “powerful and poetic.”

“Excellent job especially with no money,” Miss Winfrey tweeted to Ms. DuVernay. “Bravo to you my sistah.”