This past weekend some of Hollywood’s finest took over The AMC Empire 25 movie theater in NYC for the 2018 UrbanWorld Film Festival. Press , filmmakers & some lucky fans came out daily to attend special screenings of highly anticipated films , tv shows , panels & more exclusively before they are released to the general public. Thursday “PIMP” which stars KeKe Palmer was just the beginning of incredible films to be screening for the festival and trust me this movie was a must see. The Lee Daniels produced film took home the Audience Award for Best feature film due to the powerful performances from KeKe & Aunjanue L. Ellis. Friday’s Spotlight feature was “Widows” and it was clear that UrbanWorld knew exactly what the audience needed to see. The explosive film which stars Viola Davis , Liam Neeson , Michelle Rodriguez , Cynthia Erivio , Daniel Kaluuya , Colin Farrell & Elizabeth Debicki had the audience on their edge of their seat one minute , then screaming or gasping next at the action packed film which is sure to take over the Box Office when it’s hits theaters in Novemeber.

Now if that wasn’t enough , Saturday was jam packed with so much black star power in the building for the festivals closing night. Comedic superstar Lil Rel Howrey stopped by the festival to preview a new episode of his upcoming FOX series “REL”.
Superstar actress Tasha Smith was joined by legendary actress Telma Hopkins and other cast members to premiere their upcoming BET film “Running Out Of Time”. The special screening ended with the cast sitting down for a Q&A as they dropped gems on the crowd of aspiring actors , directors & more who clearly loved every minute of the action packed thriller. To close out this year’s festival , the spotlight feature was the highly anticipated 20th Century Fox Film “The Hate U Give”. Two of the film’s stars Amandla Stenberg & Algee Smith were in attendance along with the film’s director George Tillman to premiere the emotional film which left everyone speechless. Notable stars also in attendance to see the must see movie of the year included Boris Kodjoe , Niecey Nash , Joe Morton , Simone Missick and Omar Dorsey. The movie which hit home for the audience due to the film’s portrayal of a girl and her family dealing with the aftermath of another innocent black man being killed by Police Brutality , was just the film we needed to see to keep the conversation going that Black Lives Matter.

The movie which sent us on an emotional roller coaster was beautifully done so it was only right that we all stood up to give their brilliant work of Art a standing ovation. Oscar nominated director Ava Duvernay joined the cast and director for a special Q&A to talk about the powerful film which were sure will be the movie of the year. Amandla Stenberg’s brilliant portrayal of “Starr” will definitely be praised by the masses and every award she receives is well deserved. This year’s film festival once again proved that African Americans and other minority’s are just as powerful on the screen and behind the lenses and one things for sure , I will always support this festival whenever i can because it shows us that our work is just as important , powerful and brilliant when given the right representation. Hopefully you were there this year , but if you weren’t check out exclusive footage from this year’s festival below.

Photos by Walik Goshorn , J.Countess For Getty Images and Instagram via (@UrbanWorldFilmFest & @NieceyNash )