HBO Short Films Award Open To Aspiring Black Filmmakers.

Home Box Office will once again showcase the works of aspiring black filmmakers with the presentation of its 6th annual HBO Short Film Award at the 7th annual American Black Film Festival (ABFF) in South Beach, FL, June 18-22, 2003. The ABFF is presented by Film Life, Inc. and sponsored by HBO.

“Since the beginning, the response to the HBO Short Film Award and the ABFF have been tremendous,” said Olivia Smashum, senior vice president, subscriber marketing and business development at HBO. “This response has reinforced all our efforts on behalf of new filmmakers and has created an atmosphere of enthusiasm that is seen both in the film industry and the
general public.”

Seeking to encourage and recognize the works of up-and-coming talent, the HBO Short Film Award is now accepting submissions. The competition is open to filmmakers of African descent who have directed or written and produced a short fictional film of 30 minutes or less. It is open to U.S. and international entries and films must be in English or contain English subtitles and produced after January 1, 2002. Film entries must arrive at the ABFF offices postmarked by the deadline date of April 5, 2003.

Short films previously selected as winners at other film festivals or previously submitted to the HBO Short Film competition under a current or former title are not eligible. Films must also not have had previous cable broadcast screenings.

Submissions will be accepted on 1/2″ VHS cassettes and must be accompanied by an official HBO/ABFF entry form and $25.00 submission fee. Entry forms are available by calling the ABFF at 212-966-2411 ext. 400 or by downloading the form from http://www.abff.com.

A panel of industry professionals will select five films to be screened at the ABFF in South Beach for the final round of competition. One grand prize winner will be awarded $20,000 by HBO during the festival’s closing ceremonies on Saturday, June 21.

Last year, HBO presented the grand prize to writer/executive producer Ben Watkins for his film “Quest to Ref,” the story of an aspiring basketball ref who tries to bring fairness to an inner-city court game. The four runners-up were Dandara, co-writer/director of “A Funeral at the Samba School”; Desha Dauchan, writer/director of “Whispers”; Jerrold Howard, writer/director/animator of “See the Truth”; and Sechaba Morojele, writer/director of “Ubuntu’s Wounds.”