[URBANWORLD] 2009 Festival Winners announced!!

(New York, NY)—The 13th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival, presented by BET Networks, today announced the winners for feature, documentary, short film, screenplay and audience award categories. The five-day festival was held September 23-27 in New York City; wrapping up on September 27 with a closing awards brunch to congratulate the competition’s winners. Urbanworld, which screened 68 films this year, is the largest internationally competitive festival dedicated to the exhibition of independent cinema by and about people of color.

The 13th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival winners are:

Best Narrative Feature Film
MISSISSIPPI DAMNED
Written & Directed By Tina Mabry; Produced By Morgan Stiff

Audience Award Honorable Mention
P-STAR RISING
Directed By Gabriel Noble; Produced By Marjan Tehrani

“On behalf of the Urbanworld Film Festival and our Presenting Sponsor BET Networks, I proudly congratulate the exceptional winners of the Festival’s 13th annual competition,” said Stacy Spikes, founder of Urbanworld. “As Urbanworld consistently recognizes and celebrates excellence in films by and about people of color, we are honored to present such a diverse slate of filmmakers and content, both represented in the overall festival and in the 2009 roster of winners.”

Highlights of the 13th annual Urbanworld Film Festival included a special closing night screening of Good Hair, directed by Jeff Stilson, produced by Nelson George and Chris Rock, and starring Chris Rock.
Bolstered by a three-year partnership with BET networks, Urbanworld is re-defining the competitive film festival landscape with its important and critical approach to exposing the voices of multicultural filmmakers.