The 27th Annual Urbanworld® Film Festival ended with an awards brunch to announce its 2023 award winners. This prestigious event, in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery and founding partner HBO, celebrated excellence in multicultural filmmaking, spotlighting the best in narrative and documentary features, short films, young creators, and more.
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The festival showcased an impressive lineup, including 73 official selections, 7 spotlight screenings, 3 spotlight conversations, and featured 5 Urbanworld Innovation sessions and 4 original screenplay finalists.
The 2023 Urbanworld Film Festival Winners:
Best Narrative Feature (U.S.) – Frybread Face and Me, directed by Billy Luther.
Best Narrative Feature (World) – Sira, directed by Apolline Traoré.
Honorable Mention: Inky Pinky Ponky, directed by Damon Fepulea’i and Ramon TeWake.
Best Documentary Feature – Brief Tender Light, directed by Arthur Musah (Presented by ESPN Films).
Best Documentary Short – Slice, directed by Zaire Love.
Honorable Mention: Things Long Left Unsaid, directed by Antonia Thornton.
Best Young Creator – The Old Young Crow, directed by Liam LoPinto.
Honorable Mention: Shallots and Garlic, directed by Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto (Presented by The Walt Disney Studios).
Best Narrative Short (U.S.) – Spaceship, directed by Jorge G. Camarena.
Honorable Mention: Jerome, directed by Gianfranco Fernández-Ruiz; Death and Ramen, directed by Tiger Ji.
Best Narrative Short (World) – Yellow, directed by Elham Ehsas.
Best Animation Short – Tomato Kitchen, directed by Junyi Xiao.
Honorable Mention: Lil Ruby, directed by Bartek Kik.
Best Experimental Film – Quiet As It’s Kept, directed by Ja’Tovia M. Gary.
Best Screenplay – Long Live AJ, written by Marvin Van Buren.
Honorable Mention: The Washroom, written by Elie El Choufany and Omar Al Dakheel.
Urbanworld Audience Award Best Short – Homing, directed by Ricardo Varona.
Urbanworld Audience Award Best Feature – Brief Tender Light, directed by Arthur Musah.
NYWIFT Award for Best Female Director, U.S. Narrative Feature – Sira, directed by Apolline Traoré (Presented by New York Women In Film & Television).
NYWIFT Award for Best Female Director, U.S. Narrative Short – Lunch Box, directed by Anne Hu; Reunion, directed by Zainab Jah (Presented by New York Women In Film & Television).