The RZA, founding member of the Wu-Tang Clan and filmmaker, will be the official ambassador of Urbanworld Film Festival 2023. The festival will take place from November 1-5 at the SVA Theatre and AMC 34th Street Theater.
As part of the festival, RZA is set to premiere a never before seen Wu-Tang documentary. A Wu-Tang Experience: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, is co-directed by RZA with Gerald Barclay. It will make its world premiere at the Urbanworld Film Festival 2023 on Friday, November 3. The film chronicles Wu-Tang’s legendary 2021 performance with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.
“I’m completely honored to be a part of a platform like Urbanworld which supports storytellers from all walks of life,” says RZA.”As a filmmaker, I understand the work that goes into not only getting a film made but getting it seen. There aren’t a lot of film festivals that intentionally shine light on the works of Black Men and Women in our industry. Our growing number of directors and producers need more outlets. Urbanworld gets it and this opportunity to serve as ambassador to this year’s festival is an honor and a privilege.”
Urbanworld Film Festival 2023 will feature other celebrities making their directorial debut including Misty Copeland, who will be participating in a post-screening discussion of her short film “Flower”, and Yvonne Orji with her film “Jamaal.”
Additional highlights of Urbanworld 2023 will include a screening of American Fiction directed by Cord Jefferson and Lights, Cameras, Rhymes: 50 Years of Hip Hop on Screen, a tribute to music videos sponsored by Hulu. There will be a panel discussion after the screening of Lights, Camera, Rhymes featuring director Benny Boom and artist Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter.
The Urbanworld Film Festival was launched in 1997 by Founder Stacy Spikes, Co-Founder and CEO of MoviePass, and a former Executive at Miramax and October Films. The five-day festival showcases narrative features, documentaries, short films, web originals, experimental, spotlight screenings and conversations, and music performances.
Hollywood studios, networks and streamers, as well as established and emerging content creators, have consistently chosen Urbanworld to premiere box office hits and award-winning projects. This looks like it will be the Black film event of the year!
Venues
AMC Theatre
312 West 34th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenue)
New York, NY 10001
SVA Theatre
333 West 23rd Street (between 8th & 9th Avenue)
New York, NY 10011
SocDoc Screening Room
136 West 21st Street (between 6th & 7th Avenue)
New York, NY 10011
For tickets, the full schedule and more information, check out urbanworld.org
