Celebrity Females Dominate Closing Night at Pan African Film Festival 2014

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Five black females produced the TV One original film, “Girlfriends Getaway,” which was also written by Cas Sigers-Beedles, second from left, and stars Terri J. Vaughn, center. Roger Bobb, not pictured, directed the film.

ATLANTA — Black girls rock.
The closing night of the Pan African Film Festival 2014  at the Plaza Theater in Midtown went off like the finale of a 4th of July fireworks display, particularly because multiple black female directors and producers lorded on the final two film screenings.
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“Belle” director Amma Asante, left, with actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the starring role.

Six women produced and/or directed the movies, the gut-bustingly hilarious Girlfriends Getaway, a Roger Bobb film about a vacation in Trinidad that goes awryand the critically-acclaimed Belle, a period-piece epic recalling a mixed-raced raven who struggles with the dichotomy of being both privileged and an outcast.
The evening included the likes of Vaughn, producer-director Roger Bobb, Demetria McKinney, Carl Anthony Payne, Derek J, Ramona DeBreaux, legendary casting director and producer Reuben Cannon, actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw, director Amma Asante and many others.
Another note of interest is that “Girlfriends Getaway” was a collaborative effort between Roger Bobb’s Bobbcat Films and Nina Holiday Entertainment, the latter which is owned by Vaughn and the film’s writer Cas Sigars-Beedles.
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“Girlfriends Getaway” director Roger Bobb, left, received moral support from frequent collaborator and mentor, industry legend Reuben Cannon.

The PAFF exists to churn out engrossing theater fare and television projects that illuminates the multidimensional talents from vastly underused demographics. The closing evening of the PAFF2014 in Atlanta exemplified this. Let’s hope this continues at an higher trajectory in the proceeding years.

Take a look at the photographic highlights from the PAFF2014.

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