Reel Sisters Virtual Filmmakers Awards Ceremony 2021!
On Mon., Nov. 15, 2021, 7 pm, join Reel Sisters 24th Annual Awards ceremony honoring our award-winning filmmakers. Enjoy an evening of music, film and celebration from the comfort of your home! Event includes a special musical performance by spiritual vocalist June Townes. Award-winning actress/director Malika Nzinga will serve as a special guest awards presenter. Kim Singleton, host of Consider It Black Lit, will serve as the Mistress of Ceremonies.
Suggested Donation: $20 (donate any amount). Pass holders Free.
Performer
June Elizabeth Townes
June Elizabeth Townes has been lauded for the brilliance and beauty of her classically trained lyric soprano voice. A native of Richmond, Virginia, Ms. Townes received her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Virginia Commonwealth University and her Masters of Music and Advanced Studies Degrees from The Manhattan School of Music. Ms. Townes began her career touring nationally and internationally with various classical music ensembles and as a featured soloist with the Grace Bumbry Black Heritage Ensemble, Glory Gospel Ensemble, Harlem Gospel Choir and the Canaan Gospel Ensemble. Realizing that her true calling was sacred music, Ms. Townes founded June E. Townes & Gospera, a small ensemble dedicated to the preservation of the Negro Spiritual and to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ through song. Together, this New York based ensemble has ministered at numerous events and churches throughout the east coast. Townes is a proud member of the First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York and an active Silver Star member of the Tau Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. where she serves as co-chair of the arts committee and director of the Tau Omega Ivy Notes Chorus. Contact information: Juneetownes@gmail.com
Award Presenter
Malika Nzinga
Malika Nzinga is an actress, director, producer and screenwriter. She is the recipient of The Spirit Award from Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival, for her screenplay, That’s Why They Calls Us Colored. The film premiered in Harlem, at the Magic Johnson Theater, and has been screened nationally, in several festivals, including the People’s Film Festival and the annual Citizen Jane Film Festival, in Columbia, Missouri. As an actress, Malika has appeared onstage and in several television episodes of “Luke Cage,” “Dare Devil,” and “New Amsterdam,” where she has had recurring roles. She was seen recently in Season 7 of Tyler Perry’s The Haves and the Have-Nots.
Mistress of Ceremonies
Kim Singleton
Kimberly Singleton is a filmmaker a writer and poet. She has written screen and stage plays, as well as produced short films of various genres including comedy, drama and science fiction. She has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Howard University and a Master of Business Administration from New York University. Singleton’s love for filmmaking, poetry and writing led her to study at the Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center, the Gotham Writers Workshop and the African Voices Writers Workshop to develop her craft. Her short film “C-Lo: In the Beginning” was featured at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival Short Film Market in Cannes, France.
Her screenplay, “Conscious”, which deals with a young poet living with the HIV virus, qualified her as a finalist in the BET Rap-It-Up short subject screenplay competition. The stage version of “Conscious” performed at the 2018 New York Theater Festival. Singleton is the Executive Producer and Host of “Consider It Blacklit”, a weekly television show that reviews movies, television and plays featuring African Americans up front and behind the scenes. She is the owner of Sing Sing 2000 Entertainment, a production company certified as a minority/woman owned business in New York City.
Award Recipients 2021
Best Narrative Feature
RED PILL
Best Narrative Short tie (Oscar Qualifying Shorts)
Hello From Taiwan
La Ciguapa Siempre
Best Screenplay Award
Praying
Best Documentary Feature
Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power
Best Documentary Short
Continuing A Legacy
Best Animation
Nuevo Rico
Best Web Series
The Artist's Way Out
Best Experimental Award
A Tree Feel Today
Reel Sisters Spirit Award tie
#WeAreDyingHere
Wonderfully Made
Best Cinematography Award
A Tree Fell Today
Best Director
Dolapo Is Fine
Honorable Mention
Golden Frames In the Closet
Congratulations to Real Sisters for a great job once again this year, and to all filmmakers whose courageous, dedicated, well crafted films make of these festival such a great opportunity to enjoy the best of sisters filmmakers all around the world.
Thank you for all you do! So proud to have showcased 70 amazing films this season!
Please join us in saluting our honorees! Leave your comments!
Welcome to Reel Sisters 2nd Annual Virtual Awards Ceremony!
OMG these films were AMAZING. Now I see I need to up my game. Each had wonderful premises and story lines. So loved Dolapo Fine and Ease dropping on my Ancestors but they all touched my heart. Congrats to all of you, especially the winners. Beautifully done.
I Just Love African Voices-Reel Sisters. Glad I found you and thank you for giving US space to do OUR THING.
Congratulations on the successful virtual Film Festival. I just made a donation and look forward to the Reel Sisters Virtual Awards Ceremony tomorrow, Nov. 15.