FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, February 18, 2008 

PAN AFRICAN FILM AND ARTS FESTIVAL
CONCLUDES WITH ENCORE SCREENINGS 

Last Day of Festival Includes Encore Screenings,
Art Mart, and Announcement of Film Competition Winners

LOS ANGELES, CA – The 16 th ANNUAL PAN AFRICAN FILM & ARTS FESTIVAL (PAFF) today announced the addition of special encore screenings of their most popular films during its 2008 run. Among the additions are KINGS OF THE EVENING, NAMIBIA : THE STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION, ANTONIA, SKID ROW, COVER, POOR BOY'S GAME, AND EL BENNY . In addition to the special screenings, today is the last day to enjoy the PAFF ART MART , one of America 's largest fine art shows featuring prominent and emerging Black artists and fine craftspeople held at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza . The 2008 PAFF Film Competition winners will be announced later today at the PAFF AWARDS BRUNCH taking place at 10 a.m. at the PAFF Bistro located at 3791 Santa Rosalia Drive in Los Angeles . All films will be shown at the AMC Magic Johnson Theaters located at 4020 Marlton Avenue in Los Angeles . For more information and schedules, please visit www.paff.org or call (323) 295-1706. Known for showcasing new films first and recognized as America's premiere black film festival, past PAFF features have included box office and award-winning hits: Ray , Lackawanna Blues , Redemption , Crazy As Hell , Kingdom Come , T he Brothers, Gridlock'd , Days of Glory , and the 2006 Academy Award® winner for Best Foreign Film, Tsotsi .

For the 2008 Pan African Film and Arts Festival, 162 films were selected including 25 world premieres and 10 U.S. premieres representing 31 countries with 9 first-time filmmakers , 49 feature-length films , 59 documentaries , and 54 international films . These films were selected from over 2,500 submissions.

With an overall festival attendance of 200,000, the PAFF attracts a diverse audience of over 40,000 people to its films at the AMC Magic Johnson Crenshaw 15 Theaters . Each year the PAFF presents quality films from the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, the South Pacific and Canada, all showcasing the diversity and complexity of people of African descent. PAFF also presents one of America 's largest fine art shows featuring prominent and emerging Black artists and fine craftspeople held at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza . Other signature PAFF events include over a dozen industry panels and workshops, the PAFF StudentFest ® , ChildrensFest ® , SpokenWord Fest ®, Senior Connections ®, and Comedy Night . For more information, please visit www.PAFF.org or call (323) 295-1706.

About Encore Screenings

KINGS OF THE EVENING ( US /Director: Andrew P. Jones ) - Homer Hobbs, after serving two years in jail, returns home to a bleak town caught in the depths of the Great Depression - no jobs, no prospects and no hope. He is thrown together with four strangers, each struggling to survive and dig their way out of poverty: Benny, the street hustler eager to begin life anew in the sunshine of Florida; Clarence, a nobody who aches to be somebody; Gracie, the despairing owner of a boarding house who lives with a secret; and, Lucy, whose past has caught up with her and threatens the lives of those she has come to love. Starring Lynn Whitfield, Glynn Turman, Tyson Beckford, Bruce McGill, James Russo, Reginald T. Dorsey, Justin Malloy and Linara Washington.

NAMIBIA : THE STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION ( Namibia/US /Director: Charles Burnett) - NAMIBIA : THE STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION depicts the long struggle waged by the people of Namibia for their independence that was ultimately won with the help of Cuban military volunteers fighting in Angola . The 1987 battle of Cuito Cuanavale, in which the South African army was decisively defeated, turned the tide in the liberation struggle for all of Southern Africa . This was one of the key factors that led to Namibian Independence and the election of Sam Nujoma as Namibia 's first President and forced the white supremacist South African government to free President Nelson Mandela and to negotiate with the African National Congress.

ANTONIA (Brazil/Director: Tata Amaral ) On the outskirts of São Paulo, four girls who have been singing together since their childhood fight to fulfill their dream of making a living with their music. Tired of singing back-up for male rap artists, they form their own rap group, find a manager and begin to put on shows in bars and parties. But, just as the dream seems to be coming true, their hopes are dashed by brutal violence, internal jealousies, unplanned pregnancy and the daily events which accompany poverty. Filled with R&B, soul and rap music, this energetic look into modern Brazilian life, explores cultural oppression, chauvinism and urban violence yet manages to stay engaging and upbeat especially in its depiction and appreciation of female friendship.

SKID ROW ( US /Director: Niva Dorell, Marshall Tyler & Ross Clarke) - Skid Row is a 50 square block area in downtown Los Angeles where an average of 100,000 homeless and transient people live on any given night. Pras Michel -- one-third of the successful hip-hop group The Fugees -- lives on the streets of Skid Row for 9 straight days and nights as a homeless person. The entire time he and the filmmakers are undercover, using surveillance cameras in an area where cameras present a threat to anonymity. His goal: to find out what it really means to be homeless and to put a human face on an issue that has plagued our country for generations. His journey is riddled with hunger, exposure to the elements, criminals, drugs and danger. Pras learns not only to fend for himself, but discovers the dangerous, very human and at times humorous underbelly of Los Angeles .

COVER ( US / Narr /Director: Bill Duke) - When Ryan Chambers is murdered on New Year's Eve, the prime suspect is Valerie Maas, a church-going homemaker whose life unravels when she discovers that her husband of 15 years has been leading a double life. Her strength of character and faith keeps the family alive as a deadly disease threatens to destroy all that they have known. Stars Aunjanue Ellis, Razaaq Adoti, Vivica A. Fox, Richard Gant, Louis Gossett, Jr., Leon, Paula Jai Parker, Roger Guenveur Smith, Patti LaBelle and Obba Babatunde.

POOR BOY'S GAME ( Canada /Director: Clément Virgo) - Donnie Rose went to prison for beating a young man so brutally it left him handicapped for life. Nine years later, Donnie is out. He's a different man with only one place to go: back home to the same violent and racist neighborhood that created him. At the other end of town, the black community still wants revenge. The instrument of justice will be Ossie Paris, a devastatingly talented boxer who challenges Donnie to a match; a match Donnie's family and peers won't let him refuse. George Carvery has waited nine years to avenge his son's fate at the hands of Donnie. When finally they meet face to face, however, both realize they share a similar desire to overcome the past. As the barely contained racism boils to the surface, George and Donnie form a seemingly unlikely alliance. Their partnership makes them outcasts from both tribes, who will only be satisfied by blood in the ring. The two men get to know each other in the eye of a storm, knowing full well that their futures will be decided with the bell of the first round. Stars, Danny Glover, Rossif Sutherland, Tonya Lee Williams and Flex Alexander.

EL BENNY ( Cuba /Director: Jorge Luis Sánchez) - A fictionalized version of the life of great Cuban musical genius, singer and bandleader Benny Moré. Having consolidated his career in Mexico upon his return to Cuba , Benny takes the island by storm, making the audiences go wild with his unique performances. But Benny allows his weakness for alcohol and women to get the best of him and becomes increasingly unstable as a result of his excesses. Unable to read or write music, he composed the music he heard in his head and his heart. With heroic effort he eventually re-groups and is able to realize his dream of forming a Big Band and achieving great critical and popular success. Failing to heed both medical and spiritual advise, Benny continues to abuse alcohol and live a fast life resulting in him being hospitalized due to liver problems. He becomes aged and loses much of his fire. Yet against all odds, and with the help of Aida, the great love of his life, who makes sure he doesn't drinks a drop of rum and encourages him to take care of his health, he recovers his strength, vigor and confidence. He returns to perform at Cuba 's great nightclubs to huge crowds of fans. But once again, overly confident of his newfound health and renewed success, he begins to drink and collapses onstage.

About The Pan African Film and Arts Festival

The Pan African Film and Arts Festival (PAFF) was founded in 1992 as a non-profit corporation dedicated to the promotion of cultural and racial tolerance and understanding through the exhibition of film, art and creative expression. It is the PAFFs goal to present and showcase a broad spectrum of Black creative works, particularly those that reinforce positive images and help to destroy negative stereotypes. The PAFF believes film and art can lead to better understanding and foster communication between peoples of diverse cultures, races, and lifestyles, while at the same time, serve as a vehicle to initiate dialogue on the important issues of our times.

2008 Pan African Film & Arts Festival Sponsors

The 2008 Pan African Film and Arts Festival sponsors help to sustain PAFF annually.  This year's Festival sponsors include grants from the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles, and Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission as well as support from the Namibia Film Commission, Pan Afrikan Centre of Namibia, Directors Guild of America, African Ancestry, The Africa Channel, South African Consulate L.A., AMC Magic Johnson Crenshaw 15 Theaters, Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, 8th District Los Angeles City Councilmember Bernard Parks, 9th District Los Angeles City Councilmember Jan Perry,10th District Los Angeles City Councilmember Herb Wesson, 47th District of CA, Assembly Member Karen Bass, South African Airways, Union Bank of California, Macy's, Starbucks & Urban Coffee Opportunities, Wells Fargo Bank, Sony Pictures, Water Replenishment District of Southern California, Twentieth Century Fox, Target, PXP, UPS, Comerica Bank , French Embassy in the US, Film & TV Office in LA., TV5 Monde, Starr African Rum, Adam's Travel & Tours, Four Points by Sheraton, Budget Car Rental, eHealth Records, Black Business Association, The African Diaspora Foundation, Hip-Hop Association, African Red Tea Imports, Our Weekly Newspaper, KPFK 90.7 FM, The Electronic Urban Report, The Immigrant Magazine, African Vibes Magazine, Save the Date Media Group, LLC, Google, LaHitz Media, Sparkletts, Queen Aminah's Clothing, Valana Minerals, Simply One, and Artists Interactive.

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Press Contact: publicity@paff.org / (323) 295-1706

Press kits available in the PAFF pressroom online at www.PAFF.org .