Omar Epps To Host 1st Ever Social Impact Showcase At American Black Film Festival

Omar Epps

Omar Epps to Host 1st Ever Social Impact Showcase At American Black Film Festival

Additional details about the upcoming 23rd annual American Black Film Festival (ABFF), are being released. This year, the festival has launched the first Social Impact Showcase, a curated program dedicated to raising awareness of films based on cause-related themes, relevant to communities of color. This year’s theme Fatherhood: The Foundation of the Black Family will feature a collection of short films, followed by an engaging conversation with the directors, and the event host— actor and author Omar Epps.

The goal of this program is to change the narrative of Black fathers by highlighting their presence, importance and contribution to their families, and by extension, the Black community.

Omar Epps and wife Keisha Spivey

Epps knows the personal impact of being a present father within his family and openly recalls growing up without his biological father, then becoming one himself. He shares his story of pain and triumph in his new book, From Fatherless to Fatherhood that recognizes the many themes surrounding the importance of family and community. Epps says,

I’m thrilled to be working with Jeff Friday and the ABFF on this year’s newly minted fatherhood initiative. Fatherhood within our urban communities has been a painful issue en masse, but there are also several positive stories that don’t get highlighted. I’m looking forward to celebrating men who’ve succeeded in fatherhood and will share my own story as written in my first book, From Fatherless To Fatherhood.

ABFF takes place in Miami June 12-16. Click here for additional details.

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