'The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete' Set To Close Hollywood Black Film Festival

FILM STARS JENNIFER HUDSON AND JORDIN SPARKS

Tanya Kersey, Founder and Executive Director of the Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF), is excited to announce the feature, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete, has been selected as the 2013 closing night film.  Codeblack Films, a Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) company, will release the film in select theaters on October 11. The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete will close out the 13^th annual edition of HBFF on Sunday, October 6, 7pm at the Montalban Theater, 1615 Vine Street, Hollywood, CA. HBFF 2013 runs October 2 -6, and features an inspiring line up of films, panels, panelists, and special events.

Directed by George Tillman, Jr. and written by Michael Starrbury, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete stars Academy Award® and Golden Globe® winner Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls), Golden Globe and EMMY® Award winner Jeffrey Wright (Boardwalk Empire, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Quantum of Solace), Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, American Idol winner Jordin Sparks (Sparkle), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Thor: The Dark World) and Anthony Mackie (Runner Runner, Pain & Gain). Jana Edelbaum, Rachel Cohen and Bob Teitel produced the film with Alicia Keys, Susan Lewis, Clay Floren, Aimee Shieh, Julio Depietro, Keith Kjarval, Mary Vernieu, and Amy Nauiokas executive producing. The film also features new music by Grammy® Award-winning multiplatinum recording artist Alicia Keys.

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete is a beautifully observed and tremendously moving film about salvation through friendship and the way transformation sometimes can happen just by holding on long enough. During a sweltering summer in New York City, 13-year-old Mister’s (Skylan Brooks) hard-living mother (Jennifer Hudson) is apprehended by the police, leaving the boy and nine-year-old Pete (Ethan Dizon) alone to forage for food while dodging child protective services and the destructive scenarios of the Brooklyn projects. Faced with more than any child can be expected to bear, the resourceful Mister nevertheless feels he is an unstoppable force against seemingly unmovable obstacles. But what really keeps the pair in the survival game is much more Mister’s vulnerability than his larger-than-life attitude. Visit www.MisterandPeteMovie.com for film information & updates. Follow the social conversation at #MisterAndPete

The festival after-party will be held immediately following the screening at Station Hollywood, The W Hotel, 6250 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA.

Recognized as the premiere Black film festival in Hollywood showcasing the best independent films from Black filmmakers, HBFF leads with innovation by delivering top-shelf panels designed to empower filmmakers and expose Black film to diverse audiences right in the heart of the movie capital.

For more information on the 2013 Hollywood Black Film Festival and to see a full line up of events, visit www.hbff.org.

About the HBFF

Founded in 1999, The Hollywood Black Film Festival aims to enhance the careers of emerging and established North American filmmakers through a public exhibition, competition program and industry panels. Known amongst the entertainment industry’s powerbrokers as, “The Black Sundance,” the festival brings independent works of accomplished and aspiring black filmmakers to an environment encompassing the mainstream Hollywood community and Southern California film-going audiences. The festival’s goal is to play an integral role in discovering and launching independent films and filmmakers by bringing them to the attention of the industry, press and public.