On Sunday evening, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain won the prize for best narrative feature at this year’s Urbanworld Film Festival—the five-day, New York-based event that, like so many other festivals, went virtual in 2020 due to the pandemic. The film, written and directed by David Midell, is based on the true story of Chamberlain, a 68-year-old retired Marine who accidentally triggered his own medical alert necklace, then was shot and killed by police officers who were dispatched to his home in 2011. It tragically suits the moment, having hit the festival circuit just a few months after the police killing of George Floyd triggered months of anti-police brutality protests.
The jury’s decision was unanimous. “Across the board, everyone felt that it was deservedly the winner,” said Gabrielle Glore, the festival’s director and head of programming, of the film. “The performances all around, the way it was shot, the timeliness—this happens far too often. I’m really pleased that it took the top prize.”
There were nine other prizes announced Sunday, including best documentary to Alice Gu’s The Donut King, best web original to Sam Bailey’s East of LaBrea, and best narrative feature (world cinema) to South African director Carmen Sangion’s Salvation. Per Glore, this year’s lineup touted offerings from across 25 countries.
The prizes cap off a run of virtual events, which included digital appearances from Stacey Abrams, in support of the new documentary All In: The Fight for Democracy; Lena Waithe, who stars in Justin Simien’s Hulu horror comedy Bad Hair; and David Oyelowo, whose feature directorial debut The Water Man opened the festival and whose upcoming Disney film Come Away—a fantastical prequel movie about the tales of Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan which he produced and co-starred in alongside Angelina Jolie—closed the festival on Sunday night.
For Glore, having Oyelowo open and close the festival was a full circle moment. Back in 2016, he and director Ava DuVernay became Urbanworld ambassadors, touting the Oscar-qualifying festival’s bonafides on the broader film circuit. It was also an opportunity to show the different modes Oyelowo has developed over the years as a producer and director.
“To be able to support David as a producer was important,” Glore said. “He’s really advancing his career offscreen.”
This year’s Urbanworld was, like many other major festivals this year, a virtual event, screening 98 official selections. For Glore, going virtual wasn’t without its difficulties, but it had a strong silver lining: being able to screen more content than ever before. “We weren’t confined to four theaters at AMC 42nd street in Times Square,” Glore said.
For the longtime programmer, one of this year’s many highlights included hosting a conversation between Hollywood Shuffle writer-director Robert Townsend and rising multi-hyphenate Radha Blank, whose upcoming Netflix comedy The Forty-Year-Old Version was deeply inspired by Townsend’s classic. Moments like that made it imperative to find a way to press on and carry on with the festival, which was established in 1997 by founder Stacy Spikes. “[There was] definitely a sense of urgency,” Glore said of 2020 programming plans. “I couldn’t imagine a year without Urbanworld happening.”
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