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Jeffrey Wright, Zoe Saldana, Melvin Van Peebles and LaTanya Richardson-Jackson Star in 'BLACKOUT,' The Explosive Story of a Forgotten New York Neighborhood During the Largest Power Failure in American History
Worldwide Premiere Set for Friday, February 1 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on BET;
DVD Hits Stores on February 5
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 25 -- A massive power outage sets off a
chain reaction of frustration, violence and despair in an inner city
neighborhood when BET world premieres BLACKOUT, a riveting new drama
inspired by actual events, on Friday, February 1 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Starring
Emmy(R) and Golden Globe(R) winner Jeffrey Wright (Casino Royale, "Angels
in America"), NAACP Image(R) Award nominee Zoe Saldana (Guess Who, Vantage
Point), pioneering filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles (Sweet Sweetback's
Badasssss Song), and veteran actress LaTanya Richardson-Jackson (The
Fighting Temptations, Freedomland), BLACKOUT recounts the devastating
events of two days and a night in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, a simmering
African American enclave forgotten in the midst of the largest power
failure in American history.
BLACKOUT was written and directed by Jerry LaMothe (Nora's Hair Salon)
and produced by Jeffrey Wright. In addition to the film's worldwide
television premiere on BET, BET Home Entertainment will debut BLACKOUT on
DVD through its distribution deal with Paramount Home Entertainment on
February 5, 2008. BLACKOUT is the first original feature film acquisition
by BET Home Entertainment.
In the summer of 2003, the largest blackout in history darkened cities
throughout the northeastern United States and Canada. Inspired by actual
events, LaMothe creates a poignant picture of a struggling neighborhood in
Brooklyn as it descends into chaos. Looters emerge, violence breaks out and
residents fear for their lives as they wait for help that never comes.
Based on real life stories, BLACKOUT weaves a compelling narrative from the
lives of an interrelated group of residents. The film's main characters
include a rising young publishing executive and her traumatized husband; a
single mother and her college-bound son; the neighborhood poet and her
philandering boyfriend; a Middle Eastern convenience store owner; an
elderly building superintendent and the wealthy white landlord he shelters
from the tenants' anger; the gangbangers who terrorize the neighborhood;
and the local barber. Some will find each other in the darkness, others
will lose everything they have ever worked for and East Flatbush will never
forget the events of these two days.
For Wright, the film offers an opportunity to explore issues within
this Brooklyn neighborhood and its response to adversity within the context
of this historic incident.
"It's very much about the interweaving of the lives of this community.
I thought it would be fun to paint an illustration of who we are," Wright
explains. "There are a lot of pressures on this community. I think the film
explores some of these pressures within the context of the blackout of
2003."
Additional members of the film's gifted ensemble cast include: Sean
Blakemore (Dress 2 Impre$$, Woman Thou Art Loosed), Jamie Hector ("The
Wire"), Michael B. Jordan ("The Wire"), hip hop star Prodigy (of Mobb
Deep), Tony(R) Award nominee Anthony Chisholm ("Radio Golf") and Saul
Rubinek (War).
A favorite at festivals worldwide, BLACKOUT premiered at the 2007
Tribeca Film Festival, opened the 2007 Urbanworld/VIBE Film Festival, where
director Jerry LaMothe earned the "Directors Spotlight Award," and screened
at the Chicago International Film Festival, Sao Paolo Film Festival,
London's BIFF Festival, Amsterdam's Africa in the Picture International
Film Festival and the Zurich Film Festival.
About BET Networks
BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom, Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), is
the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and
public affairs television programming for the African-American audience.
The primary BET channel reaches more than 84 million households according
to Nielsen media research, and can be seen in the United States, Canada and
the Caribbean. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a
diverse group of businesses extensions: BET.com, a leading internet
destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; BET Digital
Networks - BET J, BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for
cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Event Productions, a full-scale
event management and production company; BET Home Entertainment, a
collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs
and video-on-demand; BET Mobile, a service venture into the lucrative world
of ring tones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET
International, an extension of BET network programming for global
distribution.
ABOUT PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Paramount Home Entertainment (PHE) is part of Paramount Pictures
Corporation, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a global entertainment
company that produces and distributes filmed entertainment through the
Paramount Motion Picture Group. PHE is responsible for the worldwide sales,
marketing and distribution of home entertainment products on behalf of
various parties including: Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks SKG, Paramount
Vantage, Paramount Classics, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, CBS, PBS and
Hasbro and for providing home entertainment fulfillment services for
DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment.
SOURCE BET Networks
http://www.bet.com/
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