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BS+ app

Brown Sugar Days is now focusing on diversifying its content with the creation of their new application : BS+. The app provides information on upcoming festival dates and films. It also make competitions for goodies and free tickets to the festival.

But beyond that, BS+ is also a journalistic media covering the latest news of the Afro cinema and series.

There are two sections of articles on the app.

The news section :

provides information on forthcoming cinema or platform releases of French movies or foreign films with black actors in the lead roles. They select films or series that promote black people. For example, for Ahmed Sylla's French films like « Jumeaux mais pas trop » and « Les femmes du square », there were no news articles about their release.

On the other hand, the film Le jeune Imam, which gives a different view of black people in France, was highlighted on BS+ with an article on its release.

The Culture section :  

focuses on black actors and producers in France and the USA, highlighting their successes. On the French side, you can find an article on Euzhan Palcy, who received an honorary Oscar in 2022 for her entire career. For the west coast side, there's an article on 50 Cent, who now produces his own series such as Power. Despite this, he has been criticised for promoting gangster culture.

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June 2023 exclusive news !

This year, Brown Sugar Days will be present at the 2023 American Black Film Festival. 

The short film PEMA, winner of the first edition of Brown Sugar Short, has been selected in the "Voices of culture" category.

This event is a historic, powerful institution, radiating internationally and sharing our values. This will offer additional visibility to our talents and we can only be delighted.

The American Black Film Festival is an annual event dedicated to empowering Black talent and showcasing film and television content by and about people of African descent. Dedicated to the belief that diverse artists deserve the same opportunities as their mainstream counterparts, ABFF Founder Jeff Friday conceived the festival in 1997 as a vehicle to strengthen the Black entertainment community by fostering resource sharing, education and artistic collaboration.

This year, the 27th American Black Film Festival will take place from 14 to 18 June in Miami beach, followed by a virtual program June 19-25 on ABFF Play.

So, what about the brown sugar short competition, will there be another edition for 2024 ?

The organizers of the brown sugar days festival will be announcing a new call for entries in a few months' time. This year, the call for applications took place in November 2022 for the February 2023 edition. We'll have to wait a little longer for an answer to this question.

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Brown sugar shorts

This year, 2023, marks the first edition of BROWN SUGAR SHORTS, a short-film competition aimed at boosting Afro-Caribbean culture and French talent.

Following a call for applications on Instagram, 8 short films were selected, rated by our panel of professionals and will be shown on the Grand rex cinema. The public was also able to take part in live voting during the festival via the new BS+ festival app. The votes counted for 50% of the public and 50% of the Jury.

The jury was made up of Laurence Lascary, producer and founder of the production company De l'autre côté du périph. Zangro, producer and founder of the production company Bien ou bien productions. This year's the godfather is the artist Mokobe.

The short films selected for the first edition are :

"Face à Face" by Marie RENAULT and Fays THERON

"Irreproachable" by Anaïs LONKEU

"La K-Z" by Enricka MH

"L'enfant orange" by Alexandre DESANE

"Parce que je t'aime" by Marvin YAMB

"Pema" by Victoria NETO

"Plane" by Jonas DINAL

"Polin de Trappes" by Dycosh

The winner of the first edition of brown sugar shorts was Victoria NETO, who presented the short film PEMA.

The Jury Prize went to Marvin Yamb for his short film Parce que je t'aime.

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Who are the festival's media partners ?

In this article I'm going to introduce you to the media who are partners of the festival and who give it so much coverage.

Trace play

TRACE, the leading Afro-Urban music and entertainment media group, is launching TracePlay, the first SVOD, Live TV and radio platform dedicated to Afro-Urban music and programmes.

TracePlay is the answer to the need for diversity in traditional audiovisual media and the strong demand from millions of people who want to find themselves in TV and music programmes that are in harmony with their Afro-urban culture.

Nofi media

Nofi is a platform for information, reflection and exchange about the black community. It was founded by Christian Dzellat-Nkoussou and Doudou-Jacques Faty on 21 February 2014 (in memory of the date of Malcolm X's assassination: 19 May 1925 - 21 February 1965).

In 2014, the founders launched Nofi, a contraction of "Noir&Fier" and which means "to dream" in Malagasy. The medium was born. Heir to this self-affirmation, Nofi media anchors "La Parole Noire" through the pen in a media space dedicated to African, Caribbean and Afro-descendant history, culture, politics and news.

"Nofi, Premier sur la Culture Noire" is an initiative to offer tailored editorial content. It's an alternative for anyone who wants to extend their knowledge and view of the world through a new prism.

Generations

The well-known radio station Générations, founded in 1992 in the Paris region, needs no introduction. It broadcasts mainly hip-hop, with a few specialised programmes, including French rap, R'n'B and reggae.

Source :

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Why the Brown sugar days festival was created ?

The idea for such a meeting came from the failure to distribute African-American films. The time they are shown is so short that they aren't seen by West Indies and African population in France. This kind of event is an opportunity to bring together the black communities, who around the Festival discover other activities that concern them, such as beauty stands, reading, urban or traditional dances. The screening of Afro-American films also raises the profile of black American actors.

The idea of a "black audience" may come as a surprise in France. But in the United States, where ethnic statistics exist and marketing targeting is even more advanced than in France, we can tell who is going to see which film.

The problem is that the film industry considers that a film with black actors is a film that is only targeted at a black audience in France, but this is also the case in the United States.

In the United States, many films or series with black actors are often marketed to an audience identified as black. And this idea that films with black actors only appeal to black audiences is partly based on reality. Several studies carried out in the United States show that whites peoples are more hesitant to see them, or that they have less empathy for black people (a scary observation).

But there are many nuances to this idea. In three studies published in 2011 on the perception by white peoples audiences of films with black actors, we can see the difference in perception between a famous black actor and an unknown black actor. For some viewers, the perception of skin colour is inversely proportional to the degree of fame. The movies with movies are more famous than the others afro-americans actors. It's the same observation in France with the actor Omar SY.

Also, more movies featuring black actors are targeted at a black audience more white viewers will automatically think: "this movie is not for me". This will reduce the possibility of making money by targeting a larger audience with films starring black actors.

Sources :

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Who created the Brown sugar days festival ?

The Brown Sugar Days festival was invented in 2015 by Didier and Gwladys Mandin, a brother and his sister.

From the first edition of the festival, they chose to organise their event in one of the most prestigious place in French cinema, Le Grand Rex.

Originally, it was a challenge between brother and sister. Today, that challenge has turned into a business that Didier and Gwladys Mandin are making sure lasts as long as possible. They are proud of the fact that over 2,500 Afro-Caribbeans turn out for the previews of each film.

Didier mandin is a visionary entrepreneur. He has been working for more than 10 years to raise the profile of Afro-descendant minorities in France. He have created the AK-A, a communications agency and he work to give a voice and visibility to a community that was previously neglected. 

Originally from Guadeloupe in the West indies, Didier and Gwladis Mandin have always the idea to connect with their origins but also to promote diversity through several projects. 

Didier Mandin's career is an inspiring example of leadership and commitment to creating a more inclusive and equitable French business environment for people from diverse ethnic backgrounds. 

In addition to his entrepreneurial activities, Didier Mandin is also known for his initiatives in the events sector. He have co-founding the Natural Hair Academy Paris. An annual event dedicated to natural hair, Afro hair and, more broadly, Afro entrepreneurship.

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2015 : The first edition and his others movies programmed (post 2/2)

The programme of the first edition of the brown sugar days includes Think like a man. It’s THE cult afro-american romantic comedy. During the festival it was possible to watch the first movie followed by the second.

Me when I watch Think like a man for the thousandth time without being bored :

The film’s cast includes a lot of the greatest actors of afro-american cinema :

Kevin Hart : Scary movie , The upside : US movie of the french movie Intouchable.

Regina Hall : Scary movie, The hate u give.

Michael Ealy : Fast and furious, Barber shop.

Taraji P Henson : Karate kid, Empire.

Meagan Good : Cousin Skeeter, My wife and kids (Ma famille d'abord in french), Steppin.

The first movie was released in 2012. A group of women read a book written by the famous radio comedian Steve Harvey. Steve Harvey notes that these women are capable of leading a business, looking after their children and being active in associations at the same time, but are unable to find out what men like. They should not seek advice from other women, he said. Only a man can tell them how to seduce a man and keep him. This is the title of his book Think like a man.

The second movie was released in 2014. This time, the couple of friends travel to Las Vegas for Candace and Michael Hanover’s wedding. The romantic weekend quickly turns into a nightmare when the gang is dragged in a series of events that could end earlier the wedding.

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2015 : The first edition and his preview (post 1/2)

The first edition of the brown sugar days festival took place in 2015.

It features cult films of afro-american cinema like think like a man one and two.

We will focus to the presentation of the films programation in this article.

For the first edition, the festival welcomed, Justin Simien, the director of the movie “dear white people”. The projection was a preview in France.

Dear white people is a movie directed by Justin Simien released in the United States in 2014. In 2017, the movie was turned into a serie by Netflix for continue the story. There are now 4 seasons available on Netflix.

The movie follows the life of a group of African-American friends as they question their status as students at a university that has historically practiced racial segregation between black and white students. Today, the remnants of segregation in this university are that the student residences are still separate. We see them living in the building reserved for black students.

The main character, Samantha White, decides to create a provocative student radio station called “dear white people” to expose the white privilege they have and make critics about the white students of the University.

Her fight for equal rights is undermined by her black friends when Samantha falls in love with a white student. Is a lightskin woman was legitimate to be their spokesperson if she loves a white man ? Can we hate and love at the same time ?

The serie deal with several issues such as :

The difficulty of being a gay person in the black community.

Colourism, “which is a stereotypical and often unequal differential treatment of individuals according to their skin tone, with lighter skin tones being considered "prettier” than darker skin tones, or according to hair texture and colour, physiognomy and facial appearance“ (definition source : wikipedia).

The difficulty of having a career as prestigious as a white person and often with much more work and sacrifice.

The police violence against the afro-americans people, and the trauma that the victim can have.

Dear white people is still available on netflix !

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Brown sugar days at the Grand Rex

Brown sugar days festival take place at the Grand Rex cinema every year. It’s a festival for the afro-american movies.

In one day, from midday to early morning, the movies be non-stop, it’s a movies marathon.

There are two or three films being previewed that have not yet been released in the US and France. They are often blockbusters. There are also classics of afro-american cinema that are shown for the occasion.

The particularity of this festival is that each interval is animated by a DJs, karaoke, dance show or even stand-up comedy show. At this moment, the Grand Rex is like a night club. From dancehall to afrobeats, the best DJs take turns during the festival.

For the occasion, the Grand Rex changes its entire menu and transports us to the West Indies. Local drinks like “Ordinaire” and “Royal soda”, West Indian snacks like “Floup”, and West Indian specialities for lunch and dinner.

Everything is done to put the participants in the west coast atmosphere while keeping a French touch cause they are specialities of the French West Indies.

The brown sugar days brings together film lovers who are not only looking to watch films but also to be part at a unique event.

At a time when french people don’t go to the cinema, the places for the festival sold out in just a few minutes. People no longer just want to go to the cinema, they want an unforgettable event.