FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Heidi Durrow
Phone: 213-293-7077
Email: heidi@mixedremixed.org
Website: www.mixedremixed.org
MIXED REMIXED FESTIVAL
STORYTELLER’S PRIZE PRESENTATION HONORS
MULTIPLE GOLDEN GLOBE AND EMMY-NOMINATED ACTOR AND PRODUCER
DAVID OYELOWO
(Los Angeles, CA) The Mixed Remixed Festival will present the annual Storyteller’s Prize to multiple Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated actor and producer David Oyelowo on June 10, 2017 at 6:30pm at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in downtown Los Angeles, 514 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013.
The Festival—now in its 4th year–celebrates stories of the Mixed racial and cultural experience and stories of multiracial Americans, the fastest growing demographic in America. This year the Festival also celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Loving v. Virginia decision, which allowed people of different races to marry nationwide. A free public event, the Festival—which is the largest nationwide gathering of mixed-race and multiracial families and people–brings together film and book lovers, innovative and emerging artists, and multiracial families and individuals for workshops, readings, and film screenings for a full day of programming and family activities.
“We are ecstatic to honor David Oyelowo,” says Festival Founder and Executive Director Heidi Durrow who calls herself an Afro-Viking because she is African-American and Danish. “We applaud the work Mr. Oyelowo has done as an artist-activist committed to social justice and for bringing heart to stories about racial and cultural connectedness in films such as A United Kingdom and Selma among others. His openness about talking about interracial families will help so many young people who are mixed and have struggled to find a place in the world, to find strength in their difference, and most importantly to connect their own struggles with the struggle for justice for all.”
The Storyteller’s Prizes are awarded each year to artists, scholars, and community leaders who have shown a dedication to celebrating and illuminating the Mixed experience. Past honorees include Emmy award-winning actors Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, TV and film star Taye Diggs, The Daily Show’s Al Madrigal, New York Times bestselling writer Jamie Ford and Cheerios.
The Festival is produced by New York Times best-selling author Heidi Durrow (The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, Algonquin Books) and a talented group of entertainment professionals.
The event is free and open to the public. This year’s honoree has confirmed his attendance for the prize presentation, which will be presented as part of the Festival’s dynamic live performance, featuring some of the best comedians and performers including Tehran, Sunda Croonquist, Joe Hernandez-Kolski, Joshua Silverstein and Kayla Briet. Registration is strongly encouraged. For more information and the complete festival schedule, visit www.mixedremixed.org.
Festival sponsors and funders include: 23andMe, Mixed Chicks, Buntoppers, Final Draft, My Heritage Book, Wood Ranch BBQ & Grill, AMC Theatres, the Leo Buscaglia Foundation, and the Puffin West Foundation. This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit www.calhum.org. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of California Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The 2017 Storyteller’s Prize recipient:
David Oyelowo is a multiple Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated actor and producer who has quickly become one of Hollywood’s most sought-after talents.
Oyelowo can currently be seen in Amma Asante’s romantic drama, A United Kingdom, which he also produced. Based on a true story, the film follows Prince Seretse Khama of Botswana (Oyelowo) and Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike) whom married in 1948 altered the course of African history in the face of fierce opposition from their families and the British and South African governments and a time when apartheid was being introduced. Upcoming, he will be seen in the third film in the Cloverfield series, produced by J.J. Abrams and released by Paramount Pictures on October 27th, 2017; as well as the lead in the as-yet untitled Nash Edgerton film, co-starring Charlize Theron, Joel Edgerton, Thandie Newton and Amanda Seyfried.
On stage, Oyelowo recently appeared in the New York Theatre Workshop Off-Broadway production of Othello. Directed by Sam Gold and starring opposite Daniel Craig as the title character, Oyelowo earned stellar reviews for his performance.
Oyelowo gained international acclaim in 2014 starring as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Ava DuVernay’s Selma. Additional film and television credits include: Mira Nair’s Queen of Katwe; Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar; J.C Chandor’s A Most Violent Year; Lee Daniels’ The Butler; Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln; Christopher McQuarrie’s Jack Reacher; George Lucas and Anthony Hemingway’s Red Tails; Tate Taylor’s The Help; Kevin MacDonald’s The Last King of Scotland; and HBO’s Nightingale.
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