FotoKem, a returning sponsor of the New Orleans Film Festival, will present a panel discussion with the production team behind the making of Black and White, starring Academy Award winners Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer. The film, making its U.S. premiere, opens the festival on October 16. The conversation, A Case Study: Black and White, will take place October 18, at 4:45 p.m., in the Rehearsal Hall at the Contemporary Arts Center (second floor).
Panelists are expected to include Producer Todd Lewis, Co-producers Jasa McCall and Gbenga Idowu, Production Supervisor Will Greenfield, Location Manager Elston Howard, and Project Manager David Hall, who oversees operations at FotoKem New Orleans. Carroll Morton, manager of entertainment industry development for the City of New Orleans, will moderate.
"Working with the Black and White team on this meaningful and timely project was a distinct honor," says Peter Santoro, vice president of sales at FotoKem. "We look forward to sharing that experience with the audience at the festival as well. Our team here in New Orleans works closely with filmmakers to provide the most advanced services possible to support their creative vision. We're delighted to be part of the community and to support the New Orleans Film Festival's 25th anniversary."
Produced entirely in New Orleans, Black and White tells the moving story of the custody battle for a young girl. Costner plays a grieving widower who has helped raise his bi-racial, parentless, granddaughter (Jillian Estell) since the death of his daughter in childbirth. When he assumes legal guardianship, the child's paternal grandmother (Spencer) wants the child returned to her son, who may be an improbable choice. The emotional drama that ensues raises thought-provoking and difficult questions about life, death and race. Black and Whitewas directed by Mike Binder and shot by Russ Alsobrook, ASC.
The New Orleans Film Festival-now in its 25th year-has firmly established itself as one of the most recognized regional film festivals in the country. Over 22,000 filmmakers and fans attend the screenings and sessions that celebrate the city now known as "Hollywood South."
For more information on FotoKem, visit www.FotoKem.com.
For more about the New Orleans Film Festival, go to http://neworleansfilmsociety.org.