Black Lily Film & Music Festival Blooms in Philadelphia

January 16, 2007, Philadelphia, PA - The 1st Annual Black Lily Film & Music Festival, is a new direction for the established brand, inspired by a recognition of the parallels between the music and film industries -both male dominated fields - in which women continue to strive for the acknowledgement and recognition often taken for granted by their male counterparts. The three-day festival will include screenings by women directors from around the world, along with a star-studded Black Lily Honors ceremony for award-winning musicians and filmmakers such as Sanaa Hamri (Something New), Cyndi Lauper (The Threepenny Opera), Su Friedrich (Hide and Seek) and Toshi Reagon (The Temptation of St. Anthony).

Included in the festival programming will be the Girls Workshop, a two-part series for local girls interested in music and film, supported by “Young Lily” screenings dedicated to teenage filmmakers on the rise. Also included in the festivities will be a Black Lily concert bridging original Lily talents with emerging female musicians and spoken word artists. Special guest, Grammy Award-winning artists The Roots, will perform as house band for the evening.

The domestic film and music festival is the product of Black Lily’s initial international presence. Black Lily’s “A Women in Music Series” has been held in London, Paris, Japan, San Francisco, Washington DC, Boston and, most recently, Los Angeles. Founders Mercedes Martinez and Tracey Moore from famed group Jazzyfatnastees created the series to support female vocalists and musicians who were being shut out of existing jam sessions around the country. Black Lily has helped launch the careers of many of today’s most notable female artists including Jill Scott, Floetry, and Jaguar Wright.

Black Lily will hold an introductory informational on Friday, February 2 at the Field Recital Hall of the Settlement Music School, the Mary Louise Curtis Branch. The session will commence at 8:30am and a continental breakfast will be provided.

For more information on Black Lily Film & Music Festival, visit www.blacklilyfilm.org

##