Professional Motion Picture Production and Distribution NEWS

- Cedric "The Entertainer" to Host Gala Event
- Sidney Poitier to Receive Distinguished Career Achievement Award
- The Color Purple Inducted into Classic Cinema Hall of Fame
- Kimberly Elise to Receive Rising Star Award
- Nominations for Outstanding Motion Picture of the Year include Are We There Yet?, Coach Carter, Crash, Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Hustle & Flow
- Jeff Friday and Suzanne de Passe to Executive-Produce Event Airing October 19
- Complete List of Nominations Attached

A distinguished list of high-profile talent will be on hand for Film Life's 2005 BLACK MOVIE AWARDS - A Celebration of Black Cinema: Past, Present & Future, presented by Turner Network Television (TNT). Cedric "The Entertainer" (Madagascar) will host the gala awards show that recognizes creative achievement by persons of African descent in feature-length motion pictures, both in front of and behind the camera, and honors outstanding films portraying the Black experience. This year's top award nominees include Crash, and Diary of a Mad Black Woman, each of which received six nominations, Hustle & Flow; which received four; and Coach Carter, with three nominations.

Film Life's 2005 BLACK MOVIE AWARDS, executive-produced by Jeff Friday, CEO of Film Life, Inc., and Suzanne de Passe, CEO of de Passe Entertainment, will premiere Wednesday, Oct. 19, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), exclusively on TNT.

Legendary actor/director/producer Sidney Poitier will receive the Distinguished Career Achievement Award, recognizing his trailblazing work as actor/writer/director for such films as Lilies of the Field, In the Heat of the Night, Stir Crazy, For Love of Ivy and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. And Kimberly Elise, a nominee for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for Diary of a Mad Black Woman, will receive the Rising Star award.

The 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple will become the first film inducted into the Black Movie Awards Classic Cinema Hall of Fame. Producer Quincy Jones is the first member of the creative team to confirm his appearance on the program.

In addition to serving as host, Cedric "The Entertainer" is also a nominee for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for his work in The Honeymooners. Also nominated in that category are Don Cheadle (Crash), Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow), Samuel L. Jackson (Coach Carter) and Will Smith (Hitch). Nominees for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role include Kimberly Elise (Diary of a Mad Black Woman), Meagan Good (D.E.B.S) and Queen Latifah (Beauty Shop).

The 2005 BLACK MOVIE AWARDS will also honor made-for-television movies, with Lackawanna Blues, starring S. Epatha Merkerson and Terrence Howard and executive-produced by Halle Berry, Vince Cirrincione, Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Shelby Stone; Sometimes in April, starring Idris Elba and Oris Erheuro and executive-produced by Raoul Peck and Joel Stillerman; and Their Eyes Were Watching God, starring Halle Berry, Michael Ealy and Ruben Santiago-Hudson and executive-produced by Kate Forte, Quincy Jones and Oprah Winfrey nominated for Outstanding Television Movie. The ceremony will honor an up-and-coming director with the HBO Director to Watch Award. Nominees this year are Rodney Evans (Brother to Brother), Frank E. Flowers (Haven) and Rob Hardy (Trois, Pandora's Box).

The 2005 BLACK MOVIE AWARDS will be taped at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 9. A prominent committee of film critics, entertainment editors and prestigious members of the artistic committee choose nominees and recipients of the awards from a list of eligible films released in the U.S. between January 1 and July 31, 2005.