Hip Hop Congress

The 5th Annual H2O [Hip-Hop Odyssey] International Film Festival

THE WORLD IS YOURS!
LESS THAN A WEEK LEFT FOR THE LARGEST HIP-HOP FILM FESTIVAL!

SPONSORED BY JORDAN BRAND, XXL MAGAZINE, AFRICAN ANCESTRY, AND THE IMAGINASIAN THEATRE

Celebrating five years of Hip-Hop Cinema, Education, Art and Culture, the H2O [Hip-Hop Odyssey] International Film Festival (H2OIFF) will showcase the best of Hip-Hop Cinema and the Industry.

The festival jumps off with the a special screening and after-party for the feature documentary, Rock The Bells hosted by Bobbito Garcia at APT on Memorial Day, May 28.

The festival will officially take place from May 31, 2007 – June 17, 2007 at the ImaginAsian Theatre and other venues throughout New York City. This year’s festival movie line-up will include the premieres of Wu: The Story of the Wu-Tang, I Love Hip-Hop in Morocco, Waters Rising, Mr. Devious (South Africa), Guilty Or Innocent of Using the N Word (USA/UK), Holy Hip-Hop, Hiphopistan (Turkey), Unsigned, Ghostride The Whip: The Hyphy Movement, Frekuensia Colombiana, Living The Hiplife (USA/Ghana), Remixed In Japan, Skip Hop (Australia), South Coast (UK), and wtf: an okaymentary.

Hip-Hop enthusiasts will get an opportunity to engage in stimulating, thought-provoking panel discussions with over 50 avant-garde filmmakers, industry experts, community leaders, & historians. There will be full days devoted to the youth, women, social justice, Hip-Hop history, & the craft of filmmaking and self-distribution. Dozens of companies and organizations will participate, including Chuck D Mobile, Third World Newsreel, SOHH/FreshFlixx, The Ave Magazine, Listen Up!, Chica Luna, NY Women In Film & Television, African American Women in Cinema, SoonR, Breakthrough.TV, MXGM, Latin Nation, UrbanWord NYC, Video Music Box, Zulu Nation, & the Universal Federation for the Preservation of Hip-Hop.

The festival culminates with the Odyssey Awards extravaganza hosted by Hip-Hop Powerhouse, Ed Lover and legendary Comedian, Paul Mooney on Tupac Shakur’s Birthday. Sponsored by QD3 Entertainment, World Up!, Lyrics To Go, AllHiphop, African Ancestry, & Powerhouse Books. Celebrating 30 Years of Crash Crew, 25 Years of Cold Crush, and 25 Years of Public Enemy. Hip-Hop Celebrities will pay special tributes to the Best Hip-Hop Actor, Ice-T; Trailblazers, Ralph McDaniels, Charlie Ahearn, and Ernest Dickerson; and Legends, Grand Wizard Theodore, Sandra “Lady Pink” Fabara, and the First Lady of Hip-Hop, Cindy Campbell. Some of the presenters include: Ernie Paniccioli, Davey D, Fab 5 Freddy, Michaela Davis, Harry Allen, Pebblee Poo, Immortal Technique, DJ Beverly Bond, and Bizarre Royal. Two exclusive Pre-Odyssey Awards filmmakers’ receptions will take place to honor pioneers Iris Morales, Director of Siempre Pa’Lante!, Kathleen Cleaver, Founder of the Black Panther Film Festival, as well as the late Ted Demme, co-creator of Yo! MTV Raps.

ONLY A FEW $50 FESTIVAL ALL-ACCESS PASSES LEFT FOR NON –PROFITS!

The festival welcomes back the NY State Council on the Arts, the Ford Foundation, Film Blitz, BOE Laboratory, Powerhouse Books, Zipcar and BET J as Supporting Sponsors.

The Panel Sponsors include: MXGM, Zulu Nation, Universal Federation for the Preservation of Hip-Hop Culture, Temple of Hip-Hop, Third World Newsreel, Video Music Box, Breakthrough.tv, The Ave Magazine, SOHH/FreshFlixx, Urban Word NYC, Listen Up!, African American Women In Cinema, NY Women In Film & Television, Chica Luna, and Sister Outsider.

The Media Sponsors are: ImaginAsian TV, Latin Nation TV, Ol’ Soul, Candy Store Marketing Group, Video Music Box, Honey Magazine, and Allhiphop.

For more info on the 5th Annual H2O International Film Festival, including information films, events and tickets sales, please visit us online at http://www.h2oiff.org/.

About the 5th Annual H2O [Hip-Hop Odyssey] International Film Festival:
As the largest Hip-Hop film festival in the world, the H2O [Hip-Hop Odyssey] International Film Festival provides a platform for filmmakers to showcase and define the variety of images that depict Hip-Hop culture and its communities. This year’s theme “THE WORLD IS YOURS!” highlights the Hip-Hop community of the early/mid 90’s; a time when youth in the community began demanding money, power, and respect.

About the H2O [Hip-Hop Odyssey] Media Initiative:
Social Awareness Through Media! H2O [Hip-Hop Odyssey] is the media initiative of the Hip-Hop Association. With programming like the H2O [Hip-Hop Odyssey] International Film Festival, the Freshest Youth Program, the ODYSSEY Awards, and Defuse News, its mission is to support the use of Hip-Hop culture as a tool for social awareness and youth empowerment. For more information on films, please visit http://www.h2oiff.org.