Urbanworld’s Best Feature Documentary of 2014 is a ‘Lucky’ Win for Laura Checkoway

Lucky Torres stars in "LUCKY" directed by Laura Checkoway.When the 18^th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival, presented by BET Networks with founding sponsor HBO, announced the 2014 festival winners this week, I was glad to find out that “Lucky” directed by Laura Checkoway won an award for Best Feature Documentary.

Having recently sat in a packed theater watching “Lucky” amidst a bunch of strangers, I must say it is one of the most unforgettable films to come out of Urbanworld this year. Forget what you know about wearing your heart on your sleeve. This movie is about a woman who, after growing up in foster homes, wears her pain on her face and body.

The documentary serves up a clear reminder of the fact that regardless of our surroundings, we know very little about what the person next to us is going through. Life is a struggle – for some more-so than others, so it helps to keep that in mind when facing people or circumstances that make us uncomfortable. Chances are that many of us know nothing about what it’s like to live on the streets. Some of us are unfamiliar with the experiences of child abuse, rape or gang life. We do, however, know what it’s like to experience struggle, at least in one capacity or another.

(l-r): Fantasy with her children, director Laura Checkoway and Lucky's fiancé at the 2014 Urbanworld Film Festival.Checkoway, a career journalist who spent five years and her own money making “Lucky,” does a great job making this heart wrenching story relatable to the average viewer who may not know someone like Waleska Torres Ruiz – a Hispanic runaway from the Bronx, NY whose parents died when she was a child. A well-known figure in New York’s LGBT community, Ruiz was nicknamed Lucky after having survived being hit by a yellow cab when she was thirteen.

I honestly didn’t know what I was expecting when going in to watch this film but it certainly made me more aware of the hardships that children of the foster care system face when our country’s social services fail them. The long-term effects that these failures have on one person’s life have a trickle effect on those around him or her and that extends outward to our nation’s communities.

Despite not having any formal film training, Checkoway forged ahead, learning about the process as she embarked on what has become her first feature length documentary. Lucky for us, she came out of the corner swinging with a bold movie that could easily make some viewers want to look away and run back to their secure (and convenient) bubbles. No matter how hard you try, however, you can’t bear to turn from such an intimate view of one woman whose days are filled with the kind of uncertainties that most of us hope to never have to encounter. That’s just the thing about movies; when you’re in the theater and the lights go down, all you’re left with are the images on the screen.

Lucky Torres with her son in the documentary "LUCKY, directed by Laura Checkoway.Checkoway forces viewers to look beyond Lucky’s tattoos, stylish outfits and ever-changing hairstyles to understand the inner turmoil of the person underneath all that armor; a homeless mother who wants to provide a sense of stability for her son while working on her own personal growth, including self-love.

It’s raw and sometimes even wicked, but it’s real. This is somebody’s life and I wouldn’t be surprised that if, by watching it, you take a closer look at your own – particularly the areas that you take for granted, because I know they exist. We all have them.

“Lucky” is one of those movies that have you thinking “this person has it worse….so what’s MY excuse???” and you would be right. If there is one thing to learn from this movie, it’s to live out loud while remaining conscious of what, if anything, you want to leave behind. My congratulations go out to Laura Checkoway (and Lucky Torres) for winning Best Feature Documentary at the Urbanworld Film Festival 2014!

Monday Movie Meme – Best Picture Snubs at the Oscars

For every Oscar winning film, there is often one or more that we wish took home the gold instead. So let’s celebrate these films in the theme for this week’s Monday Movie Meme: Best Picture Snubs at the Oscars.

Share on your blog or in the comments section, the movies you’d wish had won an Oscar for Best Picture.

Meaning, films that were obviously nominated but still lost to another (better or worse) motion picture. I’m drawing a blank for picks, so, courtesy of some mentions by Herman at Terrible Analogies, here is a selection of Oscar nominees for Best Picture that were snubbed at the Academy Awards. He picked the movies. I’m just elaborating on them in the descriptions.

Goodfellas

Of the six Oscar nominations this crime drama received in 1991, it lays claim to one – Joe Pesci’s win for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. It’s almost hard to imagine such a favorite gangster flick being snubbed, but alas, “Goodfellas” was upstaged by the adventure movie “Dances with Wolves.” Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather: Part III” was also in the running for best picture. Maybe it wasn’t a good year for mob movies, as far as awards season goes. It’s a damn shame.

Pulp Fiction

Quentin Tarantino’s crime thriller is a cult favorite and arguably one of the best films ever made; nominated for seven Oscars in 1995. It took home one golden statue for Best Writing (basically, Best Screenplay!) but was snubbed in the Best Picture category, where it was up against another goodie – crime drama “The Shawshank Redemption.” However, the romantic drama “Forrest Gump” scored the win for Best Picture that year.

Saving Private Ryan

The Academy could not deny this war movie by Steven Spielberg -- or could they? The World War II film did win five of its eleven Oscar nominations in 1999. Those wins just didn’t include Best Picture, an honor that went to the romantic comedy drama “Shakespeare in Love”.

What Best Picture nominees would YOU say were wrongly snubbed at the Oscars?

Monday Movie Meme - And the Award Goes To... #UWFF Edition

The 17^th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival, presented by BET Networks, recently announced its 2013 Award Winners. Among them are Best Narrative Short winner “CRESCENDO,” directed by Alonso Alvarez. The period piece set in 18^th century Holy Roman Empire, about one woman’s life-changing experience, took home a $5,000 prize, presented by HBO.

The narrative feature "FULL CIRCLE," directed by Solvan "Slick" Naim, won an Audience Award. Having just returned from this festival after celebrating new independent films with veteran and budding talent, it’s only fitting that the theme for this week’s Monday Movie Meme honors all of the narrative, screenplay and documentary works that were in competition at Urbanworld: And the Award goes to….

Share on your blog or in the comments section, movies featuring scenes that involve some type of award ceremony.

The ritual does not have to be fancy but it does have to involve a group of people who gathered to give recognition to at least one or more individuals.

It doesn’t matter if anyone actually receives said awards, so long as the intent to give them is present in the scene.

This is unlike our previous Sisterhood of the Award Recipients meme, in that it focuses more on events in movie scenes, rather than specific awards given to a character in a scene. Here are my selections for this week’s And the Award goes to… theme.

Troop 491: the Adventures of the Muddy Lions

Badges of honor are distributed to a group of boy scouts in this Family film about a boy named Triston who struggles with following the “no-snitching” policy of the streets and living up to the code set by his new circle of friends, after witnessing a homicide. Directed by Praheme, “Troop 491: the Adventures of the Muddy Lions” opens on October 4^th at Criterion Cinemas at the Movieland; 331 North Boulevard, in Virginia.

Beverly Hills Cop 3

A police detective creates an embarrassing scene during an awards dinner by the local law enforcement, honoring community service work, in this action comedy starring Eddie Murphy.

The Bodyguard

Tension flares during an Oscars broadcast in this romantic drama starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. The main character – a famous singer is nominated for Best Actress for her performance in “Queen of the Night” but that doesn’t stop her security agent/lover from remaining on the job during one of the craziest events ever experienced by the characters involved in this movie's awards show scene.

Think like a Man

Lauren (described as “The Woman Who is her own Man”) gets a rude awakening from her new boy toy during a company event where she is honored for her strides at work, in this romantic comedy starring Taraji P. Henson and Michael Ealy.

Also, Some Honorable Mentions from my Family:

Here are movies that I either didn’t watch or did see but don’t have much interest in trying to remember what type of awards ceremonies took place during these films, but they make the list nonetheless...

Dreamgirls - a musical drama, set in the 60s about female soul singers who cross over into the pop genre, topping the charts, starring Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Hudson.

Blankman – an action comedy about a low-budget superhero, starring Damon Wayans, David Alan Grier and Robin Givens.

The Five Heartbeats – another musical drama about the trials and tribulations of a black all-male singing group…also set in the 60s, starring Robert Townsend, Michael Wright and Leon.

What movies have YOU watched that feature award ceremonies of one type or another?

*Solvan Naim photo by Terrence Jennings