The Black Women Film Network (BWFN), celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, has announced Tichina Arnold and Teyonah Parris as honorees at the 2017 Untold Stories Awards Luncheon taking place Friday, March 3 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. The accomplished actresses are being recognized for their excellence in acting and for promoting positive images of Black women in television and film.
A two-time NAACP Image Award winning actress, Arnold is best known for her role as Pam Jones on the hit telvision series “Martin,” for which she won her first Image Award. Her second Image trophy was for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for her first season starring in the critically acclaimed comedy “Everybody Hates Chris,” a series inspired by the childhood experiences of comedian Chris Rock. Arnold can currently be seen as Cassie Calloway on the hit Starz show “Survivor’s Remorse.”
A Juilliard-trained actress, Parris has had starring roles in television shows such as “Mad Men” and films such as Dear White People, Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story and Chi-Raq, where she played the lead character Lysistrata opposite Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett. She currently plays Missy Vaughn on “Survivor’s Remorse.”
Additional luncheon honorees are Ozzie Areu, president of Tyler Perry Studios; Will Areu, vice president of Tyler Perry Studios; actor Dondre Whitfield (“Queen Sugar”, “Mistresses”), and Donna Lowry, veteran broadcast journalist and 20-year BWFN board member.
Several students will also be awarded with the annual BWFN Scholarship during the luncheon:
Danielle Boyd, Senior, New York University
Ataria Brown, Junior, Atlanta Technical College
Sara Griffin, Sophomore, Atlanta Technical College
Ariel Jones, Freshman, Louisiana State University
The “Untold Stories” Awards Luncheon is part of the three-day Black Women Film Summit on March 2-4. The Summit will open Thursday, March 2 at the Center for Civil and Human Rights with a screening of FOX’s new drama “Shots Fired,” created by Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood.
For tickets to the luncheon, visit blackwomenfilm.org.
