NeoBlackCinema

By Daralyn Jay

Organized by actor/filmmaker and co-founder of the Chillin on da Corner & Beyond film series Ephraim Benton, “Life is Precious” was an ambitious event that began with a health fair featuring free HIV, diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol testing and ended with an outdoor screening of the award-winning blockbuster Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire.

A high point included a presentation to Benton by the office of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.  Surprised and humbled, Benton encouraged the audience with his own story of triumph over adversity. “My father did 25 years in jail. I saw my friends murdered and everything… Just to let ya’ll know: You can be anything you want to be. That’s a true statement,” Benton said.

The highlight of the evening for most, however, was a panel featuring Benton and other actors from Precious, including the film’s star, Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe.

From the moment she emerged from the limousine donated for the event, she displayed the warmth and intelligent humor that has repeatedly shocked both press and filmgoers expecting a real-life version of her character portrayed in the film. Friendly and cordial during the press conference, it was when finally introduced to the fans waiting for hours in the fading summer heat that Sidibe displayed the full power of her charm.

Excited children screamed and rushed to the front of the stage with cries of “I love you,” to which Sidibe…

By Daralyn Jay
They are poised before the press and polished in the art of delivering the sound byte. After all, they have acquired hours of practice over the past year having appeared in what was, arguably, the most buzzed about film of 2009, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. Yet, they are still down-to-earth and mostly new enough to the movie business that they don’t come across as jaded. And, they are still very much affected by the roles they played and the impact the film has made on a global audience. The film’s star, Gabourey Sidibe, and several of the women playing students in the Each One Teach One classroom joined cast mate and event co-organizer Ephraim Benton in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn for “Life Is Precious,” a combination health fair, film screening and community pep rally in a neighborhood very much like the one depicted in the gritty movie.
While Precious has skyrocketed Sidibe to a guest host spot on Saturday Night Live, a regular role on the highly rated new Showtime series The Big C and a new film co-starring Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz’s daughter Zoe Kravitz, the careers of the other actresses from the Each One Teach One classroom have also skipped ahead several grades.