The Jamaican film “sprinter,” for which Will and Jada Smith were executive producers, was honored with three awards at the American Black Film Festival held in Miami, Florida, on June 14 through 15, 2018. The film, which tells the story of a teenaged Jamaican track-and-field athlete growing up in a challenging family situation, took home the Audience Award, the award for Best Narrative, and a Best Director award for Storm Saulter, who also wrote the story.

The 112-minute film stars Dale Elliott, Kadeem Wilson, Shantol Jackson, Bryshere Y. Gray, Lorraine Toussaint, David Alan Grier. It was produced by Robert Maylor, Clarence Hammond, and Jamal Watson, with executive producers Richard Jefferson, Josef Bogdanovich, and Zachary Harding, in addition to Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. The American Black Film Festival provides a platform for aspiring filmmakers. The Festival awards include Best Director, which receives a cash prize of $5,000 and is sponsored by Cadillac; Best Narrative Fiction, which offers a cash prize of $5,000 sponsored by Prudential; the NBC Spotlight Actor Award, which totals $5,000 and is sponsored by Comcast NBCUniversal. A cash prize of $2,500 is given for Best Screenplay, and the Audience Award of $10,000 is sponsored by BET. Storm Saulter is the director, writer, and cinematographer of the Jamaican film “Better Mus Come,”  which was released in 2010 and tells the story of politically charged gang warfare in Kingston during the 1970s and was also shot on location. For the breakout star of the film Dale Elliott, the feature film parallels the life of the character he plays. He met his father for the first time because of the film, Elliott told the audience at the Festival Awards program. Commenting on Elliott’s experience, film director Saulter noted that the actor’s real-life story is even more extreme than that of the character as Elliott has not seen his mother since he was three years old and had not seen his father since he was just a toddler. Elliott finally met his father for the first time on a trip to the US to shoot a party scene for “Sprinter.” The film “literally brought him closer to his own father,” Saulter noted.

The 112-minute film stars Dale Elliott, Kadeem Wilson, Shantol Jackson, Bryshere Y. Gray, Lorraine Toussaint, David Alan Grier. It was produced by Robert Maylor, Clarence Hammond, and Jamal Watson, with executive producers Richard Jefferson, Josef Bogdanovich, and Zachary Harding, in addition to Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. The American Black Film Festival provides a platform for aspiring filmmakers. The Festival awards include Best Director, which receives a cash prize of $5,000 and is sponsored by Cadillac; Best Narrative Fiction, which offers a cash prize of $5,000 sponsored by Prudential; the NBC Spotlight Actor Award, which totals $5,000 and is sponsored by Comcast NBCUniversal. A cash prize of $2,500 is given for Best Screenplay, and the Audience Award of $10,000 is sponsored by BET. Storm Saulter is the director, writer, and cinematographer of the Jamaican film “Better Mus Come,”  which was released in 2010 and tells the story of politically charged gang warfare in Kingston during the 1970s and was also shot on location. For the breakout star of the film Dale Elliott, the feature film parallels the life of the character he plays. He met his father for the first time because of the film, Elliott told the audience at the Festival Awards program. Commenting on Elliott’s experience, film director Saulter noted that the actor’s real-life story is even more extreme than that of the character as Elliott has not seen his mother since he was three years old and had not seen his father since he was just a toddler. Elliott finally met his father for the first time on a trip to the US to shoot a party scene for “Sprinter.” The film “literally brought him closer to his own father,” Saulter noted.

Directed by: Storm Saulter | Produced by: Robert Maylor, Clarence Hammond, Jamal Watson | Executive Produced by: Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Richard Jefferson, Josef Bogdanovich, Zachary Harding | Written by: Storm Saulter | Starring: Dale Elliott, Kadeem Wilson, Shantol Jackson, Bryshere Y. Gray, Lorraine Toussaint, David Alan Grier

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