Urbanworld rolls out the red carpet

When “The Fighting Temptations” launched the Urbanworld Film Festival in New York last year, Cuba Gooding Jr., Beyonce and other stars skipped the premiere. A gospel choir entertained outside the Harlem site. Crews from entertainment shows that normally cover premieres passed.

Like most other festivals focusing on so-called urban cinema, Urbanworld in the last several years has been more focused on celebrating black cinema than red carpets. Most of the offerings have been by black filmmakers, and past festivals have featured films such as “Drumline,” “The Best Man,” “Soul Food” and “How Stella Got Her Groove Back.”

But when the eighth annual festival opens today at the Magic Johnson Theatres in Harlem with a gala screening of the DreamWorks thriller “Collateral,” some decidedly “non-urban” elements will come into play.

Several nearby streets will be shut down as the film’s stars Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx and director Michael Mann maneuver down a massive red carpet populated by crews from “Entertainment Tonight,” “Access Hollywood” and other media outlets. Included later in the week is the screening of a film starring Kevin Bacon, as well as “Stander,” starring Thomas Jane (“The Punisher”) in a true story about a South African bank robber on the run.

Another featured film stars Jet Li in a Chinese-produced epic with no spoken English. And MTV2 has joined the festival as a title sponsor and will broadcast several events, as well as oversee a new competitive category in the festival for music videos.

Stacy Spikes, festival chairman, said this year’s event represents a coming-of-age for Urbanworld as it remains true to its ethnic roots while embracing Hollywood and white audiences.

“There’s been this perception that Urbanworld is just about black films, but we never meant to be purists,” said Spikes, a former executive of Miramax and October Films who founded the festival in 1997. “There was this stigma about who people of color are, and what we wanted to see, which was mainly big studio blockbusters. The programmers of this festival knew that wasn’t the truth. But we have had to battle that perception.”

The crossover success of relatively small films such as “Monster’s Ball” and “Barbershop” has helped Urbanworld gain more credibility with Hollywood studios. “Now the studios hear us and are starting to catch up,” Spikes said. “We’re not being pigeonholed as much. We wanted to show that ‘urban’ can have a multifaceted meaning.”

Added David Cohn, general manager of MTV2: “We see the opportunity for this to appeal to a diversity of voices overlapping the film and music world.”

Securing “Collateral” as its opening night film -- and having Cruise appear -- was a giant coup for the festival, Spikes said. “Tom is such a universal star, and he respected and appreciated what this festival was about. He was instrumental in saying ‘I want this film to be here.’ It’s like Bill Clinton setting up his office in Harlem. He could have gone anywhere in the country, but he chose to come here, and gave the community a true shot in the arm when he came.”

“Collateral” stars Cruise as an assassin who coerces an unwitting cab driver (Foxx) to transport him around Los Angeles while he carries out his contract on several targets.

Although “Collateral” will bring the festival a ton of publicity, former New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell, who is serving as jury president, said the festival is at a critical juncture where it will have to establish its own credentials.

“Yes, Tom Cruise will bring the cameras, but what it still comes down to is the programming,” Mitchell said. “It took Sundance a long time to break through, but Urbanworld could certainly be coming to that point.”

“The Woodsman,” which was featured at Sundance, will also screen at Urbanworld. It stars Bacon as a pedophile who tries to make a new life for himself after getting out of jail, and costars rappers Mos Def and Eve.

Also showing at the festival are the world premiere of “Hair Show,” a comedy set in a beauty shop, and a 20th anniversary sing-along screening of “Purple Rain.”

Summing it up, Spikes observed, “Urban is just a state of mind.”