While at this year’s Urbanworld Film Festival, I was blessed enough to meet Carmen Madden, the upbeat Writer/Producer/Director of the film festival favorite Everyday Black Man. Since its 2009 debut, Everyday Black Man has made the rounds at Oakland Int’l Film Festival, San Diego Black Film Festival, San Francisco Women’s Int’l Film Festival, American Black Film Festival and became the Best Narrative Winner at the Tallahassee Film Festival, Best Narrative Winner/Programmers Award at the Pan African Film Festival and the Best Feature Winner at the Peach Tree Village Best Int’l Film Festival. And I’m proud to announce it will soon appear on DVD and VOD!
The trailer and story have been covered here on S&A before, but for those unaware it’s the tale of Moses Stanton (Henry Brown), a quiet and thoughtful man who since closing the door to his violent past, runs a small neighborhood store while watching over his daughter Claire (Tessa Thompson) who doesn't know he exists. When a young man, Malik, comes in claiming to be a black Muslim that is doing good for the neighborhood, Moses takes him on as a partner but soon realizes that Malik (Omari Hardwick) is nothing but a drug dealer seeking to destroy the neighborhood and Claire. Does Moses stand back and accept things the way they’re going or does he become the man he used to be in order to save his beloved neighborhood and his daughter? That’s the essence of the story.
I spoke via telephone with Carmen at her CLM Productions office to discuss the movie, her career, and her new distribution deal.
