BET announces
finalists for AIDS-themed film competition

Black Entertainment Television, the Black AIDS Institute, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the YWCA this week announced the finalists in the second annual "Rap-It-Up/Black AIDS Short Subject Film Competition" Ten finalists were selected for the final round of the competition, which seeks to highlight issues of HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and the effect of AIDS on black communities in the United States. Screenwriters were encouraged to use their creativity to evoke a fresh and culturally unique angle on these issues in a way that will resonate with African-Americans.

The finalists are:

Multitude of Mercies, by Drew Anderson, Justin Follin, Charneice Fox, and Michelle Sewell of Washington, D.C.;

Let's Talk, by Michelle Lynne Coons of California;

Chances, by Marquita Edwards of Illinois;

Conscious Cafe, by Marcus F. Eubanks and Brandon Joseph of Arkansas;

Once, by Andrea Greer and Simone Murray of New York;

Victims, by Charmain Johnson of Florida;

Positive, by Joie Lee of New York;

The Edge of the Looking Glass, by Gregory Roberts of Illinois;

The Release of Jackie Davis, by Yasin Shabazz of Georgia;

Gisele and Me, by Lanette Ware-Bushfield of New York.

The winner will be announced on August 8, and the winning film will be televised on the BET network around World AIDS Day, December 1.