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It’s often said that one of the greatest injustices of American movies is that Wendell B. Harris Jr. failed to become one of the legendary progenitors of the indie cinema renaissance of the late 1980s and early ’90s. Or, rather, that a craven industry failed him. While it’s certainly true that he and so many other Black filmmakers of his generation deserved more than they were given, Harris’s reputation needs nothing more than Chameleon Street to secure his place among the greats. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 1990 Sundance Film Festival, the film is a fleet, nimble, and knowingly slippery portrait of infamous con artist William Douglas Street Jr. (dazzlingly played by Harris), who at the height of his gamesmanship posed as a surgeon and, so legend has it, performed three dozen successful hysterectomies before being found out, and has spent large swaths of his...

The Urbanworld Film Festival is set to mark its 25th anniversary with a star-studded hybrid event featuring Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay; “Wu-Tang: An American Saga’s” RZA and Shameik Moore; “King Richard” director Reinaldo Marcus Green and star Aunjanue Ellis; “Power Book III: Raising Kanan’s” Patina Miller; “Sankofa” filmmaker Haile Gerima and more.

The 2021 edition of the film festival will be presented virtually with on urbanworld.org, running from Sept. 29-Oct. 3, with select in-person events held at Cinepolis Luxury Cinemas, Chelsea at 260 West 23rd Street in New York. Presented by founding partner HBO and prestige partners WarnerMedia and Ally, the festival officially unveiled its slate of more than 88 official selections, panels and conversations.

A longtime supporter of and participant in the Urbanworld lineup, DuVernay will be on hand for multiple special events with the Netflix series “Colin in Black & White” featured among the virtual spotlight presentations at the fest.