BET Premiere Cinema Spotlights Black Independent Film in July 2014

BET Networks Shines a Spot Light on Black Hollywood with the Premieres of GUN HILL Wednesday, July 2 and the World Television Premiere of Award-Winning Independent Film MIDDLE OF NOWHERE Wednesday, July 23, 2014

The BET Premiere Cinema Film GUN HILL is Written and Directed By Reggie Rock Bythewood

MIDDLE OF NOWHERE is written and directed by Ava DuVernay, winner of the Best Director Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award
June 27, 2014 01:19 PM Eastern Daylight Time

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BET Networks continues to shine a spotlight on Black Hollywood with its BET PREMIERE CINEMA franchise and the original movie debut of GUN HILL starring acclaimed actor, writer, and activist Larenz Tate and the world television broadcast premiere of the award-winning film, MIDDLE OF NOWHERE starring Emayatzy Corinealdi and BEING MARY JANE’s, Omari Hardwick.

Premiering Wednesday, July 2 at 9 PM ET/PT on BET, GUN HILL is a high-powered cop drama is about identical twins on opposite sides of life: Trane, a cop, and Bird, a con. On one fateful night, Trane is killed. Bird assumes his identity and begins his own search for redemption. Set in the mean streets of New York, this smart, gritty two-hour movie event, GUN HILL, features an ensemble cast of characters operating on all sides of the law, where no one is quite what they seem. Written and directed by Reggie Rock Bythewood the film also stars Emayatzy E. Corinealdi, Tawny Cypress, Aisha Hinds, Michael Aronov, Phyllis Yvonne Stickney Shanti Ashanti, Hisham Tawfiq and Daniel Stewart Sherman. GUN HILL is executive produced by Reggie Rock Bythewood and Don Kurt.

Premiering Wednesday, July 23 at 9 PM ET/PT on BET MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, winner of the Best Director Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award, Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor is an independent feature film written and directed by Ava DuVernay. As Ruby (Emayatzy Corinealdi) rides a bus through the inner city streets, she wills herself to push away memories that crowd her. Four years earlier, she was a vibrant medical student married to the love of her life, Derek (Omari Hardwick). Now, she makes her way to the maximum security prison on the outskirts of town. This is where her love now resides. Behind coiled razor wire and forty foot concrete walls. As the couple stares into the hallow end of an eight-year prison sentence, Ruby must learn to live another life, one marked by shame and separation. But through a chance encounter with hard-working bus driver Brian (David Oyelowo) and a stunning betrayal that shakes her to the core, she is soon propelled in new and often frightening directions of self-discovery. As we chronicle her turbulent yet transformative journey, we witness the emergence of a broken woman made whole. Lorraine Toussaint Sharon Lawrence, Dondre Whitfield and Maya Gilbert also star in the film.

In addition to original BET-created films, BET PREMIERE CINEMA introduces audiences to critically-acclaimed independent films and documentaries – both never-before-seen and those that have completed their theatrical run.

For more information on our BET Premiere Cinema films go to bet.com/BETStarCinema. Join the conversation on Twitter: @BETGunHill @MiddleofNowhere @BETCinema.

About BET Networks
BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), is the nation’s leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.