Issa Rae to serve as ambassador at 2022 American Black Film Festival

The multi-hyphenate will also screen her brand new HBO Max series, 'Rap Sh--.'

Insecure may be over, but Issa Rae is just getting started. The multi-hyphenate was announced as ambassador for the 2022 American Black Film Festival, which will screen her new series, Rap Sh–.

ABFF will return this year with a hybrid model, continuing to celebrate the best and Black content film and TV content from across the globe. From June 15-19, the festival will return to its home of Miami, Florida, followed by 10 days of a virtual festival on ABFF’s online platform.

Alongside Jeff and Nicole Friday, the festival’s founders, Rae will take to the stage with welcome remarks for the celebration before screening her brand new series for HBO Max.

HOORAE x Kennedy Center Weekend Takeover
Issa Rae attends HOORAE x Kennedy Center Weekend Takeover on March 25, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for HOORAE)

“I’m honored to be this year’s Festival Ambassador,” Issa Rae shared in a press release sent to theGrio. “ABFF was the first major festival to showcase my work and they continue to elevate Black creatives from the ground level. It’s also fun as hell.” 

Nicole Friday also gushed about Rae’s involvement, sharing in a statement, “It has been amazing to watch Issa shatter ceilings with her incredible sensibility to storytelling and her astounding achievements in the industry. We have been admirers of her work from the early days and salute her for remaining authentic and never forgetting the importance of elevating the next generation of emerging artists.”  

As theGrio previously reported, ABFF recently announced its lineup of film selections for this year. The opening film, CIVIL, is a documentary feature described as, “an intimate vérité look at the life of maverick civil rights attorney Ben Crump.”

Lexus Uptown Honors Hollywood
Nicole Friday and Jeff Friday attend Lexus Uptown Honors Hollywood at Sunset Room Hollywood on March 23, 2022. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Nicole Friday shared, “We are thrilled to open the festival with CIVIL, a timely documentary bringing light to issues of social justice and equity in America. We’ve curated an entertaining and thought-provoking lineup of features, documentaries, and web series and I am so excited to share our content with a live audience again.” 

For more on ABFF, including the full lineup, events, and more, head to the official site here.

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