Lionsgate, Winfrey, and Tyler
On Board for Sundance Winner

 

Sapphire

Lisa Cortes

Park City, Utah (February 3, 2009) – Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire, a film based on a book by Yaddo author Sapphire and executive produced by Lisa Cortes, a Member of The Corporation of Yaddo, took three top prizes at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and will be released later this year by Lionsgate, which purchased North American distribution rights this week for a reported $5.5 million. Lionsgate will work with Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, who have signed on to promote the film through their respective companies, Harpo Films and 34th Street Films.

The emotionally charged Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire was awarded the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award for its director, Lee Daniels, and writer Damien Paul, who adapted Sapphire's 1996 debut novel for the screen, plus a special grand jury acting prize for Mo'Nique, who plays the abusive mother in this story of an overweight and illiterate teenager in 1980s Harlem. The film also stars newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, in the title role of Clareece "Precious" Jones, and Paula Patton, Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey, and Sherri Shepherd. Push is only the third film in Sundance history to win both the grand jury prize and the audience awards in the U.S. dramatic competition.

In a statement, Ms. Winfrey said: "I've never seen anything like it. The moment I saw Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire, I knew I wanted to do whatever I could to encourage other people to see this movie. The film is so raw and powerful – it split me open." Mr. Perry called Push an "exceptional" and "artistically courageous film" and said he was "immensely moved" by the movie.

Sapphire is an author and performance poet who worked as an exotic dancer, a performance artist, a social worker, and a teacher of reading and writing before starting her writing career. She lives and works in New York City. In addition to the novel Push she has published three poetry collections: Meditations on the Rainbow, American Dreams, and Black Wings and Blind Angels. Ms. Cortes was a member of the original creative team of Def Jam Records and is now a producer at the Tribeca-based film company Lee Daniels Entertainment. Among her other production credits are Monster's Ball, The Woodsman, Shadowboxer, and Tennessee. She frequently lectures at universities on the topics of cinema, hip-hop culture, and Black aesthetics. Ms. Cortes was elected to Yaddo membership in 2007.

Read more about Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire here.