TRENTON, NJ - Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells is proud to announce the continuation of the Newark Black Film Festival (NBFF) at the State Museum Auditorium Thursday, July 9, at 6:00 p.m. with "Dreams Deferred: The Sakia Gunn Film Project," an insightful, heartbreaking and provocative film by producer/director Charles B. Brack.

Admission to the 2009 Newark black Film festival in Trenton is free to the public.

The highlight of the evening will be a discussion immediately following the film with Charles B. Brack himself, who will be on-hand to discuss the presentation. Chronicling the consequential story of 15-year old Sakia Gunn, whose life tragically ended on the streets of Newark in 2003, the film is a tale of loss, yet also a clarion call for compassion and understanding in a world that, sadly, still harbors intolerance, hate, and violence.

"The Newark Black Film Festival is unquestionably one of the outstanding annual events of any kind, anywhere in New Jersey; to have it at the New Jersey State Museum is simply a tremendous honor," said Secretary Wells. "I invite everyone in the greater-Trenton and Mercer County area to come out and see why the Festival garners so much praise and attention year after year. And I can assure you, this week's film, "Dreams Deferred: The Sakia Film Project," is one you shouldn't miss."

Throughout the Newark black Film Festival's run at the New Jersey State Museum, youth cinema offerings will also be shown at 1 p.m. on Thursday afternoons. On July 9, those films will be "Chato and the Party Animals" and the "Incredible Voyage of Bill Pinkney."

As with feature films showings, admission to all youth cinema films is also free.

Made possible by a grant from Bank of America, the Newark Black Film Festival in Trenton will celebrate its thirty-fifth year as the oldest running black film festival in the United States. Now in its sixth year in Trenton, the Festival has proven one of most popular annual events in the Capital City, offering weekly presentations of unique and educational works chronicling varying aspects of the African American experience, all while providing an outlet for emerging filmmakers, writers, and directors to showcase their work to a mass audience.

For more information on the history of the Newark Black Film Festival, times, descriptions of the films and their filmmakers, and a list of keynote speakers, please visit www.newjerseystatemuseum.org and www.newarkmuseum.org., respectively.

For a description of this year's youth cinema offerings Thursday afternoons at the State Museum, also visit www.newjerseystatemuseum.org.

To learn more about the diverse array of services and programs offered by the Department of State, visit www.state.nj.us/state.