Yes/No Detroit

Yesterday was the first full day of the Uptown Film Festival, and also the last day of three. Two of the more anticipated films, Bully and Salvation Boulevard , were shown, and movies were playing all day at the Birmingham 8 theater and also the Palladium. For its inaugural year in 2011, the festival had two days of films and "afterglow" receptions at the Palladium, but this year it has branched out, with three days and afterglows at area restaurants. "The festival is going beyond our wildest expectations. Most of our films have been sold out. Over at the [Birmingham] 8 last night, we started off with Brothers on the Line and it was packed, and then today Bully was packed," said Jeff Spilman, co-executive director of the festival. "We added a third night this year and afterglows each night, at South Bar, What Crepe, and Barrio. People are having a great time and the charities are happy – everyone’s happy." Read the rest of the article at Examiner.co...

For its second full night, the Uptown Film Festival did not disappoint. A VIP charity event was held at 7pm, with a screening of Machine Gun Preacher , originally in Detroit theaters in November 2011, to follow. An"afterglow" party following the screening was held at the new What Crepe near the theater. Machine Gun Preacher stars Gerard Butler and Michelle Monaghan, among others, and half of the movie was shot in Detroit. The film is based on the real life story of Sam Childers (played by Butler), an ex-con who decides to reform his life and help children in Africa. He divides his time between there and his family in Pennsylvania, and ends up building a church and orphanage for the children, as well as hoping to fight the LRA, a resistance army that has been massacring large amounts of people in Africa. To read the rest of the article, go to Examiner.com . Uptown Film Festival poster UFF t-shirts being sold Cupcakes at the VIP charity event Charity event-go...

It was announced today that the feature film  Machine Gun Preacher , originally released in late 2011, will be headlining the Uptown Film Festival, taking place March 8-10. Gerard Butler stars in the film, and it tells the true-life tale of Sam Childers, a former criminal who did a complete 180 and helped orphaned and kidnapped children in Sudan. You can buy tickets to the film at  uptownpalladium.com  starting February 20th, and a portion of the ticket profits will be donated to Gleaners and Defeat the Label, a nonprofit. Read the rest of the story at Examiner.com .