Montreal, August 16, 2012 – The Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF), presented by Global Montreal, is proud to announce that the spokesperson for its 8th edition will be Sonia Benezra.

“The Montreal International Black Film Festival is much more than a festival. It opens a window on the reality of black women everywhere. It does so using cinema as well as many other forms of expression. Sonia Benezra represents this new vision of an innovative festival that pushes the envelope. We’re proud to have a spokesperson who’s involved in many social and cultural causes. Sonia Benezra embodies both glamour and cultural diversity,” declared Emile Castonguay, Programming Director and Co-Founder of the festival.

With a successful career that spans over twenty-five years, and with numerous industry awards and public accolades, Sonia Benezra, more radiant then ever before, has shown throughout her career that her talent and professionalism transcends all ages, languages, and cultures. To date Sonia has interviewed virtually the biggest names on the music scene from Paul McCartney to Sting to Gene Simmons to Backstreet Boys to Bobby Brown to Tina Turner. Sonia is the recipient of four “Metro Star” awards (People’s Choice) in the category of “Television Personality of the Year”. She is also the first non francophone Canadian woman to win this honour. She has a collection of prestigious “Gemini” awards recognizing her talents as a television personality and as a first rate interviewer. Sonia speaks English, French and Spanish fluently and has made a trademark of translating between these languages with ease in her live interviews. Sonia also hosted the American television show “Famous Homes & Hideaways”, which played for several years in both Canada and internationally in both English and French. She is also the longstanding Quebec ambassador for “World Vision Canada” and a long-time supporter of the Farha Foundation. Sonia recently became the first celebrity spokesperson for “Jenny Craig Canada” in the good company of Kirstie Alley, Jason Alexander and Mariah Carey in the USA. She is up for 2 “Gemini” awards this coming September for “best talk show host” and “best talk show”.

Sonia Benezra is proud to be a partner of the Montreal International Black Film Festival: “I love the Montreal International Black Film Festival’s vision, it encourages us to get to know each other in order to better understand one another. The MIBFF allows us to discover new realities through a great selection of films and distinguished guests. It’s an excellent way to understand what escapes us in our daily lives. I can’t wait to take part in the festivities and to experience all that the program has to offer festival-goers.”

The 8th MIBFF will take place from September 19 to 30, 2012!

About the Montreal International Black Film Festival – MIBFF

Presented by Global Montreal, the Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF) was created in 2005 by the Fabienne Colas Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Cinema, Art and Culture. The mission of the Montreal International Black Film Festival is to stimulate the development of the independent film industry and to encourage more films on the realities of Blacks from around the world. The Festival wants to promote a different kind of cinema, cinema that hails from here and from abroad and that does not necessarily have the opportunity to grace the big screen, groundbreaking cinema that moves us, that raises awareness and that takes us all by surprise. The MIBFF wants to deal with issues and present works that raise questions, that provoke, that make us smile, that leave us perplexed, that shock us… A fresh new look at black cinema from the four corners of the globe! www.montrealblackfilm.com.

Get all the festival news on:

www.montrealblackfilm.com / www.facebook.com/blackfilmfestival / www.twitter.com/filmblackmtl

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Director of Media Relations:

Carla Beauvais – carla@montrealblackfilm.com – (438) 868-5450

Francophone press agent:

Fadwa Lapierre – fadwa@montrealblackfilm.com – (514) 884-9545

Anglophone press agent:

Dany Payne – dany@montrealblackfilm.com – (514) 621-8657

Ethnic and community press agent:

Aimée Kassi – aimee@montrealblackfilm.com – (514) 621-7178