Award-winning actor and artist, Common, has been selected as the 2016 celebrity ambassador of the American Black Film Festival (ABFF). The ABFF will celebrate its 20th year with an exciting lineup of film screenings and an expanded schedule of networking opportunities and events, including “A Conversation with Common.” The highly anticipated festival is the nation’s largest gathering of Black film and television enthusiasts.

Along with his award-winning music career, Common has garnered accolades in film, including his 2015 Academy Award, 2015 Critic’s Choice Award and the 2015 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for “Glory” from the film Selma, as well as the 2015 NAACP Image Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. Common has also appeared in American Gangster, Wanted, Terminator Salvation, Date Night, Just Wright, Luv, Now You See Me and Run All Night. He is among Hollywood’s most sought after leading men, and can be seen in the upcoming films, Barbershop 3, John Wick 2 and Suicide Squad. Common initially gained wide public attention as one of hip-hop’s most poetic and respected lyricists. Over his illustrious music career, Common has recorded ten studio albums, which has earned him multiple Grammy Awards.

“I’m very grateful and honored to be the ambassador for the 20th anniversary of the ABFF. The ABFF celebrates and brings together the many different voices in Black film today and I’m proud to be a part of the conversation,”? says Common.

“There is no artist I respect and admire more than Common. He is immensely talented and has proven that an artist today can achieve the highest level of commercial success without compromising his conscience and responsibility to community. Our organization could not be more pleased to have him join us for the festival’s monumental year,” says ABFF Founder Jeff Friday.