Oprah Gives Push to Sundance Winner

Canada

Oprah Gives Push to Sundance Winner

Mon., Feb. 2, 2009 12:40 PM PST by Gina Serpe

Coming soon to Oprah Winfrey's couch: Mariah Carey.

The daytime queen hasn't exactly announced the booking, but it's only a matter of time now that she is teaming up with fellow media mogul Tyler Perry to hype Sundance darling Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire.

"I've never seen anything like it," Winfrey said in a statement. "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."

The film also has the rare honor of winning both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the festival last month, becoming just the third movie in Sundance history to pull the two-fer.

Push centers on an overweight, illiterate Harlem teen who finds herself accepted into an alternative school as she prepares to give birth to her second child.

In addition to Carey, the film stars Lenny Kravitz, Sherri Shepherd, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton and newcomer Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe,

Winfrey's Harpo and Perry's 34th Street Films are tag-teaming with Lionsgate to distribute and promote the flick.