BlackStar Film Festival

BlackStar Film Festival Celebrating Black, Brown and Indigenous artists globally.

The BlackStar Film Festival is an annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of the African diaspora and of global indigenous communities, showcasing films by black people from around the world.For press inquiries, please email [email protected]

Issue 007 of Seen, guest edited by multi-hyphenate artist Ja'Tovia Gary is officially on stands today!This timely and ti...
10/17/2024

Issue 007 of Seen, guest edited by multi-hyphenate artist Ja'Tovia Gary is officially on stands today!

This timely and timeless issue features a thoughtful conversation between Gary and Dr. Joy James on rebirth, black feminism, and hope as struggle. A moving essay from Bridgett M. Davis on the second life of her 1996 debut feature, NAKED ACTS. An essay on the complexities of Black Women and AI from Hanna Phifer. And so much more.

Order a copy at shop.blackstarfest.org/collections/seen.

Seen is a journal on film and visual culture, published by BlackStar. It features nuanced and rigorous writing by and about Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities globally.

Get a behind-the-scenes look into programming for the 2025 BlackStar Film Festival! We’re looking for students and emerg...
10/03/2024

Get a behind-the-scenes look into programming for the 2025 BlackStar Film Festival!

We’re looking for students and emerging professionals to join us for our Screening Internship. Selected interns will assist programmers who are overseeing our five submission categories: Experimental, Short Documentary, Feature Documentary, Short Narrative, and Feature Narrative.

All work will take place remotely, and interns are not required to reside in Philadelphia to participate. Learn more and apply by Oct 22: https://www.blackstarfest.org/opportunities/screening-internship-winter-spring-2025/

Curators, film programmers, filmmakers, and film scholars share your knowledge at our 2025 William and Louise Greaves Fi...
10/02/2024

Curators, film programmers, filmmakers, and film scholars share your knowledge at our 2025 William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar!

Individuals and collectives (especially those based in the Bay Area) are invited to submit a proposal for a workshop or panel to present at the Seminar, our annual gathering for Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists working in cinematic realms.

Learn more and submit your proposals by November 1 at blackstarfest.org/seminar. The 2025 Greaves Filmmaker Seminar will take place March 7-9 in Palo Alto, CA in partnership with the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford University.

https://www.blackstarfest.org/seminar/

Call for Proposals: Submit your idea for the 2024 Filmmaker Seminar for Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists working in cinematic realms.

09/12/2024

The 2024 BlackStar Film Festival was electric! Thank you for joining us for four days of films, conversations, community, and connection. 💛 We can’t wait to do it again next year!

A quick reminder to take a moment to complete our Audience Survey, if you haven’t yet! Your responses help us secure more funding to continue to move more money to artists, and provide a guide for next year’s events. Responses close this Sunday, September 15: https://blackstar.formstack.com/forms/audience

Have you completed our Festival Audience Survey yet? Your responses help us secure more funding to continue to move more...
09/10/2024

Have you completed our Festival Audience Survey yet? Your responses help us secure more funding to continue to move more money to artists, and provide a guide for next year’s events. Responses close this Sunday, September 15: https://blackstar.formstack.com/forms/audience

We are thrilled to announce our Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab and North Star fellows! Designed to uplift Black, Brown, and ...
08/29/2024

We are thrilled to announce our Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab and North Star fellows!

Designed to uplift Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists from Greater Philadelphia, the Filmmaker Lab is a year-long program that supports fellows with mentorship, funding, and critical feedback. The short films produced in the Lab will premiere at the 2025 BlackStar Film Festival. The 2025 Lab fellows are Andrew Bilindabagabo, Kristal Sotomayor, Chisom Chieke, and Walé Oyéjidé

Presented in collaboration with Points North Institute, the North Star Fellowship supports four innovative artists who are developing projects that span the latitudes of creative nonfiction. The inaugural North Star Fellows are Lokotah Sanborn, Imani Dennison, Zac Manuel, Rea Tajiri.

Read more about these incredible individuals:

BlackStar Projects, the premier organization celebrating visionary Black, Brown and Indigenous film and media artists, is proud to announce the …

08/05/2024

A huge congratulations goes out to the winners of our 2024 BlackStar Film Festival Jury Awards and the BlackStar Pitch!

“To be honored by BlackStar, [who] are really about honoring work that is pushing the genre…and decolonizing our storytelling practices, it means a lot,” said Contessa Gayles, director of SONGS FROM THE HOLE. “We made this film for all of our collective liberation, and we hope that our offering in that department helps us all get a little bit more free.”

The winners include:

Best Feature Documentary
Songs From the Hole
dir. Contessa Gayles

Best Short Narrative
Boat People
dir. Al'Ikens Plancher

Best Experimental Film
Two Refusals (Would We Recognize Ourselves Unbroken?)
dir. Suneil Sanzgiri

Best Feature Narrative
After the Long Rains
dir. Damien Hauser

Best Short Documentary
And Still, It Remains
dirs. Arwa Aburawa & Turab Shah

Philadelphia Filmmaker Award
EXPANDING SANCTUARY, dir. Kristal Sotomayor

The Center for Cultural Power’s Climate Change Award
BRING THEM HOME dir. Ivan MacDonald, Ivy MacDonald and Daniel Glick

BlackStar Pitch Winner
HIGHWAYS, dir. Zeshawn Ali

BlackStar Pitch Runner-up
HALAL BODIES, dir. Nausheen Dadabhoy

Thank you to The Gotham for co-presenting the 2024 Director’s Brunch & Award Ceremony.

End BSFF24 with us this year at our Closing Night soirée. We’re dancing and celebrating starting at 9:30 PM tonight. Be ...
08/04/2024

End BSFF24 with us this year at our Closing Night soirée. We’re dancing and celebrating starting at 9:30 PM tonight. Be ready to sweat 🥵🎶 with tunes by DJ lil’dave and Oluwafemi, and host Catzie Vilayphonh.

The FREE event is hosted at Star|Bolt, make sure to RSVP here: https://www.blackstarfest.org/festival/events/closing-night-party-4/

The legacy of rap lives on in IT WAS ALL A DREAM, a visual ode to the golden age of hip hop. BlackStar alum and award-wi...
08/04/2024

The legacy of rap lives on in IT WAS ALL A DREAM, a visual ode to the golden age of hip hop. BlackStar alum and award-winning filmmaker dream hampton pieces together an archival documentary you don’t want to miss. Join us tonight at 6 PM EDT for a must-see for hip-hop enthusiasts and documentary lovers alike. 🎶
🎫https://www.blackstarfest.org/festival/events/it-was-all-a-dream-2/

Experience the world premiere of Devin Jie Allen’s experimental short, FORBIDDEN CITY, and a Black q***r love story in t...
08/04/2024

Experience the world premiere of Devin Jie Allen’s experimental short, FORBIDDEN CITY, and a Black q***r love story in the short documentary WHAT CHANNEL IS LOVE by BSFF alum Michael Donte 🎬✨ These movies offer unique perspectives on identity and love. Celebrate the creativity and vision of these talented filmmakers today at 4 PM for the ‘Spillikin’ Shorts program.
🎫 https://www.blackstarfest.org/festival/schedule/

Join us today at BSFF24 on The Daily Jawn Stage at the Kimmel Center for two essential panels 🗣️First, at 2:30 PM, don’t...
08/04/2024

Join us today at BSFF24 on The Daily Jawn Stage at the Kimmel Center for two essential panels 🗣️First, at 2:30 PM, don’t miss the conversation on “Media-Making in the Time of Genocide.” After recentering, return at 5:30 PM for A LITANY FOR SURVIVAL: THE LIFE AND WORK OF AUDRE LORDE, co-presented by Black Feminist Film School.

It’s officially the last day of BSFF24! Start off with a rejuvenating yoga session, storytelling films, and engage in th...
08/04/2024

It’s officially the last day of BSFF24! Start off with a rejuvenating yoga session, storytelling films, and engage in thought-provoking panels on the The Daily Jawn Stage at the Kimmel Center, and finish the night out with our Closing Night Party. Don’t miss your chance to see what’s next in indie film from the global majority!

  alum Imani Dennison and Raafi Rivero return to the festival with THE PEOPLE COULD FLY and BRING YOUR NAME — THE SEAN B...
08/03/2024

alum Imani Dennison and Raafi Rivero return to the festival with THE PEOPLE COULD FLY and BRING YOUR NAME — THE SEAN BELL ALL-STARS in today’s shorts program: ‘Embodied.’ We are thrilled to showcase these films that continue to push the boundaries of storytelling and offer unique perspectives on identity, resilience, and community.

🎫 https://www.blackstarfest.org/festival/events/embodied-shorts/

The complex and urgent issue of incarceration is explored in SONGS FROM THE HOLE, directed by Contessa Gayles. This comp...
08/03/2024

The complex and urgent issue of incarceration is explored in SONGS FROM THE HOLE, directed by Contessa Gayles. This compelling film dives into the lives of those affected by the criminal justice system and offers a poignant look at the human stories behind the statistics.

🎫https://www.blackstarfest.org/festival/events/songs-from-the-hole/

For those interested in a deeper discussion, join Contessa Gayles on the 'Duty of Care' panel live on the The Daily Jawn Stage at the Kimmel Center today at 5:30 PM EDT.

Narrated by Lily Gladstone, BRING THEM HOME tells the story of a small group of Blackfoot people and their mission to es...
08/03/2024

Narrated by Lily Gladstone, BRING THEM HOME tells the story of a small group of Blackfoot people and their mission to establish the first wild buffalo herd on their ancestral territory. This east coast premiere is directed by Ivan MacDonald, Ivy MacDonald and Daniel Glick.
🎫 https://www.blackstarfest.org/festival/events/bring-them-home-2/

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