BlackStar Projects celebrated its 14th annual film festival this past weekend and is proud to announce the jury and audience award winners.

The 2025 edition of the festival continued to break ground and push boundaries by spotlighting genre-defying films and hosting critically incisive conversations with an expansive community of filmmakers, artists, panelists and festival goers, all of whom met the moment with enthusiasm as this year’s festival welcomed thousands of attendees and record-breaking sales, including sold out screenings of Louis Massiah and Monica Henriquez’s TCB — The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing on opening night, Kahlil Joseph’s BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions on Friday and multiple other films throughout the weekend.

From the 93 films screened, juried awards for Best Feature Documentary were given to Louis Massiah and Monica Henriquez’s film; for Best Feature Narrative to Sugar Island, directed by Johanne Gomez Terrero; for Best Experimental film to The River, directed by Herrana Addisu; for Best Short Documentary to Correct Me If I’m Wrong (如你所愿), directed by Hao Zhou and for Best Short Narrative to The Last Harvest, directed by Nuno Boaventura Miranda. The Philadelphia Filmmaker Award was given to Talking Walls, directed by Marcellus.

In collaboration with Blackbird, BlackStar hosted the sixth annual BlackStar Pitch at the festival and announced the winner as Hysterical, a forthcoming project from filmmaker Kya Lou. Jamil McGinnis’ Wahnish Keeps Me Free was selected as the pitch runner-up. Lou will receive $75,000, mentorship from Multitude Films and other benefits, while McGinnis’ production will receive $25,000.

Winners were announced at the annual Director’s Brunch and Awards Ceremony, celebrating all of the festival’s directors.

BlackStar also invited its audience to select awards in Favorite Feature Narrative (Love, Brooklyn), Favorite Feature Documentary (TCB – The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing), Favorite Short Narrative (Food for the Soul), Favorite Short Documentary (Talking Walls) and Favorite Experimental (Untitled (How High the Moon)) categories. More information on the award winning films from all categories is below.

The BlackStar panel series saw audiences overflow from The Daily Jawn Stage co-sponsored by NEON, with panelists and moderators engaging in lively conversation, inviting global perspectives and challenging dialogues on various topics, including a spotlight conversation with Killer of Sheep director Charles Burnett.

Notable guests and speakers at this year’s festival included Letitia Wright, André Holland, Kahlil Joseph, Cauleen Smith, Elegance Bratton, Adam Piron, Kevin Jerome Everson, Rachael Abigail Holder, Stanley Nelson and Meg Onli.

Beyond film, the festival’s activation of the city provided wonderful opportunities for artists, filmmakers and film enthusiasts to engage at sold out parties and events throughout the weekend. BlackStar is committed to furthering this international communal experience as it looks ahead to next year’s film festival, which will take place from August 6-9, 2026.

Select award winning films are available to stream now here.

Jury Awards

Best Feature Documentary

TCB — The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing directed by Louis Massiah and Monica Henriquez

Jury Note: This elegant, intergenerational film stretches the imagination not merely around what art can do, but what an artist can do. The film serves as a manual, it is the medicine that we need right now to uplift and inspire us. It is intimate and epic at the same time and a film that’s clear in its commitment to community.

 

Short Narrative

The Last Harvest directed by Nuno Boaventura Miranda

Jury Note: Multi-sensorial, gorgeous, abstract and palpable, this film is loaded with subtle gestures and a clever use of repetition which renders it cinematically breathtaking. The visual choreo poem contains a surprising sonic personality, seamless weaving together of two narratives and beautifully executed acting.

Honorable Mention: Oceania, directed by Valentin Noujaïm

 

Experimental Film

The River directed by Herrana Addisu

Jury Note: In this wonderfully edited film, the filmmaker weaves together sound, image, acting, movement and story into a cohesive and deep transgenerational narrative. The use of beautiful cinematography, symmetry and the rhythm of music tells of the barriers faced by women with a subtle nod to classism.

Honorable Mention: A Luta Continua // Ataraxy 44, directed by Curtis Essel

 

Feature Narrative

Sugar Island directed by Johanne Gomez Terrero

Jury Note: This is an intentionally and carefully made film, characterized by a complex texture that the filmmaker maintains throughout their storytelling. The film felt visceral in its spiritual elements and it managed to bring its audience in without minimizing those practices. The jury applauds the visual-emotional environment conveyed in this beautifully shot film.

 

Short Documentary

Correct Me if I’m Wrong directed by Hao Zhou

Jury Note: The jury awards a film that is replete with juxtapositions—spaciousness and claustrophobia, tolerance and intolerance, energy and calm. This film evokes a feeling of discomfort that is difficult to shake after the film is over. Yet in that discomfort, the filmmaker handles the subject with care and nuance, featuring strong characters, sound design and intimacy.

 

Audience Awards

Favorite Feature Narrative

Love, Brooklyn directed by Rachael Abigail Holder

 

Favorite Feature Documentary

TCB — The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing directed by Louis Massiah and Monica Henriquez

 

Favorite Short Narrative

Food for the Soul directed by Chisom Chieke

 

Favorite Short Documentary

Talking Walls directed by Marcellus

 

Favorite Experimental

Untitled (How High the Moon) directed by Rashida Bumbray

 

Special Awards

BlackStar Pitch 

Winner — Hysterical directed by Kya Lou

Runner-up — Wahnish Keeps Me Free directed by Jamil McGinnis, produced by Resita Cox

Jurors: Jess Devaney, Founder & President, Multitude Films; Jihan Robinson, Producer; Noland Walker
VP, Content, Independent Television Service (ITVS); Shanida Scotland, Head of Film (UK), Doc Society; Sharifa Johka, Co-Chair, IP Acquisitions, Twenty43 Ventures

 

Philadelphia Filmmaker Award

Talking Walls directed by Marcellus

Jury Note: The Independence Public Media Foundation jury awards a film that honors the voice and strength of a queer black elder with a creative, beautiful, and unexpected approach.

 

Shine Award 

16 1/2 directed by Harlan Banks

Chosen by BlackStar Members.

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This year’s festival was presented with major support from Open Society Foundations. Other sponsors include American Friends Service Committee, Andscape, Black Public Media, The Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia, Color Congress, Criterion, Critical Minded, Eventive, Firelight Media, Hyperallergic, Impact Partners, Independence Public Media Foundation, ITVS, Kashif, Monarch Yoga, NEON, PECO, Philadelphia Foundation, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pillars Fund, Runway, SAGIndie, State Representative Rick Krajewski, StoryCorps, Ten to One Rum, Twenty43, University of Pennsylvania Department of Cinema & Media Studies, Visit Philadelphia, Xfinity, and WORLD Channel. 

BlackStar Projects and its year-round programs are generously supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Critical Minded, Department of Community and Economic Development, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, Independence Public Media Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, NEO Philanthropy, The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, Pop Culture Collaborative, Ruth Foundation for the Arts, Surdna Foundation, Wallace Foundation, William Penn Foundation and Wyncote Foundation, in addition to its board of directors, community partners and a host of generous individual donors and organizations.

BlackStar Projects, the premier organization celebrating visionary Black, Brown and Indigenous film and media artists, is thrilled to announce the full schedule of programs, jury and award nominees for the 2025 BlackStar Film Festival, taking place from July 31-August 3, 2025. Click here to browse the full schedule. All individual program tickets are now on sale here, with festival passes also available here.

The festival is an annual celebration of independent cinema from the global majority and a one-of-a-kind gathering of diverse audiences centered on connection, discussion and learning, with nearly every screening followed by a Q&A. The world premiere of TCB – The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing, directed by Louis Massiah and Monica Henriquez, will be the festival’s opening night screening and THE GREAT NORTH, directed by Jenn Nkiru and making its North American premiere, will be the closing night screening. Other highlights include a special screening of Kahlil Joseph’s BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions and the 4K restoration of Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep, with both filmmakers expected in-person for Spotlight Conversations. 

The Daily Jawn will return at this year’s festival as a live morning show. Co-sponsored by NEON and hosted by Maori Karmael Holmes, Rashid Zakat and Anne Ishii, the show presents conversations with featured filmmakers, festival programmers and other special guests. Additionally, panels featuring industry experts and thought leaders will be held throughout the festival, challenging attendees to consider new perspectives as they engage with the work. Notable guests and speakers at this year’s festival include Letitia Wright, Charles Burnett, Kahlil Joseph, Saidiya Hartman, Cauleen Smith, Elegance Bratton, Adam Piron, Kevin Jerome Everson, Rachael Abigail Holder, Stanley Nelson, JT Takagi and Meg Onli.

“Each festival has been very special, but this year’s lineup feels especially epic,” said Chief Executive and Artistic Officer, Maori Karmael Holmes. “I’m looking forward to communing with filmmakers and audiences, sharing a collective laugh or cry. I think at this moment in time the restorative and liberatory power of cinema is essential.” 

In addition to film and panels, there will be a variety of other festival programming in-person. Selections include the return of BlackStar Pitch, presented in partnership with Blackbird—a live competition open to public attendance, which will award $75,000 in production funds to a winning short documentary—along with First Friday at The Barnes Foundation, featuring an evening of art, live music, cocktails and light fare, co-presented by Hyperallergic. 

BlackStar Projects’ Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab, a year-long fellowship program that awards $50,000 in production funds to four local filmmakers developing a short narrative film, will culminate at this year’s festival with the world premiere of the four short films.

This year’s festival jury, listed in full below, will consider nominees for Best Experimental Film, Best Feature Documentary, Best Feature Narrative, Best Short Documentary and Best Short Narrative.

BlackStar will also host a mix of parties and community events throughout the weekend including the opening night party at Cherry Street Pier; the annual BlackStar Bazaar, offering a curated shopping experience that celebrates community and Black-owned businesses and this year’s closing night party at STAR|Bolt, co-presented by Visit Philly.

“This year’s entire program has been intentionally curated to meet the moment,” said Festival Director Nehad Khader. “We can’t wait to welcome our community to Philadelphia to celebrate cinema for liberation.” All access passes for the festival are available for purchase here and individual tickets for in-person and virtual screenings are available here. The full schedule of programs is below (all times EST):

Major Spotlights:

• [dot] TCB – The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing (w/ Q&A) – Thursday, July 31 @ 8:00pm — Kimmel Center
• [dot] BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions – Friday, August 1 @ 9:00pm — Kimmel Center
• [dot] Killer of Sheep – Sunday, August 3 @ 11:30am — Wilma Theater
• [dot] THE GREAT NORTH (w/ Q&A) – Sunday, August 3 @ 8:30pm — Kimmel Center

 

BlackStar Juried Awards Categories & Nominees:

Best Feature Documentary

Nominees:

• [dot] 16 ½ directed by Harlan Banks
• [dot] THE GREAT NORTH directed by Jenn Nkiru
• [dot] TCB – The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing directed by Louis Massiah and Monica Henriquez

Jurors: Asad Muhammad, Bao Nguyen, Tracy Rector

Best Short Documentary

Nominees:

• [dot] 如你所愿 (Correct Me If I’m Wrong) directed by Hao Zhou
• [dot] The Devil Is Busy directed by Christalyn Hampton and Geeta Gandbhir
• [dot] Piñata Prayers directed by Daniel Larios
• [dot] Tessitura directed by Lydia Cornett and Brit Fryer
• [dot] Tiger directed by Loren Waters
• [dot] We Were the Scenery directed by Christopher Radcliff

Jurors: Nell Augustin, Sonya Childress, Zaina Bseis

Best Feature Narrative

Nominees:

• [dot] Sabbatical directed by Karabo Lediga
• [dot] Sugar Island directed by Johanne Gomez Terrero
• [dot] White House (Kasa Branca) directed by Luciano Vidigal

Jurors: Aseye Tamakloe, Jason Reynolds, Lindsay Monture

Best Short Narrative

Nominees:

• [dot] Eternal Kinship directed by Arbin Rai
• [dot] The Last Harvest directed by Nuno Boaventura Miranda
• [dot] Leaving Ikorodu in 1999 directed by Rashida Seriki
• [dot] LWC – Lazy White Cows directed by Asaph Luccas
• [dot] Oceania directed by Valentin Noujaïm
• [dot] Seek No Favor directed by Elle Clay and Leilah Weinraub

Jurors: Dagmawi Woubshet, Fariha Róisín, Lynnée Denise

Best Experimental Film

Nominees:

• [dot] A Luta Continua // Ataraxy 44 directed by Curtis Essel
• [dot] Natimorto directed by Ibrahem Hasan and Leandro HBL
• [dot] The River directed by Herrana Addisu
• [dot] Untitled (How High the Moon) directed by Rashida Bumbray
• [dot] The Volcano Manifesto directed by Cauleen Smith

Jurors: Awa Konaté, Emily Jacir, Jason Moran

Additional Awards

• [dot] Philadelphia Filmmaker Award
• [dot] Shine Award for First-Time Filmmakers (Voted by BlackStar Members)

 

For more information on the festival and its programs, visit https://www.blackstarfest.org/festival.

This year’s festival is presented with major support from Open Society Foundations. Other sponsors include American Friends Service Committee, Andscape, Black Public Media, The Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia, Color Congress, Eventive, Firelight Media, Hyperallergic, Impact Partners, Independence Public Media Foundation, ITVS, Kashif, Monarch Yoga, NEON, PECO, Philadelphia Foundation, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pillars Fund, Runway, SAGIndie, State Representative Rick Krajewski, StoryCorps, Ten to One Rum, Twenty43, University of Pennsylvania Department of Cinema & Media Studies, Visit Philadelphia and WORLD Channel. 

BlackStar Projects and its year-round programs are generously supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Critical Minded, Department of Community and Economic Development, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, Independence Public Media Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, NEO Philanthropy, The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, Pop Culture Collaborative, Ruth Foundation for the Arts, Surdna Foundation, Wallace Foundation, William Penn Foundation and Wyncote Foundation, in addition to its board of directors, community partners and a host of generous individual donors and organizations.

About BlackStar Projects

BlackStar Projects, founded in 2012 by Maori Karmael Holmes as BlackStar Film Festival, creates the spaces and resources needed to uplift the work of Black, Brown and Indigenous artists working outside the confines of genre. Beyond the annual film festival the organization produces year-round programs, including film screenings, exhibitions, a filmmaker seminar, a film production lab and a journal of film, art and visual culture. 

These programs provide artists opportunities for viable strategies for collaborations with other artists, audiences, funders and distributors. BlackStar is working towards a liberatory world in which a vast spectrum of Black, Brown and Indigenous experiences is irresistibly celebrated in arts and culture.

BlackStar Projects, the premier organization celebrating visionary Black, Brown and Indigenous film and media artists, is thrilled to announce the selections for the 2025 BlackStar Film Festival.

This year’s festival will take place from July 31-August 3, 2025, with in-person film screenings at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the Wilma Theater and the Suzanne Roberts Theatre. Parties and events will be held at various venues across Philadelphia to mark the 14th annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of Black, Brown and Indigenous people from around the world.

All access passes for the festival are available for purchase here; individual tickets for in-person and virtual screenings will go on sale in early July.

The 2025 BlackStar Film Festival is set to feature a total of 92 films representing 35 countries, including 20 World, 13 North American, 4 United States, 7 East Coast and 46 Philadelphia premieres. This year’s films explore an expansive range of ideas and issues from independent filmmakers of the global majority, including the use of music as a tool of resistance, pathways to thriving amidst political repression and environmental crisis and stories that show the importance of long-term, sustainable community building.

Highlights from this year’s robust lineup include the world premiere of Louis Massiah and Monica Henriquez’s TCB – The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing, the North American premiere of Jenn Nkiru’s The Great North, a special screening of Kahlil Joseph’s BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions and the North America premiere of Letitia Wright’s Highway to the Moon.

“We have a collection of films in this year’s program that embody BlackStar’s vision of cinema as a tool for liberation,” said Festival Director, Nehad Khader. “Amidst troubling times, these filmmakers remind us of what is possible.”

In addition to film, there will be a slate of festival programming in-person. Selections include the return of BlackStar Pitch—a live competition open to public attendance, which will award $75,000 in production funds to a winning short documentary—presented in partnership with Blackbird, daily panels and conversations with filmmakers and industry leaders, along with a Friday night concert and celebration at The Barnes Foundation.

“In our fourteenth year we continue to view the festival as an urgent gathering for filmmakers and cinephiles of color,” said BlackStar Founder, Chief Executive & Artistic Officer, Maori Karmael Holmes. “The need in this moment is not only for visionary cinema, but to be in space together around the work—to experience pleasure, rejuvenation and radical care in ways that push us towards action.”

BlackStar Film Festival has grown in attendance year over year, with more than 17,000 attendees participating in 2024. Beyond the festival, BlackStar Projects continues to expand its reach with initiatives like the Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab, a year long fellowship program that awards $50,000 in production funds to four local filmmakers developing a short narrative film. The program will culminate at this year’s festival with the world premiere of the four short films that were developed in BlackStar’s lab over the last year.

Among BlackStar Projects’ other programs are Seen, a journal of film, art and visual culture, that recently published its eighth issue and the William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar, held in March with Stanford University’s Institute for Diversity in the Arts. The organization also recently celebrated the addition of André Robert Lee, President & Founder, Many Things Productions, to its board of directors.

The full lineup of films is below:

16 ½, directed by Harlan Banks

A LUTA CONTINUA // ATARAXY 44, directed by Curtis Essel

A New Voice, directed by Mike Davis and Debbie Davis

Adamstown, directed by Andrew Bilindabagabo

All That’s Left of You, directed by Cherien Dabis

all the love i could handle , directed by Ruby Rose Collins

Another Other, directed by Bex Oluwatoyin Thompson

Axel, directed by Stefani Saintonge

Binnigula’sa’ (Ancient Zapotec People), directed by Jorge Ángel Pérez

Black Glass, directed by Adam Piron

BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions, directed by Kahlil Joseph

Bloodlines, Mississippi, directed by Crystal Kayiza

Boil That Cabbage Down, directed by Candace Williamson

Brick by Brick, directed by Victória Álvares and Quentin Delaroche

Bubbling Baby, directed by Sharine Rijsenburg

Budget Paradise , directed by LaTajh Simmons-Weaver

Bukra (بُكرا), directed by Alex Aljouni

Cais, directed by Safira Moreira

Carissa, directed by Jason Jacobs and Devon Delmar

Celestine (Florida Storm), directed by Allison Janae Hamilton

Children of the Waves (Enfants des Courants d’Eaux), directed by Kezia Sakho

Compensation, directed by Zeinabu irene Davis

Correct Me If I’m Wrong (Ru ni suo yuan), directed by Hao Zhou

Dear Sikhonkwane, directed by Sihle Hlophe

Della Can Fly!, directed by Jasmine Lynea

Don’t Cry, Butterfly (Mưa trên cánh bướm), directed by Dương Diệu Linh

Dooni, directed by Kevin Jerome Everson and Claudrena N. Harold

Eternal Kinship (अनन्त नाता), directed by Arbin Rai

Exodus, directed by Nimco Sheikhaden

Food for the Soul, directed by Chisom Chieke

Gazan Tales (غزة التي تطل على البحر), directed by Mahmoud Nabil Ahmed

Hanami, directed by Denise Fernandes

Hatchlings, directed by Jahmil Eady

Highway to the Moon, directed by Letitia Wright

Hosts for Half a Century (Anfitriões há meio século), directed by Typju Mỹky and André Tupxi Lopes

Images de Tunisie (صور من تونس), directed by Younès Ben Slimane

Kanenon:we – Original Seeds, directed by Katsitsionni Fox

L’Arbre de l’Authenticité, directed by Sammy Baloji

Lana, directed by Laetitia Angba and Julie R. Lissouba

Las Cosas Que Brillan, directed by Kristal Sotomayor

Last Hoorah at G-Baby’s , directed by DeeDee Casimir

Leaving Ikorodu In 1999, directed by Rashida Seriki

Lees Waxul, directed by Yoro Mbaye

Listen to Me, directed by Stephanie Etienne and Kanika Harris

Listen to the Voices (Kouté vwa), directed by Maxime Jean-Baptiste

Love, Brooklyn, directed by Rachael Abigail Holder

LWC (Lazy White Cows) (VBP (Vacas Brancas Preguiçosas)), directed by Asaph Luccas

Maqluba, directed by Mike Elsherif

Move Ya Body: The Birth of House, directed by Elegance Bratton

Natimorto, directed by Ibrahem Hasan and Leandro HBL

Next Life, directed by Tenzin Phuntsog

Nobody’s Word, directed by Camara Taylor

OCEANIA, directed by Valentin Noujaïm

One Day This Kid, directed by Alexander Farah

Oríkì Oshun, directed by Elena Guzman

Otherworld, directed by Lokotah Sanborn

Piñata Prayers, directed by Daniel Larios

Possible Landscapes, directed by Kannan Arunasalam

Ree’s Destiny, directed by Steven Mosley

Remaining Native, directed by Paige Bethmann

RUN, SISTER JOAN, directed by Wale Oyejide

Sabbatical, directed by Karabo Lediga

Seeds, directed by Brittany Shyne

Seek No Favor, directed by Elle Clay and Leilah Weinraub

Space to Breathe, directed by Juicebox P. Burton

Spaces As Traces, directed by Teo Shi Yun

Speaking in Tongues: Take One, directed by Christopher Harris

Sugar Island, directed by Johanne Gomez Terrero

Sun Ra: Do the Impossible, directed by Christine Turner

Talking Walls, directed by Marcellus

TCB – The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing, directed by Louis Massiah and Monica Henriquez

Teaching America, directed by Anurima Bhargava

Tessitura, directed by Lydia Cornett and Brit Fryer

The Debutantes, directed by Contessa Gayles

The Devil Is Busy, directed by Christalyn Hampton and Geeta Gandbhir

The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing, directed by Theo Panagopoulos

The Great North, directed by Jenn Nkiru

The Last Harvest, directed by Nuno Boaventura Miranda

The River, directed by Herrana Addisu

The Shadow Scholars, directed by Eloise King

The Sixth Borough, directed by Jason Pollard

The Volcano Manifesto, directed by Cauleen Smith

Third Act, directed by Tadashi Nakamura

Tiger, directed by Loren Waters

Twenty Three, directed by Wasima Farah and Kamyar Mohsenin

Two Niles, directed by Rodrigo de Janeiro and Samuel Lobo

Untitled (How High the Moon), directed by Rashida Bumbray

Viet and Nam, directed by Minh Quy Truong

We Want The Funk!, directed by Stanley Nelson and Nicole London

We Were the Scenery, directed by Christopher Radcliff

White House (Kasa Branca), directed by Luciano Vidigal

Why the Sun & Moon Live in the Sky, directed by Aisha Bolaji

 

Information on juries, additional programming and events will be announced soon. For more information on the festival and its programs, visit https://www.blackstarfest.org/festival.

This year’s festival is presented with major support from Open Society Foundations. Other sponsors include American Friends Service Committee, Andscape, Black Public Media, Blueprint Commercial, The Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia, Color Congress, Eventive, Firelight Media, Hyperallergic, International Documentary Association, Impact Partners, ITVS, Kashif, Monarch Yoga, NEON, Philadelphia Foundation, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Points North Institute, Runway, University of Pennsylvania Department of Cinema & Media Studies and WORLD Channel. 

BlackStar Projects and its year-round programs are generously supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Critical Minded, Department of Community and Economic Development, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, Independence Public Media Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, NEO Philanthropy, The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, Pop Culture Collaborative, Ruth Foundation for the Arts, Surdna Foundation, Wallace Foundation, William Penn Foundation and Wyncote Foundation, in addition to its board of directors, community partners and a host of generous individual donors and organizations.

 

About BlackStar Projects
BlackStar Projects, founded in 2012 by Maori Karmael Holmes as BlackStar Film Festival, creates the spaces and resources needed to uplift the work of Black, Brown and Indigenous artists working outside the confines of genre. Beyond the annual film festival the organization produces year-round programs, including film screenings, exhibitions, a filmmaker seminar, a film production lab and a journal of film, art and visual culture. 

These programs provide artists opportunities for viable strategies for collaborations with other artists, audiences, funders and distributors. BlackStar is working towards a liberatory world in which a vast spectrum of Black, Brown and Indigenous experiences is irresistibly celebrated in arts and culture.

BlackStar Projects, the premier organization celebrating visionary Black, Brown, and Indigenous film and media artists, is pleased to announce the award-winning films from the 12th edition of the BlackStar Film Festival. The full list of award winners is below.

Among those recognized are Andres “Jay” Molina and Alexis Neophytides’s Fire Through Dry Grass, honored with the Jury Award for Best Feature Documentary. Fire Through Dry Grass, which made its world premiere at the festival, chronicles the experiences of the Reality Poets, a collective of young, disabled Black and Brown artists documenting their pandemic experiences within New York City’s nursing homes. The jury also named Girl, directed by Adura Onashile, as Best Feature Narrative. Girl tells the story of eleven-year-old Ama and her mother, Grace, who take solace in the gentle but isolated world they obsessively create.

This year, the first-ever Climate Justice Award—presented in partnership with the Center for Cultural Power—was awarded to Mirasol, a short narrative directed by Annalise Lockhart, set in 2043. Amidst a transformed climate, the film follows Mirasol, living on a farm with her mother and grandmother, as she discovers and tends to a seedling, eventually getting the courage to show her mother what she’s been working on.

The Audience Award winners are also listed below and among the films recognized is MnM, directed by Twiggy Pucci Garçon, selected by BlackStar members for the Shine Award, given annually to a first-time filmmaker. MnM is a short documentary that explores the experience of being nonbinary in the drag ballroom community. 

The honorees were selected from a slate of 93 films representing 31 countries.

“The energy around this year’s festival, being on Broad Street for the first time, has been tremendous and matched only by the power and creativity of the filmmaking on display,” says BlackStar Founder, Chief Executive and Artistic Director Maori Karmael Holmes. “We’re thrilled to have showcased so many groundbreaking films this year, and extend our congratulations to the filmmakers honored by the festival’s jurors and audience members.”

“The filmmakers, audience, and staff at BlackStar 2023 came with so much energy and enthusiasm,” said Festival Director Nehad Khader. “We are forever grateful to the joy we co-created.”

The 2023 BlackStar Film Festival’s lineup spanned narrative features and shorts, documentary features and shorts, and experimental films and showcased 19 world, 11 North America, 5 US, and 10 East Coast premieres. 47 films were Philadelphia premieres. The festival is an Academy Award-qualifying festival for both short documentary and short narrative films, making those awarded as Best Narrative Short and Best Documentary Short eligible for entrance at the Academy Awards.

In addition to screenings, this year’s festival included panels, workshops, parties, morning yoga sessions, and The Daily Jawn—formerly a daily talk show—was transformed into a stage activation replete with daily conversations hosted by Maori Karmael Holmes, Dr. Yaba Blay, Shanti Mayers, and D’Lo. Guests included Violeta Ayala, Zeinabu irene Davis, Michelle Parkerson, Dr. Fahamu Pecou, and J. Wortham, among others. The Daily Jawn Stage was also the site of panels and, for the first time, live podcast tapings featuring festival guests with partners Love+Grit, Well-Read Black Girl, Micheaux Mission, Around the Way Curls, and BlackStar’s own Many Lumens.

Jury Awards:

BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM

Jurors: Awa Konaté, Nour Ouayda, Portia E. Cobb

Winner: Before I Let Go, dir. Cameron A Granger

Five years ago, the eastside neighborhood of a town called Bad City was leveled by giant monsters called the Titans. Before I Let Go is told from the eyes of a filmmaker who was recently hired by the city to document the community’s recovery efforts — and now is seeing just how different the road to recovery can look for a city, and for its people.

Jury Comment: “This film uses fiction to subvert our expectations and expresses loss in a most surprising way. Every moment was creating synergy, it was ingenious, thought-provoking, and fun. In a word, this storytelling is seductive. By fabricating an archive to retell a story, the film effectively translates the mourning for a lost home and community.”

Honorable Mention: Quiet As It’s Kept, dir. Ja’Tovia Gary

Quiet As It’s Kept is a contemporary cinematic response to The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison’s first novel, published in 1970. Set in Ohio in 1941, the book is an evocative illustration of the everyday particulars of colorism and its ravaging effects on the intramural.

Jury Comment: “The experimental jury wants to lift up another phenomenal experimental film — a constellation of images, this film is a polyphony of archival and non-archival footage that is heightened by a jazz score. It is receiving a special mention because it feels otherworldly in its upending of traditional modalities of editing and rethinks and re-presents the continuity of the violence of American history.”

BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY

Jurors: Loira Limbal, Louis Massiah, Naomi Johnson

Winner: Fire Through Dry Grass, dirs. Andres “Jay” Molina and Alexis Neophytides

Wearing snapback caps and Air Jordans, the Reality Poets aren’t typical nursing home residents. In Fire Through Dry Grass, these young, Black and Brown, disabled artists document their pandemic experiences, their rhymes underscoring the danger they feel in the face of institutional neglect.

Jury Comment: “The feature documentary jury-award winning film stands strong as an investigative report with its concise clarity and unique perspective, yet it’s also stylized beautifully as a tapestry that weaves the characters together. With its brilliant approach, the jury wishes to recognize the many challenges these filmmakers faced in these conditions during this time period, yet made a film with elevated sound design, compelling cinematography, and phenomenal characters.” 

BEST FEATURE NARRATIVE 

Jurors: Aseye Tamakloe, Elhum Shakerifar, Jason Reynolds

Winner: Girl, dir. Adura Onashile

Eleven-year-old Ama and her mother, Grace, take solace in the gentle but isolated world they obsessively create. But Ama’s thirst for life and her need to grow and develop challenge the rules of their insular world and gradually force Grace to reckon with a past she struggles to forget.

Jury Comment: “A visually stunning film, this feature narrative pushes us to infer, imagine, and stretch our imagination. The nuances of this film were sharp, and its silences were haunting — ultimately, the filmmaker made us feel what we couldn’t see. This is compelling storytelling at its finest, complete with excellent performances, visual metaphors, and a brilliant use of space that served the story.”

BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY

Jurors: Aiko Masubuchi, Asad Muhammad, Tracy Rector

Winner: Bone Black: Midwives vs. the South, dir. Imani Nikyah Dennison

Bone Black: Midwives vs. The South is an experimental short documentary about the history and erasure of Black midwives in the American South and how the attack on birth workers has contributed toward the Black infant and maternal mortality crisis.

Jury Comment: “The winning film layered a complex topic with care while making daring aesthetic choices. It’s a short documentary that is clear about its audience and came through with a strong vision coupled with beautiful cinematography.” 

Honorable Mention: A Bear Named Jesus, dir. Terril Calder

In stop-motion film A Bear Named Jesus, we meet Archer Pechawis, who is living on the rez. At Archer’s Aunty Gladys’ funeral, his mom is abducted by rabid bears and converted to fundamentalist Christianity. That night, he hears a tap on the window — it’s a bear named Jesus, who has come to apologize for the actions of the rabid bears. A Bear Named Jesus is an allegory for religious interference, with an aching yet humorous look at estrangement and mourning for the loss of someone still living. 

Jury Comment: “The jury felt unanimously that a second film deserved a special mention for its evocative and vulnerable storytelling, its compelling style, and its deftness at conveying complicated emotion, recognizing all the work that goes into creating stop-motion animation and doing it so richly in just 6 minutes.” 

BEST SHORT NARRATIVE

Jurors: Carmen Thompson, Dagmawi Woubshet, DJ Lynnée Denise

Winner: Sèt Lam, dir. Vincent Fontano

In an insular city’s ghetto, in the midst of a trance ritual, a young girl is paralyzed by fear. She is afraid her loved ones may be hurt or even disappear. It is then that her grandmother tells her the strange tale of Edwardo, the first one of his kin to have seen and fought death.

Jury Comment: “The winning film selected by the short narrative jury is hypnotic, strange, and unpredictable, one that embodies the very genre of short filmmaking. Though the film is a moving, shifting one, everything felt intentional, and with a unique directorial voice, the filmmaker managed to build trust and deliver exquisite visual imagery.” 

Honorable Mention: The Truth About Alvert, the Last Dodo, dir. Nathan Clement

On Réunion Island, little Lunet and his grandfather Dadabé set out on a quest to turn a chicken into a dodo bird, whose magic feathers might save the sick mother of the kid.

Jury Comment: “The jury also wants to recognize a unique, playful film that captures childhood anguish and a beautiful intergenerational relationship between grandparent and grandchild. Its cinematography is a love letter to Reunion Island, this film is an enjoyable and charming little drama.”

Special Prizes:

BEST DIRECTOR OF CLIMATE STORYTELLING (CENTER FOR CULTURAL POWER)

Winner: Mirasol, dir. Annalise Lockhart

Mirasol lives a monotonous and somewhat lonely life on a farm with her mother and grandmother. One day out gardening, she finds a seedling growing in a puddle outside. She takes care of it in secret, eventually getting the courage to show her mother what she’s been working on.

SHINE AWARD

Winner: MnM, dir. Twiggy Pucci Garçon

MnM is an exuberant portrait of chosen sisters Mermaid and Milan, two emerging runway divas in the drag ballroom community. Celebrating their joy, siblinghood and unapologetic personas, the film explores the power and beauty of being nonbinary in a community that prizes gender “realness.”

Audience Awards: 

BEST EXPERIMENTAL 

Winner: Before I Let Go, dir. Cameron A. Granger 

BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY

Winner: Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, dir. by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster

BEST FEATURE NARRATIVE 

Winner: Mountains, dir. by Monica Sorelle

While looking for a new home for his family, a Haitian demolition worker is faced with the realities of redevelopment as he is tasked with dismantling his rapidly gentrifying Miami neighborhood.

BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY

Winner: Over the Wall, dir. Krystal Tingle

Nine seconds — it’s about all you have. Welcome to the fast-paced world of a NASCAR pit crew. Over the Wall is an immersive film following Brehanna Daniels, the first Black woman pit crew member and tire changer in NASCAR, as she works her way back from injury to participate in the Daytona 500, the biggest race in the sport. A testament to the power of perseverance and what it takes to be a trailblazer.

BEST SHORT NARRATIVE

Winner: Look Back At It, dir. Felicia Pride

A 40-something single mother gets her groove back with a little assistance from her teenage daughter.

The 2023 BlackStar Film Festival is presented with the support of the following sponsors: American Documentary/POV, Annenberg School For Communication, Black Public Media, Center For Cultural Power, City of Philadelphia Department of Commerce, Descriptive Video Works, Expressway Cinema Rentals, Eventive, Firelight Media, Gotham Film & Media Institute, Indego, ITVS, Kashif Incubator, MediaJustice, NEON, Open Society Foundations, University of Pennsylvania Cinema and Media Studies, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Runway, Taproot Earth, Temple University Film and Media Arts Department, Urban Outfitters, Warner Bros/Discovery, W Hotel, and WORLD Channel.

 

BlackStar Projects and its year-round programs are generously supported by Critical Minded, Ford Foundation/JustFilms, Gucci Changemakers, Independence Public Media Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Michael Jordan Black Community Commitment Fund, Mighty Arrow Family Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Nathan Cummings Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, Perspective Fund, Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, Philadelphia’s Cultural Treasures Fund, Philadelphia Foundation/Black Community Leaders Fund, Pop Culture Collaborative, Ruth Foundation for the Arts, Samuel S. Fels Fund, Surdna Foundation, Wallace Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and Wyncote Foundation, in addition to its board of directors, community partners, and a host of generous individual donors and organizations.

 

About BlackStar Projects

BlackStar Projects is the producer of the BlackStar Film Festival, an annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of the African diaspora and global communities of color — showcasing films by Black, Brown, and Indigenous people from around the world. In addition to the acclaimed festival, BlackStar presents an array of programming across film and visual culture year-round, including the twice-annual journal Seen, the podcast Many Lumens, the William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar, and the Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab, among other initiatives.

 

Press Contacts

Ed Winstead

Vice President, Cultural Counsel

ed@culturalcounsel.com

Devon Ma

Senior Account Coordinator, Cultural Counsel

devon@culturalcounsel.com

Jane Drinkard

Account Coordinator, Cultural Counsel

jane@culturalcounsel.com

BlackStar Projects, the premier organization celebrating visionary Black, Brown, and Indigenous film and media artists, is pleased to announce its full slate of programming for the 2022 BlackStar Film Festival. Taking place both online and in-person in Philadelphia, this year’s festival includes in-person screenings at Penn Live Arts at Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts; panel discussions, workshops, and parties at sites across Philadelphia; and virtual events accessible to a global audience.

Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from actors, filmmakers, visual artists, and radical thinkers, including Arthur Jafa, Coco Fusco, Dindga McCannon, and dream hampton, among others. Panels and conversations, the full list of which is below, will address topics including youth perspectives on screen, Black spiritual traditions rendered through the moving image, accessibility within filmmaking practices, the affective power of sound in Black and Indigenous storytelling, healing-centered production practices, and more.

Various events will highlight BlackStar’s year-round initiatives, including a recording of BlackStar’s signature podcast, Many Lumens, featuring BlackStar Founder, Artistic Director, and CEO Maori Karmael Holmes in conversation with 2022 Richard Nichols Luminary Award recipient Mira Nair. Another highlight: a conversation between Dessane Lopez Cassell—Editor-In-Chief of Seen, BlackStar’s journal of film and visual culture—and visual artist Dindga McCannon, extending Zoé Samudzi’s profile of the artist in the journal’s recently released fourth issue. This edition of the BlackStar Film Festival will also mark the world premiere of short films created through BlackStar’s Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab, presented by Black Experience on Xfinity.

“With everything going on in the world, we hope that through the festival we can provide a space of joy, reflection, and healing. We are excited to present another hybrid edition of the festival with both IRL and virtual programming with audiences across the globe,” said BlackStar Founder, Artistic Director, and CEO Maori Karmael Holmes.

Each evening, at 7pm ET, the festival will present The Daily Jawn, a talk show hosted by Holmes, with sidekick filmmaker-artist Rashid Zakat and house band directed by Luke Carlos O’Reilly, and featuring interviews with filmmakers and panelists, musical guests, games, and much more.

In addition to the conversations and panels, and daily film screenings at Penn Live Arts, there will be a variety of community events and parties in Philadelphia this August. These include morning group yoga sessions at Drexel Square and opening and closing night parties. The parties and yoga sessions will be free and open to the public — registration is available for both the opening and closing night parties on the festival site.

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, Brown and Indigenous artists from around the world. The 2022 edition is set to feature a total of 76 films representing 27 countries, including 16 world, 8 North America, 12 East Coast, and 8 US premieres. It will include narrative features and shorts, documentary features and shorts, and experimental films. 

“Our programs are an integral part of each year’s festival, as they introduce our audiences to the visionary creatives bringing these powerful stories to life,” said Festival Director Nehad Khader. “This year’s slate of events promises to further illuminate the many themes and ideas drawn across the screenings.”

Passes for the festival are available for purchase here. Offerings include an all-access pass ($250) and a virtual festival pass ($125). Individual tickets for virtual and in-person screenings are $5 and $15, respectively.

An overview of events is below, and the full list of film screenings and program descriptions is available via the festival schedule here. All venues will be wheelchair accessible, and most in-person events will have American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters. Select films will also feature Audio Description (AD) for blind & low-vision audiences.

Panels & Conversations

[dot] Conversation: The Passion of Remembrance  

Wednesday August 3, 2-4:30pm, Penn Live Arts – Zellerbach Theater with Coco Fusco and Louis Massiah 

[dot] Conversation: Seen with Dindga McCannon

Wednesday August 3, 5-6pm, Penn Museum – Rainey Auditorium

[dot] Panel: Childhood on Screen

Thursday August 4, 1-2pm, Penn Live Arts – Montgomery Theater with Alaa Zabara, Bria and Bilal Motley, Iyana Le’Shea, and Jo Rochelle, moderated by Stormy Kelsey

[dot] Panel: Horror and Sound

Thursday August 4, 5-6pm, Virtual Event with Lisa Taouma, Mario Gaoa, Nikyatu, Tanerélle, Mario Gaoa and Lisa Taouma moderated by Sultana Isham

[dot] Workshop: From Reflection to Release: Uplifting a Values-Based Filmmaking Practice

Friday August 5, 1-2:30pm, Annenberg School – Room 110 with Bhawin Suchak, Dr. Kameelah Mu’Min Rashad, Natalie Bullock Brown, Sherry Simpson, and Sonya Childress 

[dot] Panel: Expressions of Spirit

Friday August 5, 5-6pm, Virtual Event with Ashon Crawley, Dr. Kokahvah Zauditu-Selassie, Koko Selassie, Rashid Shabazz, Rashid Zakat, and Taylor Aldridge

[dot] Many Lumens: Mira Nair and Maori Karmael Holmes

Saturday August 6, 1-2pm, Virtual Event, Sponsored by Temple University School of Theater, Film and Media Arts

[dot] Panel: Closed Door Industry Roundtable

Saturday August 6, 5-6pm, Event for Filmmakers Only, Presented by STARZ/Lionsgate

[dot] Panel: Disability Justice and Filmmaking

Sunday August 7, 1-2pm, Virtual Event, Sponsored by MediaJustice, with Andres “Jay” Molina, Natasha Ofili, Reveca Torres, moderated by Andraéa LaVant

[dot] Panel: Loss, Grief, Legacy

Sunday August 7, 5-6 pm, Virtual Event, Sponsored by the Scattergood Foundation, with Arthur Jafa, dream hampton, Lynneé Denise, and Marcia Smith; moderated by alexis pauline gumbs

In-Person Events & Screenings

[dot] Feature Screening: Lingui

Wednesday August 3, 11am, Zellerbach Theater

[dot] Feature Screening and Panel: The Passion of Remembrance 

Wednesday August 3, 2-4:30pm, Zellerbach Theater

[dot] Shorts Screening: Gather Me

Wednesday August 3, 5pm, Montgomery Theater 

[dot] Feature Screening and Q & A: Storming Caesar’s Palace

Wednesday August 3, 8:30pm, Zellerbach Theater

[dot] Opening Night Party

Wednesday August 3, 9:30pm-12:30am, Bartram’s Garden

[dot] Yoga Class for Children

Thursday August 4, 9am, Drexel Square

[dot] Shorts Screening: Revivify 

Thursday August 4, 10am, Montgomery Theater

[dot] Shorts Screening: Sillage

Thursday August 4, 11am, Zellerbach Theater

[dot] Feature Screening: One Take Grace

Thursday August 4, 3pm, Zellerbach Theater

[dot] Feature Screening: Jasmine Is A Star

Thursday August 4, 5pm, Montgomery Theater

[dot] Feature Screening: Teine Sa

Thursday August 4, 8:30pm, Zellerbach Theater

[dot] Yoga Class at Drexel Square

Friday August 5, 9am, Drexel Square 

[dot] Shorts Screening and Q & A: Savvy 

Friday August 5, 10am, Montgomery Theater

[dot] Screening and Q & A: The African Desperate 

Friday August 5, 11am, Zellerbach Theater

[dot] Shorts Screening and Q & A: Pulsate

Friday August 5, 1pm, Montgomery Theater

[dot] Screening and Q & A: Aftershock 

Friday August 5, 3pm, Zellerbach Theater

[dot] Feature Screening and Q & A: Silent Beauty

Friday August 5, 5pm, Montgomery Theater

[dot] First Friday! with BlackStar Film Festival featuring Omar’s Hat and Blackalachia (by Moses Sumney)

Friday August 5, 6-9pm, The Barnes Foundation

[dot] Shorts Screening and Q & A: Locomote

Friday August 5, Zellerbach Theater

[dot] Yoga Class at Drexel Square

Saturday August 6, 9am, Drexel Square  

[dot] BlackStar Bazaar

Saturday August 6, 10am-8pm and Sunday August 7, 10am-3pm, Penn Live Arts – Courtyard

[dot] Feature Screening and Q & A: Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power

Saturday August 6, 10am, Montgomery Theater

[dot] Shorts Screening and Q & A: Effectuate

Saturday August 6, 11am, Zellerbach Theater

[dot] Shorts Screening and Q & A: Observer Effect

Saturday August 6, 1pm, Montgomery Theater

[dot] Feature Screening and Q & A: Wisdom Gone Wild

Saturday August 6, 3pm, Zellerbach Theater

[dot] Feature Screening and Q & A: Kash Kash

Saturday August 6, 5pm, Montgomery Theater

[dot] Feature Screening and Q & A: Hazing 

Saturday August 6, 8:30pm, Zellerbach Theater

[dot] Yoga Class at Drexel Square

Saturday August 6, 9am, Drexel Square  

[dot] Shorts Screening and Q & A: Rising Tides

Sunday August 7, 10am, Montgomery Theater

[dot] Feature Screening and Q & A: Tug of War

Sunday August 7, 11am, Zellerbach Theater

[dot] Feature Screening and Q & A: Rewind & Play

Sunday August 7, 1pm, Montgomery Theater

[dot] Screening and Reception: Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab Films 

Sunday August 7, 3-5pm, Zellerbach Theater

[dot] Shorts Screening and Q & A: Withstand

Sunday August 7, 5pm, Montgomery Theater

[dot] Feature Screening and Q & A: Marte Um/Mars One 

Sunday August 7, 8:30pm, Zellerbach Theater

[dot] Closing Night Party

Sunday August 7, 9:30pm-12:30am, Penn Live Arts – Courtyard

All times in ET. For more information on festival programming, and to register for these events, please visit https://www.blackstarfest.org/festival/

This year’s festival is presented with the support of the following sponsors: AmDoc/POV, Annenberg School For Communication, Black Public Media, Catapult Film Fund, Center For Cultural Power, Drexel Westphal College of Media Arts, Expressway Grip, Eventive, Firelight Media, Gotham Film & Media Institute, Impact Partners, Indego, ITVS, Leeway Foundation, Lionsgate/STARZ, MediaJustice, Meta, NEON, Open Society Foundations, PBS, PECO, Philadelphia Foundation, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Red Bull, Scattergood Foundation, The Study Hotels, Temple University Film and Media Arts Department, Unique Photo, Urban Affairs Coalition, Urban Outfitters, Warner Bros./Discovery, Wyncote Foundation and Xfinity.

BlackStar Projects and its year-round programs are generously supported by Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Critical Minded, Ford Foundation/JustFilms, Gucci Changemakers Fund, Independence Public Media Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Mighty Arrow Family Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Perspective Fund, Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, Philadelphia Cultural Treasurers, Philadelphia Foundation, Ruth Foundation for the Arts, Samuel S. Fels Fund, Surdna Foundation, Wallace Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and Wyncote Foundation, in addition to its board of directors, community partners, and a host of generous individual donors and organizations.

About BlackStar Projects

BlackStar Projects is the producer of the BlackStar Film Festival, an annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of the African diaspora and global communities of color — showcasing films by Black, Brown, and Indigenous people from around the world. In addition to the acclaimed festival, BlackStar presents an array of programming across film and visual culture year-round, including the twice-annual journal Seen, the podcast Many Lumens, the William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar, and the Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab, among other initiatives. 

Press Contacts

Ed Winstead

Senior Director, Cultural Counsel

ed@culturalcounsel.com

Sam Riehl 

Senior Account Executive, Cultural Counsel

sam@culturalcounsel.com 

Emma Frohardt

Senior Account Coordinator, Cultural Counsel

emma@culturalcounsel.com

Devon Ma

Account Coordinator, Cultural Counsel

devon@culturalcounsel.com

BlackStar Projects, the premier organization celebrating visionary Black, Brown, and Indigenous film and media artists, today announced the films selected for inclusion in this year’s 11th annual BlackStar Film Festival. 

The festival will take place August 3-7, 2022 in a hybrid format, with select in-person screenings, live programs, and panels at Penn Live Arts at Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, and online events accessible to a global audience. It will include narrative features and shorts, documentary features and shorts, and experimental films. Festival attendees will also have access to a range of programs, conversations, and parties across the city. 

Passes for the festival are now available for purchase here. An all-access pass is currently available for an early bird rate of $200 (normally $250), and a virtual festival pass is currently available for an early bird rate of $100 (normally $125). Individual tickets for virtual and in-person screenings, which go on sale in early July, will be $5 and $15, respectively.

The 2022 BlackStar Film Festival is set to feature a total of 76 films representing 27 countries, including 16 world, 8 North America, 12 East Coast, and 8 US premieres. 25 films will be Philadelphia premieres. 

“Following the success of last year’s 10th anniversary celebration, we are thrilled to present this year’s festival and hope it allows filmmakers of the global majority to forge new connections with their audiences,” says BlackStar Founder, Artistic Director, and CEO Maori Karmael Holmes. “We curate every aspect of our events to be intentional community building efforts, centered on joy, radical care, and thriving, and we are excited to witness how this year’s festival embodies that spirit.” 

“We are excited to continue connecting with and welcoming our community in-person and virtually. This festival is a storytelling celebration with programming that has lots of people in mind—from yoga for families to parties to issue-based documentaries and horror films,” added Festival Director Nehad Khader. 

Stills from (clockwise from top left): Jasmine is a Star, ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught), The Spirit God Gave Us, and Tug of War.

Selections from this year’s lineup include: 

Aftershock—a feature documentary directed by Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee—follows two families as they galvanize activists, birth-workers, and physicians to reckon with the US maternal health crisis after having lost loved ones due to childbirth complications.

Blackalachia—an experimental film by Moses Sumney featuring a live conceptual performance with a 7-piece band atop the Blue Ridge Mountains—captures the intersection between nature, music, dance, and cinematography.

Conspiracy—an experimental film co-directed by Simone Leigh and Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich—was shot in Leigh’s studio on the occasion of her historic exhibition in the United States Pavilion at the 2022 Venice Biennale.

Jasmine is a Star—a feature narrative directed by Jo Rochelle—follows the journey of a determined 16-year-old with albinism (lack of pigment in the hair, skin, and eyes) who makes it her mission to become a professional model in her hometown of Minneapolis, while attempting to go unnoticed in every other aspect of her teenage life.

Let the Little Light Shine—a feature documentary directed by Kevin Shaw—follows parents, students, and educators as they fight for the survival of a thriving, top-ranked Chicago African American elementary school that is threatened to be closed and replaced by a new high school that favors the community’s wealthier residents.

Mars One—a feature narrative directed by Gabriel Martins—chronicles a Brazilian family coping with an uncertain future as a far-right conservative leader rises to power. Through this time of turbulent change, the family’s optimism and deep capacity for love guides them.

Rewind & Play—a feature documentary directed by Alain Gomis—spotlights Thelonius Monk recording a French TV show in 1969. 

Selahy “My Weapon”—a short narrative directed by Alaa Zabara—follows a young, deaf Arab girl, born in the ravages of a war zone, whose only weapons are her hearing aids and an old video camera.

Storming Caesar’s Palace—a feature documentary directed by Hazel Gurland-Pooler— uplifts the story of Las Vegas activist Ruby Duncan and a band of ordinary mothers who launched one of the most extraordinary, yet forgotten, feminist, anti-poverty movements in U.S. history.

Sub Eleven Seconds—a short documentary directed by Bafic—ruminates on time, loss, and hope; it offers a poetic imagining of the quest of Sha’Carri Richardson, a young track and field athlete, to achieve her dream of qualifying for the Olympic Games.

The Panola Project—a short documentary directed by Rachael DeCruz and Jeremy S. Levine—highlights the heroic efforts of Dorothy Oliver to keep her small town of Panola, Alabama safe from COVID-19, chronicling how an often-overlooked rural Black community came together in creative ways to survive.

The Spirit God Gave Us—a short narrative directed by Michael Donte—is a love story about the intersection of faith and queer love. Following two young Black men who volunteer as ushers for their Baptist church, it chronicles their journey towards love, connection and spirituality.

Tug of War—a feature narrative directed by Amil Shivji—is a coming-of-age political love story set in the final years of British colonial Zanzibar. Denge, a young freedom fighter, meets Yasmin, an Indian-Zanzibari woman, in the middle of the night as she is on her way to be married. 

We Still Here / Nos Tenemos—a feature documentary directed by Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi— showcases the aftermath of Hurricane Maria for the young residents of Comerio, Puerto Rico, who empower themselves to transform their lives and communities despite the disregard of the government and poor relief management.

ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught)—a short documentary directed by Brit Hensel and filmed on the Qualla Boundary and Cherokee Nation—explores expressions of reciprocity in the Cherokee world, brought to life through a story told by an elder and first language speaker.

This edition of BlackStar Film Festival also marks the world premiere of short films created through BlackStar’s Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab, presented by Black Experience on Xfinity, following the announcement of the Lab’s inaugural cohort last fall. An opportunity designed to uplift emerging and mid-career artists in the Greater Philadelphia area, the Lab has supported four filmmakers by making equipment, space, crew, mentorship, funding, and critical feedback available over the course of the past year. The Lab’s 2021–2022 fellows are Bettina Escauriza, Jasmine Lynea, Xenia Matthews, and Julian Turner.

Bettina Escauriza’s project, Tonight, We Eat Flowers, centers on a person who sells hold music to companies, employing magical realism and the absurd to disrupt expectations. Jasmine Lynea’s hybrid film, The Love Machine, is set in 2036 North Philadelphia in a dominantly Black neighborhood and focuses on cultivating a new perspective on love. Julian Turner’s short, The Big Three, engages a conversation surrounding Black representation and artistic ownership through a musical setting. Xenia Matthews’s film Ourika! utilizes surrealism, animation, and multimedia elements to further the ongoing conversation on the colonization of Black women’s bodies in art and material culture.

In addition to hybrid film screenings, there will be a slate of festival programming—both online and in-person in Philadelphia—this year. Select highlights include:

• [dot] A conversation with Mira Nair, the 2022 recipient of BlackStar’s Luminary Award (Virtual)
• [dot] Nightly episodes of The Daily Jawn—a talk show hosted by Maori Karmael Holmes and Rashid Zakat featuring interviews with filmmakers, music, and much more—live with an audience at Penn Live Arts (In-Person)
• [dot] Opening and closing night parties, plus a co-hosted First Friday! at the Barnes Museum, featuring live music by Omar’s Hat (In-Person)
• [dot] A panel on disability justice and filmmaking with visionary cultural workers, moderated by  Andraéa LaVant (Virtual) 

 

BlackStar Projects has seen considerable and continued growth over the past decade, both in the scope and reach of its festival and with new and continuing initiatives for the organization year-round. Last year’s 10th anniversary BlackStar Film Festival featured approximately 80 films, including 19 world premieres, and represented 27 countries. It was attended by more than 3,000 in Philadelphia and reached nearly 1 million viewers virtually around the world. 

In addition to presenting an array of live programs, panels, and select in-person events and screenings, 2021 also marked BlackStar’s selection by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival for both short documentary and short narrative films, making BlackStar’s Best Narrative Short and Best Documentary Short winners eligible for entrance at the Academy Awards. 

Among BlackStar Projects’ continuing initiatives are Seen, a journal of film and visual culture that will publish its fourth issue this summer, the William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar, and Many Lumens with Maori Karmael Holmes—BlackStar’s signature podcast, which finds BlackStar founder Maori Karmael Holmes in dialogue with the most groundbreaking artists, changemakers, and cultural workers of today. The organization also celebrated the beginning of this decade of expansion with the opening of a new headquarters this spring.

Information on judging, sponsors, additional programming, and events will be announced soon. For more information on the festival and its programs, visit https://www.blackstarfest.org.

The lineup of films is as follows, with additional films to be announced in the coming weeks:

A Morsel of Love, directed by Helia Behrooz and Sana Norouzbaki

The African Desperate, directed by Martine Syms

Aftershock, directed by Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee

Ãjãí: The Headball Game of the Myky and Manoki, directed by Typju Myky and André Lopes

Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman’s Apprentice, directed by Zacharias Kunuk

Another Story (with esperanza spalding), directed by Adrien Gystere Peskine and Anthony Peskine

Barry the Beekeeper, directed by Ikram Ahmed

Big Three, directed by Julian Turner

Black Beauty, directed by Elle Moxley

Blackalachia, directed by Moses Sumney

Body Language, directed by Odu Adamu

Bonded, directed by Shobhit Jain

By Water, directed by Iyabo Kwayana

Clones, directed by Letia Solomon

Conspiracy, directed by Simone Leigh and Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich

Echolocation, directed by Nadia Shihab

The Fire This Time, directed by Mariam Ghani

For Love, directed by Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor

Foreign in a Domestic Sense, directed by Sofía Gallisá Muriente and Natalia Lassalle Morillo

Forgotten Paradise: Dream the Other Side of the River, directed by Charlotte Brathwaite

The Fourfold, directed by Alisi Telengut

Freedom Hill, directed by Resita Cox

Freshwater, directed by dream hampton

The Game God(S), directed by Adrian L. Burrell

Glitter Ain’t Gold, directed by Christian Nolan Jones

Golden Jubilee, directed by Suneil Sanzgiri

Half-Day, directed by Morgan Mathews

Hazing, directed by Byron Hurt

Hoop Dreams, directed by Kasey Elise Walker

Jasmine Is A Star, directed by Jo Rochelle

Kash Kash, directed by Lea Najjar

Let the Little Light Shine, directed by Kevin Shaw

Lingui, The Sacred Bonds, directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

Losing Joy, directed by Juliana Kasumu

The Love Machine, directed by Jasmine Lynea

Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power, directed by Geeta Gandbhir and Sam Pollard

Mars One, directed by Gabriel Martins

Men Nan Men, directed by Wilson Edmond

My Parents’ Bazaar, directed by Rakesh Narwani

My Saints Recognize Your Saints, directed by Rodrigo Antonio

Night, directed by Ahmad Saleh

Night Shift, directed by Bim Ajadi

One Magenta Afternoon, directed by Vernon Jordan, III

One Take Grace, directed by Lindiwe Matshikiza

Ourika, directed by Xenia Matthews

The Panola Project, directed by Rachael DeCruz and Jeremy S. Levine

The Passion of Remembrance, directed by Isaac Julien

PATTY vs. PATTY, directed by Chris Strikes

Piiksi/Huia (Bird), directed by Cian Elyse White and Joshua Manyheads

Pili Ka Moʻo, directed by Justyn Ah Chong

Quarantine Kids, directed by Bilal Motley and Bria Motley

Rewind & Play, directed by Alain Gomis

The Ritual to Beauty, directed by Shenny De Los Angeles and Maria Marrone

The Season of Burning Things, directed by Gouled Ahmed Asmaa Jama

Selahy “My Weapon,” directed by Alaa Zabara

Show Me Other Places, directed by Rajee Samarasinghe

Silent Beauty, directed by Jasmín Mara López

The Spirit God Gave Us, directed by Michael Donte

Still Waters, directed by Aurora Brachman

Storming Caesars Palace, directed by Hazel Gurland-Pooler

Strictly Two Wheel, directed by Ania Freer

Sub Eleven Seconds, directed by BAFIC

Sunday Morning, directed by Bruno Ribeiro

The Syed Xmas Eve Game Night, directed by Fawzia Mirza

Teine Sā – The Ancient Ones, directed by Matasila Freshwater, Mario Gaoa, Miki Magasiva, Anapela Polataivao, and Mario Faumui

Tomorrow Is Another Day, directed by Ng’endo Mukii

Tonight, We Eat Flowers, directed by Bettina Escauriza

The Town, directed by Lindiwe Makgalemele

Tug Of War, directed by Amil Shivji

ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught), directed by Brit Hensel

Vortex, directed by Rikkí Wright

We Still Here / Nos Tenemos, directed by Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi

Weidle’s, directed by Kevin Jerome Everson

Wisdom Gone Wild, directed by Rea Tajiri

Woman of the Earth, directed by Evelyn Mercedes Muñoz Marroquín

You Can Always Come Home, directed by Juan Luis Matos

This year’s festival is presented with the support of the following sponsors: America ReFramed and POV, Annenberg School For Communication, Black Public Media, Catapult Film Fund, Center For Cultural Power, Drexel Westphal College of Media Arts, Expressway Grip, Eventive, Firelight Media, Gotham Film & Media Institute, Impact Partners, Indego, ITVS, Leeway Foundation, Lionsgate/STARZ, MediaJustice, NEON, Open Society Foundations, PBS, PECO, Philadelphia Foundation, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Red Bull, Scattergood Foundation, Temple University Film and Media Arts Department, The Study Hotels, Unique Photo, Urban Affairs Coalition, Urban Outfitters, Warner Bros/Discovery, WestxEast, and the Wyncote Foundation.

BlackStar Projects and its year-round programs are generously supported by Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Ford Foundation/JustFilms, Independence Public Media Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Mighty Arrow Family Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Perspective Fund, Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, Philadelphia Foundation, Samuel S. Fels Fund, Surdna Foundation, Wallace Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and Wyncote Foundation, in addition to its board of directors, community partners, and a host of generous individual donors and organizations.

About BlackStar Projects

BlackStar Projects is the producer of the BlackStar Film Festival, an annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of the African diaspora and global communities of color — showcasing films by Black, Brown, and Indigenous people from around the world. In addition to the acclaimed festival, BlackStar presents an array of programming across film and visual culture year-round, including the twice-annual journal Seen, the podcast Many Lumens, the William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar, and the Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab, among other initiatives. 

Press Contacts

Ed Winstead

Director, Cultural Counsel

ed@culturalcounsel.com

Sam Riehl 

Senior Account Executive, Cultural Counsel

sam@culturalcounsel.com 

Emma Frohardt

Senior Account Coordinator, Cultural Counsel

emma@culturalcounsel.com

BlackStar Projects, the premier organization celebrating visionary Black, Brown, and Indigenous film and media artists, is proud to announce that the next edition of its annual film festival will take place August 3-7, 2022. The 2022 BlackStar Film Festival will be held in a hybrid format again in light of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

This year marks the 11th edition of the BlackStar Film Festival. The organization celebrated the beginning of a new decade of growth and expansion with the opening of a new office space this month. Other new and continuing initiatives include the Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab, which announced its inaugural class in 2021, Seen, a journal of film and visual culture which will publish its fourth issue later this year, and Many Lumens, BlackStar’s signature podcast, which finds BlackStar founder Maori Karmael Holmes in dialogue with the most groundbreaking artists, changemakers, and cultural workers of today.

Submissions remain open until April 1st.

“Following the success of last year’s 10th anniversary festival, we are thrilled to continue building on that momentum as we support visionary Black, Brown, and Indigenous filmmakers and connect them with new opportunities and audiences,” said Maori Karmael Holmes, CEO, Artistic Director and Founder of BlackStar Projects. “We look forward to hosting another inspired gathering in-person and online this August.”

Based on the success of the day-long filmmaker symposium at the annual BlackStar Film Festival, the organization most recently hosted the second edition of the William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar from March 18-20, 2022. This three-day virtual gathering for Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists working in cinematic realms featured a keynote address on film futurism from award-winning filmmaker, artist, and technologist Violeta Ayala; live director’s commentaries with Haile Gerima (Harvest: 3,000 Years) and Jessica Beshir (Faya Dayi); a work-in-progress screening with Jude Chehab; curated programs of film screenings and workshops; panel discussions highlighting industry professionals; and much more. 183 individuals attended this year’s seminar, calling in from a dozen countries.

Last year’s 10th anniversary BlackStar Film Festival featured approximately 80 films, including 19 world premieres, and represented 27 countries. In addition to presenting an array of live programs, panels, and select in-person events and screenings, 2021 also marked BlackStar’s selection by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival for both short documentary and short narrative films, making BlackStar’s Best Narrative Short and Best Documentary Short winners eligible for entrance at the Academy Awards.

Similar to last year’s festival, the 2022 BlackStar Film Festival will be hybrid, with select in-person screenings at Penn Live Arts at Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia. Information on additional Philadelphia showings and venues is forthcoming.

BlackStar Projects and its year-round programs are generously supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Ford Foundation/JustFilms, Independence Public Media Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Mighty Arrow Family Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Open Society Foundations, Perspective Fund, The Philadelphia Foundation, PopCulture Collaborative, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Samuel S. Fels Fund, Surdna Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and Wyncote Foundation, in addition to its board of directors, community partners, and a host of generous individual donors and organizations.

Additional information on ticketing, jurors, sponsors, programming, and the slate of films that will be featured at this year’s festival will be announced soon. For overall information on BlackStar, including its festival and programs, visit blackstarfest.org.

 

About BlackStar Projects

BlackStar Projects is the producer of the BlackStar Film Festival, an annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of the African diaspora and global communities of color — showcasing films by Black, Brown, and Indigenous people from around the world. In addition to the acclaimed festival, BlackStar presents an array of programming across film and visual culture year-round, and produces the twice-annual journal Seen.

 

Press Contacts

Ed Winstead

Director, Cultural Counsel

ed@culturalcounsel.com

 

Emma Frohardt

Account Coordinator, Cultural Counsel

emma@culturalcounsel.com

BlackStar Projects, producer of the acclaimed BlackStar Film Festival, is thrilled to announce several new hires and staff promotions this January. Six new individuals are joining the team, bringing their respective expertise to the rapidly growing organization. This organizational growth represents the culmination of BlackStar’s tenth anniversary celebrations over the past year.

New additions to BlackStar include Akili Davis as Administrative Coordinator, Ashley Ijoema Omoma as Program Coordinator, Autumn F. Valdez as Business Manager, Dessane Lopez Cassell as Editor-in-Chief of Seen, Mariam Dembele as Marketing Associate, and Patrice Worthy as Director of Programs.

Dessane Lopez Cassell’s hire was previously announced last November with the debut of Seen Issue 003. Issue 004, the first with Cassell in the role of Editor-in-Chief, will be released this Spring.

Several team members have also been promoted, including Leo Brooks, who will assume the role of Design Manager. Imran Siddiquee will assume the role of Chief Communications Officer and Sara Zia Ebrahimi will become Chief Operations Officer this January.

“We’re thrilled to have these incredibly talented individuals joining our team as we continue to expand the scope of our organization and vision,” said Maori Karmael Holmes, Artistic Director and CEO of BlackStar. “I am also delighted to have Sara and Imran join me in leading the organization as we move into the second decade of BlackStar, leveraging our collective expertise and imagination for another transformative decade.”

BlackStar has opened festival submissions this week for their 2022 iteration, set to take place August 3-7. To be eligible for consideration, films must be directed by a person who identifies as Black, Brown, or Indigenous, or tell a story of Black, Brown or Indigenous experiences. Last year’s festival featured approximately 80 films, including 19 world premieres and representing 27 countries. Submissions may be uploaded via FilmFreeway.

For more information on festival submissions, please visit blackstarfest.org/submissions/.

In 2021, BlackStar presented the 10th annual BlackStar Film Festival, launched the Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab, presented a new limited-edition print each month through the BlackStar 10th Anniversary Print Sale, shared the first season of the Many Lumens podcast, and published two editions of Seen, their signature journal of film and visual culture. In 2022, this expansion will continue with additional signature programming alongside new events. More information on this year’s festival, and other BlackStar programs, will be announced soon.

For more information about the BlackStar team, please visit blackstarfest.org/staff.

 

About BlackStar Projects

BlackStar Projects is the producer of the BlackStar Film Festival, an annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of the African diaspora and global communities of color — showcasing films by Black, Brown, and Indigenous people from around the world. In addition to the acclaimed festival, BlackStar presents an array of programming across film and visual culture year-round, and produces the twice-annual journal Seen.

 

Press Contacts

Ed Winstead

Director, Cultural Counsel

ed@culturalcounsel.com

 

Emma Frohardt

Account Coordinator, Cultural Counsel

emma@culturalcounsel.com