BlackStar

Tag: Resource

  • In Defense of Black Life: Ways to Get Involved and Take Care of Yourself

    In Defense of Black Life: Ways to Get Involved and Take Care of Yourself

    Following the lead of The Movement for Black Lives and local Black organizations on the ground across the country, we’re encouraging people to donate to bail funds, support protests, and push forward efforts to defund the police this week in response to ongoing and historic police brutality against Black communities.

    We also recognize the need for rest and healing, as many of us are feeling exhausted by this all-too-familiar cycle.

    Below we’ve compiled some resources for these various ways of responding right now:

     

    DONATE

    Supporting Protestors

    Blavity has compiled a list of Black organizations to donate to for bail out and protests efforts nationwide. Community Justice Exchange and National Bail Fund Network also maintain a comprehensive list of bail funds across the country with links to learn more.

     

    DONATE

    Mutual Aid Funds

    Since many bail funds are receiving donations at this time, also consider supporting local mutual aid funds, which are providing essential resources in response to both COVID-19 and the curfews being implemented nationwide. This Twitter thread has links to many around the country, including in Philadelphia.

     

    DONATE

    Art for Philadelphia Community Bail Fund

    Curator Meg Onli (2018 BSFF Festival Director) has organized this initiative which features Philadelphia-based artists to raise money in support of Philadelphia Community Bail Fund. Artists include Jonathan Lyndon Chase, David Hartt, Marcus Maddox, and Tiona Nekkia McClodden. For more info or to purchase a limited edition print visit artforphiladelphia.com.

     

    ONLINE ACTION

    The Movement for Black Lives

    The Movement for Black Lives has specific calls to action for each day this week and ways of getting involved. Learn more here.

     

    ONLINE ACTION

    Defund the Police

    Philly We Rise is calling on community members to email Philadelphia City Council members and sign a petition calling for the defunding of the police in the City’s budget, which currently includes a $14 million dollar budget increase for the Philadelphia Police Department.

    Similarly, in Los Angeles, a number of groups — including Black Lives Matter LA and Dignity and Power Now — have developed People’s Budget LA, which calls on the city council to “fund services, not police.”

     

    REST AND HEALING

    Ethel’s Club Group Sessions for the Black Community

    Ethel’s Club is hosting two free, one hour virtual group healing & grieving sessions open to Black people across the world.⁣ See open dates and RSVP here.

     

    REST AND HEALING

    Virtual Mental Health Resources

    Jesse Sparks at healthyish has compiled a list of online resources providing virtual support to the Black community right now, including The Nap Ministry, which champions “Black rest as a form of reparations and resistance against burnout culture and capitalism.”

     

    GENERAL

    Additional Resources

  • Relief Funds and Resources for Artists Amidst COVID-19

    Relief Funds and Resources for Artists Amidst COVID-19

    As filmmakers, artists, and media makers of color navigate the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, we’re compiling emergency funds and other resources which are seeking to provide urgent relief. [Updated 4/22]

     

    DOCUMENTARY

    American Documentary COVID-19 Artist Emergency Fund

    This COVID-19 Artist Emergency Fund will provide rapid response grants up to $500 to assist artists with basic needs including food, immediate health needs and insurance premiums.

    APPLY

     

    GENERAL

    Arts and Culture Leaders of Color Emergency Fund

    Emergency fund providing up to $200 for people of color that are either a working artist or in arts administration and are affected by COVID-19.

    APPLY

     

    CINEMAS

    Art House America COVID-19 Relief Fund Application

    The purpose of the Art-House America Campaign is to provide urgent financial relief to art house cinemas. The campaign was established with a donation from the Criterion Collection and Janus Films and is managed by Art House Convergence.

     

    GENERAL

    ArtsRelief.org

    Artist Relief will distribute $5,000 grants to artists facing dire financial emergencies due to COVID-19; serve as an ongoing informational resource; and co-launch the COVID-19 Impact Survey for Artists and Creative Workers, designed by Americans for the Arts, to better identify and address the needs of artists.

     

    PHILADELPHIA

    COVID-19 Arts Aid PHL

    The City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (OACCE), the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance (GPCA), and the Philadelphia Cultural Fund (PCF) have partnered to create COVID-19 Arts Aid PHL, a new emergency support fund focused on the arts and culture sector. COVID-19 Arts Aid PHL will support individual artists as well as small arts and culture organizations (annual budgets no greater than $250,000) and mid-sized organizations (annual budgets of $250,000 – $15M) whose operations, work and livelihood have been deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

     

    DOCUMENTARY

    Field of Vision/Topic Relief Fund

    The $250,000 fund has been provided by both Field of Vision and Topic Studios in an effort to offer support and assistance to the incredible documentary freelancers in our field who have experienced financial hardship from loss of income or opportunity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    APPLY

     

    QUEER

    Queer Writers of Color Relief Fund

    Fund to help at least 100 queer writers of color who have been financially impacted by the current COVID-19 crisis. Priority will be given to queer trans women of color and queer disabled writers of color.

     

    GENERAL

    Rauschenberg Emergency Grants

    New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is partnering with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation to administer a new emergency grant program called Rauschenberg Emergency Grants. The program will provide one-time grants of up to $5,000 for unexpected medical emergencies. The grants are available to visual and media artists and choreographers who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents in the United States, District of Columbia, or U.S. Territories.

     

    SOUTH ASIAN

    South Asian Arts Resiliency Fund

    The South Asian Arts Resiliency Fund is a direct response by the India Center Foundation to offer support to South Asian arts workers impacted by COVID-19. The South Asian Arts Resiliency Fund will distribute project grants of at least $1000 (up to $2000 depending on financial need and availability of funds) to assist United States based arts workers of South Asian descent (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) in performing arts, film, visual arts, and/or literature.

     

    PHILADELPHIA

    Velocity Fund COVID-19 Artist Emergency Relief Grants

    Over the coming months, The Velocity Fund will manage the distribution of individual $1,000 unrestricted, one-time grants to Philadelphia visual artists based on an open application process. Any practicing visual artist, who is currently a resident of Philadelphia and has experienced financial loss and/or hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic is encouraged to apply.

    APPLY

     

    PHILADELPHIA

    Village Gap Fund for Black Working Artists in Philly

    Artists and Black people in Philly are disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 shutdown. In response, The Village has raised seed funding to make one-time grants of $500 available to Black working artists in Philadelphia who have lost critical income because of the shutdown.

  • Watch: 9 Short Films to Watch With Kids

    Watch: 9 Short Films to Watch With Kids

    Looking for something to do with the kids while you’re stuck at home? We’ve got you covered! Here’s a list of nine of our favorite short films for kids and teens that have screened at BlackStar Film Festival over the past eight years. They cover a wide range of topics and genres, from narrative shorts to music videos to documentaries. These films may be appropriate for differing age groups, so make sure you watch each before deciding if it’s right for your child. Have fun and don’t forget to pencil in the 9th annual BlackStar Film Festival, happening July 30 to August 2 in Philadelphia!

    MUSIC VIDEO
    BGM
    DIRECTED BY SONTENISH MYERS, TEMI ONI | 4 MINS

    After an uncomfortable encounter, a young girl seeks refuge in the girls’ bathroom and is transported to an underworld of Black Girl Magic.

    NARRATIVE SHORT
    Dream
    DIRECTED BY NIJLA MU’MIN | 16 MINS

    A 12-year-old girl strives to rekindle her parents’ dwindling romance at her desert town’s annual carnival, and learns hard lessons about love in the process. Adapted from the filmmaker’s short story, “The Carnival,” this film looks at dreams and reality in the mind of a young girl who associates her and her parents’ happiness with the town’s colorful, sensual carnival.

    SERIES
    Heroes of Color
    DIRECTED BY DAVID HEREDIA | ~3 MINS EACH

    An award-winning, educational whiteboard web series celebrating the outstanding achievements of people of color from different ethnic backgrounds. See all episodes here.

    DOCUMENTARY SHORT
    In This World
    DIRECTED BY KELLY CREEDON | 15 MINS

    Fifteen-year-old Courvosier “Vosiey” Cox is a triple threat: an actor, singer and comedian, destined to perform sold-out shows in L.A. He is planning the talent show he is sure will launch his career in front of hordes of adoring fans. But first he must navigate the challenging landscape of adolescence, a tumultuous time that brings a new sense of independence along with a search for self and longing for acceptance. For Vosiey, who is growing up in inner-city Durham, N.C., that means struggling to find his place in a complex and often contradictory world. As he treads the tenuous line between childhood and adulthood and between dreams and reality, he undertakes a relentless quest to escape into the spotlight, no matter what.

    DOCUMENTARY SHORT
    Kojo: A Short Documentary
    DIRECTED BY MICHAEL FEQUIERE | 14 MINS

    Kojo is about a gifted 12-year-old jazz drummer, Kojo Odu Roney. In a candid interview, Kojo reflects on his tireless work ethic, the current state of jazz music, learning from his mentor and father, jazz saxophonist Antoine Roney, and much more. Kojo’s charisma, sensibility, and passion are as mesmerizing as his drum skills and, for the first time in this documentary, he shares them with you.

    DOCUMENTARY SHORT
    Miasia: The Nature of Experience
    DIRECTED BY YVONNE MICHELLE SHIRLEY | 30 MINS

    Brooklyn teen Miasia Clark is just a few weeks shy of presenting at the first-ever Black Girl Movement National Conference. As the event approaches, we watch her prepare with her activist group, Girls for Gender Equity. She guides us through her everyday worlds as she wrestles with the personal, the political, and the fight for self-determination. Watch it here.

    DOCUMENTARY SHORT
    Negro Hair Petting Zoo
    DIRECTED BY CARRIE HAWKS | 1 MIN

    This film pokes fun at the exotic mystique of black hair.

     

    NARRATIVE SHORT
    The Jump
    DIRECTED BY JAMAL HODGE | 7 MINS

    As a child, Eric believed that the water was magical. In the water, there was nothing he couldn’t do. But a life-changing encounter with bullies at a pool planted seeds of self-doubt. Still haunted by the experience as an adult, Eric decides that the only way to take back control over his life is to get back into the water. If he can face his fears 30 feet above the water, then he’ll rediscover his magic and realize he has had the power to conquer his fears all along. Watch it via Amazon.

    NARRATIVE SHORT
    Too Black
    DIRECTED BY MAYSON MINOR | 5 MINS

    A young black girl receives words of wisdom from her grandmother as she struggles with bullying and attacks on her self-image.