Tag: Seen

BlackStar is thrilled to announce that the ninth issue of Seen—the organization’s bi-annual journal of film and visual culture, dedicated to platforming nuanced and rigorous writing by and about Black, Brown and Indigenous communities globally—is now on sale. The issue is available for order here.

Seen 009’s cover features André Holland, in a photo taken by Martika Avalon for a feature story written by Murtada Elfadl, that finds the Love, Brooklyn star reflecting on why he’s seeking the role of student at this time in his life. Other highlights from the issue’s mix of conversations, profiles, interviews, essays and reviews include Portals and Expansions: Black Film Distribution, an essay by Black Film Archive founder Maya S. Cade; a studio visit with artist Sanford Biggers; Gaza, 5:45 a.m., a photo diary by Eman Mohammed; a letter to young cinematographers from Sinners’ Autumn Durald Arkapaw; a tribute to the trailblazing curator Koyo Kouoh, written by various artists; filmmaker Yance Ford in conversation with sound designer and Third World Newsreel executive director JT Takagi and Ryan Coogler’s Communions with the Dead, a profile of the director written by Kambole Campbell.

On October 29, 2025, in collaboration with the Open Society Foundations and Urban Outfitters, BlackStar will celebrate the release of Seen 009 with a launch event at Percy Restaurant & Bar in Philadelphia. The event will feature a conversation between contributors Nicole G. Young, Bedatri Datta Choudhury and Heidi Saman, editor-in-chief of Seen. The three will discuss Black speculative fiction and a Mumbai artists’ collective that’s reimagining the archive. RSVP here.

The journal is on sale at stockists around the world including Ulises and Omoi Life Goods in Philadelphia; Periodicals in Detroit; Reparations Club, Vidiots and Skylight Books in Los Angeles; Amant, McNally Jackson and Printed Matter in New York; Chess Club in Portland, magCulture in London and Issues in Toronto.

Seen is supported by Open Society Foundations and is printed in the United States by Sheridan. 

BlackStar Projects and its year-round programming is generously supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, City of Philadelphia, Color Congress, 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, NEO Philanthropy, The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, Pop Culture Collaborative, Ruth Foundation for the Arts, Surdna Foundation, Wallace Foundation, William Penn Foundation, 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 is thrilled to announce that the seventh issue of Seen – the organization’s bi-annual journal of film and visual culture, dedicated to platforming nuanced and rigorous writing by and about Black, Brown and Indigenous communities globally – is now on sale. The issue is available for order here.

Seen 007 is guest edited by filmmaker, multidisciplinary artist and BlackStar Film Festival alum, Ja’Tovia Gary, who shared:

To me, being seen means recognition and incorporation, the responsibility of which belongs to those with whom we are in community…seeing and being seen requires the audacity to claim the role of narrator, to be the one who defines. Recognition and incorporation by those that matter is an act of self determination. We look in the mirror to be seen just as we look into the eyes of our beloved for our reflection.

Ja’Tovia Gary, Letter from the Editor

The release coincides with a special partnership between Seen and american grammar, a multifaceted space that cultivates creativity, conversation and community through coffee, books, art, events and community programming located in Kensington, Philadelphia. In celebration of issue 007, Gary and contributor Joy James have curated a selection of books available at the store.

In addition to american grammar, Seen 007 is on sale at stockists around the world including Amant, CARA, Interesting Books + Zines, Issues Magazine Shop, Mag Culture Shop, New Museum, Now Instant LA, Omoi Zakka, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia Printworks, Reparations Club, Skylight Books, Thayer and Washington Project for the Arts.

Seen 007 features a mix of conversations, profiles, interviews, essays and reviews, including A Love Ethic for the End of the World, a conversation between Ja’Tovia Gary and Dr. Joy James; J Wortham’s Finding Hope In the World Anew, a conversation between Wortham and first generation Palestinian writer, Zania Arafat about witnessing Gaza through social media, becoming a mother and why writing sustains her; Bridgett M. Davis’ Naked Acts Now, an essay reflecting on the second life of her 1996 debut feature film; Hanna Phifer’s Bride on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, a review of Tayarisha Poe’s The Young Wife; Notes of Influence highlighting the work and practices of artists Hugh Hayden and Charisse Weston; and Dr. Lamonda H. Stallings’ Crafting Intimacy, on the work of intimacy coordination as a decolonial and de-westernizing mission.

Other key contributors include Kaitlyn Greenidge, Anisia Uzeyman, Robert Pruitt, Heidi Saman, Kelli Weston, Meghana Kandlur, Jomo Fray, Shannon Baker Davis, Terilyn Shropshire, Louis Massiah, Amarie Gipson, Jasmin Hernandez and Yasmine El Rashidi.

On October 29, 2024, in collaboration with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, BlackStar will celebrate the release of Seen 007 with a launch event and conversation between Ja’Tovia Gary and Bridgett M. Davis. The two will dive deep into Davis’ work, exploring a variety of themes, including on screen depictions of Black bodies, sexuality, and intimacy coordination.⁠ The conversation will be followed by a reception in the museum.

Later this fall, BlackStar will co-present a series of curated screenings at the Barnes Foundation to coincide with the new exhibition, Mickalene Thomas: All About Love, and at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to coincide with group exhibition The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure. More information and the full schedule of curated screenings will be released in coming weeks.

Seen 007 is supported by a grant from Critical Minded and the National Endowment for the Arts and printed in Canada by Hemlock Printers. BlackStar Projects and its year-round programs are generously supported by Ford Foundation/Just Films, Independence Public Media Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Mighty Arrow Family Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Perspective Fund, The Philadelphia Foundation, PopCulture Collaborative, 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. Invaluable support is provided by the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

About BlackStar Projects
BlackStar Projects is a non-profit organization, founded in 2012 by Maori Karmael Holmes as BlackStar Film Festival. They have since expanded into year-round programs, including film screenings, exhibitions, the annual film festival, a filmmaker seminar, a film production lab, and a journal of visual culture.

The organization creates the spaces and resources needed to uplift the work of Black, Brown and Indigenous artists working outside the confines of genre. Their 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.

This August, BlackStar celebrated the 13th edition of BlackStar Film Festival, which featured a lineup of 96 films from more than 40 countries, including 16 world premieres, 16 North American premieres, and 10 United States premieres. The world-renowned four-day event, which also features artist panels, parties, and networking opportunities for filmmakers, saw record-breaking ticket sales this year.

BlackStar Projects—producer of the BlackStar Film Festival—is proud to announce the launch of the fourth issue of Seen, its twice-annual journal of film and visual culture made for and about Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities globally.

Seen 004 is available for order here, and the print and digital editions will be officially released on June 23. Guest-edited by artist Darol Olu Kae, the issue includes essays, reviews, interviews, original art and photography, and more.

“With this fourth issue, we seek to extend Seen’s ongoing exploration of what it means to see and bear witness for Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities globally,” writes Kae in his introduction to the issue. “Each piece in this issue explores the complexities of vision and visual culture in an ever-shifting world, from Jasmine Weber’s discerning feature on the groundbreaking architect Amaza Lee Meredith, to Jenzia Burgos’s incisive interrogation of music videos by the emerging Dominican rapper Tokischa, to Yume Murphy’s expansive profile of acclaimed artist Martine Syms, which centers her debut narrative feature film, The African Desperate (2022).”

Highlights from Seen 004 include Yume Murphy’s profile of acclaimed artist Martine Syms; a tribute to the late critic Greg Tate, from Jeff Chang, Elizabeth Méndez-Berry, and Deborah Thomas; Zeba Blay on Issa Rae’s Insecure; Sky Hopinka on process and memory in Kicking the Clouds; a profile of multimedia artist Dindga McCannon by Zoé Samudzi; dream hampton interviewed by Beandrea July; a behind the scenes look at Apichatpong Weerasethekul’s Memoria, and more.

To celebrate the launch of the new issue, Seen will present a free screening and conversation on the nuances of color and craft through the lenses of Black creators at 2220 Arts + Archives in Los Angeles on June 23rd. Featuring films by Rikkí Wright, Darol Olu Kae, and Kya Lou, the event will include a post-screening conversation with all three filmmakers discussing their work. Refreshments will be served, and copies of Seen 004 will be available for purchase. More information on the launch event may be accessed here. 

This issue of Seen also marks the first edition with Dessane Lopez Cassell in the role of Editor-in-Chief. Cassell, who guest-edited issue 002, has been a longtime BlackStar Film Festival program committee member, last serving on the experimental committee in 2022. Most recently, she worked as the reviews editor at Hyperallergic. 

“With Seen 004, we look forward to expanding the journal’s vision and reach. The LA launch event on the 23rd marks a growing commitment to connecting with new audiences and championing artists and cultural critics of color across the globe and beyond our home in Philadelphia,” Cassell noted. 

The full list of Seen 004 contributors includes Alia Swastika, Beandrea July, Bedatri D. Choudhury, Camae Ayewa, Darol Olu Kae, Deborah A. Thomas, Elizabeth Méndez-Berry, Jasmine Weber, Jeff Chang, Jenzia Burgos, Mahasen Nasser-Eldin, Poulomi Das, Sky Hopinka, Yume Murphy, Zeba Blay, and Zoé Samudzi. 

The issue’s cover features a photograph of filmmaker Martine Syms by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr. 

In addition to Kae and Cassell, the editorial staff includes: Caroline Washington⁠⁠, Art Director; Nehad Khader⁠⁠, Managing Editor⁠⁠; Leo Brooks⁠⁠, Design Manager; Imran Siddiquee, Chief Communications Officer; Jasmine Weber⁠⁠, Reviews and Features Editor⁠⁠; Kavita Rajanna⁠⁠, Essays Editor⁠⁠; Yasmine Espert⁠⁠, Interviews & Profiles Editor⁠⁠; Shauna Swartz⁠⁠, Copyeditor⁠⁠⁠⁠; Sydney Alicia Rodriguez, Program Associate; Ashley Ijoema Omoma, Program Coordinator; Chili Shi, Editorial & Design Intern, and Maori Karmael Holmes, Founding Editor.⁠⁠

Seen’s Editorial Advisory Board consists of Jeff Chang, Akiba Solomon, John L. Jackson, Jr., Louis Massiah, Adam Piron, Roya Rastegar, Sally Singer, Elizabeth Méndez Berry, Tarana Burke, Greg Tate (In Memoriam), Gina Duncan, and Zaheer Ali.

Seen may be purchased via local, international, and online outlets, including: BYE BYE NEIGHBOR, Forin Cafe, Hammer Museum, Harriett’s Bookshop, magCulture, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, McNally Jackson, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia Printworks, Reparations Club, The Sable Collective, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Tomorrow Today, Ulises, Uncle Bobbie’s, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and YOWIE. 

To purchase a copy, visit http://blackstarfest.org/seen for more information.

Among BlackStar Projects’ continuing initiatives are the BlackStar Film Festival, celebrating its eleventh edition this summer from August 3 – 7 with a lineup of seventy-six films from across the globe; the William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar; and Many Lumens with Maori Karmael Holmes—BlackStar’s signature podcast, which finds BlackStar founder 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.

For more information on Seen, the BlackStar Film Festival, and other BlackStar 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, 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

BlackStar Projects, producer of the BlackStar Film Festival, is proud to announce the launch of the third issue of Seen, its twice-annual journal of film and visual culture made for and about Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities globally.

Issue 003 of Seen is available for order here, and the print and digital editions will be officially released on November 18th.

Guest-edited by artist Darol Olu Kae, Seen’s third issue includes essays, reviews, interviews, original art and photography, and more. The issue features a wide range of voices, all touching upon a series of questions posed by Ghanaian filmmaker Nuotama Bodomo during her keynote address at BlackStar’s 2021 William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar: “Can we see ourselves?” “Can we see each other?” and “Can we see together?”

“Collectively, the pieces in Seen, issue 003, orbit around Bodomo’s questions, gathering up accumulative power, and extending her thoughts into new directions and terrain,” writes Kae in his introduction to the issue. “The participating artists, writers, and filmmakers offer a multitude of critical practices and approaches that help think beyond the restrictions of film and visual culture as it is presently defined.”

Highlights from the third issue of Seen include Jessica Lynne‘s profile of photographer Texas Isaiah; an interview with filmmakers Sophia Nahli Alison and Merawi Gerima on the power of Black filmmaking collectives in Los Angeles, conducted by Dr. Philana Payton; an essay on Christopher Kahunahana’s first full-length feature film by cultural critic and historian Jeff Chang; two interviews with Moroccan filmmaker Ahmed Bouanani from the early 1970s, translated by Omar Berrada; Jonathan Ali’s exploration of the possibilities of Caribbean cinema through a conversation with Maya Cozier about her debut fiction film; DJ Lynnée Denise’s review of Sacha Jenkins’s documentary Bitchin’: the Sound and Fury of Rick James; and a conversation between Amir George and filmmaker Miko Revereza. 

This exciting moment for Seen also marks the appointment of Dessane Lopez Cassell to the role of  Editor-in-Chief. Cassell, who guest-edited Issue 002, has been a longtime BlackStar Film Festival program committee member, last serving on the experimental committee in 2021. Most recently, she worked as the reviews editor at Hyperallergic. A curator and former museum worker, Cassell  has organized curatorial projects and screenings at the Museum of Modern Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, among others.

“Learning, thinking, and growing with the BlackStar team has been a true professional pleasure over the last few years and I’m thrilled at the opportunity to join them full-time. I look forward to continuing to champion artists and cultural critics of color as we grow Seen’s vision and reach, starting with the brilliant work put forward in issue 003,” Cassell noted. 

Issue 004, the first with Cassell in the role of Editor-in-Chief, will be released in Spring 2022.

The full list of Seen Issue 003 contributors includes Abby Sun, Akinola Davies Jr, Amir George, Cassie da Costa, Jeff Chang, Jessica Lynne, Jonathan Ali, Kojo Abudu, Leila Weefur, Lynnée Denise, Nuotama Bodomo, Omar Berrada, Philana Payton, ruth gebreyesus, Samia Labidi, and Suzi Analogue. 

The issue’s cover features the work of filmmaker Sophia Nahli Allison. 

In addition to Kae and Cassell, the editorial staff includes: Caroline Washington⁠⁠, Art Director; Nehad Khader⁠⁠, Managing Editor⁠⁠; Leo Brooks⁠⁠, Design Associate; Imran Siddiquee, Communications Director; Jasmine Weber⁠⁠, Interviews Editor⁠⁠; Kavita Rajanna⁠⁠, Essays Editor⁠⁠; Yasmine Espert⁠⁠, Profiles & Reviews Editor⁠⁠; Sydney Alicia Rodriguez, Program Associate; Shauna Swartz⁠⁠, Copyeditor⁠⁠⁠⁠; and Maori Karmael Holmes, Founding Editor.⁠⁠

Seen’s Editorial Advisory Board consists of Jeff Chang, Akiba Solomon, John L. Jackson, Jr., Louis Massiah, Adam Piron, Roya Rastegar, Sally Singer, Elizabeth Méndez Berry, Tarana Burke, Greg Tate, Gina Duncan, and Zaheer Ali.

Seen may be purchased via local, international, and online outlets, including: BYE BYE NEIGHBOR, Forin Cafe, Harriett’s Bookshop, magCulture, McNally Jackson, Philadelphia Printworks, Reparations Club, The Sable Collective, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Tomorrow Today, Ulises and Uncle Bobbie’s. 

To purchase a copy, visit seen.blackstarfest.org/Stockists for more information.

In addition to the annual BlackStar Film Festival, this year has marked the launch of several other new and ongoing initiatives at BlackStar, including the Blackstar 10th Anniversary Print Sale and podcast Many Lumens. A new limited edition print by celebrated artists is released on the 15th of every month to fundraise in honor of Blackstar’s first decade. Participating artists include Garrett Bradley, Arthur Jafa, Kahlil Joseph, and Cauleen Smith. Meanwhile, BlackStar’s new podcast Many Lumens now has five episodes available — all illuminating conversations between BlackStar Artistic Director and CEO Maori Karmael Holmes and a range of guests, including dream hampton, Janicza Bravo, and Blitz Bazawule. 

For more information on Seen, the BlackStar Film Festival, and other BlackStar 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 BlackStar Film Festival, is proud to announce the launch of Seen, a twice-annual journal of film and visual culture made for and about Black, Brown, Indigenous and other artists of color.

Edited by BlackStar Artistic Director and CEO Maori Karmael Holmes, Seen’s first issue includes essays, reviews, interviews, original art and photography, and more.

“As artists of color, we have always had to contend with our work being overlooked and ignored. We are practiced in finding each other, making demands of institutions, and building worlds anew,” writes Holmes in her introduction to the issue. “With Seen we are attempting to highlight why our perspectives on our art have always been and continue to be vital.”

Highlights from the issue include Heitor Augusto on queer Black Brazilian cinema, Niela Orr in conversation with The Forty-Year-Old Version writer/director Radha Blank, Darol Olu Kae on Sky Hopinka’s maɬni – towards the ocean, towards the shore, Heidi Saman in conversation with Lulu Wang, a look inside renowned painter Amy Sherald’s Jersey City studio, an unproduced short script by Terence Nance, and storyboards from Blitz Bazawule’s The Burial of Kojo.

Seen will officially release both online and in print on November 20, and is now available for preorder here.

The release of Seen follows on the heels of this year’s BlackStar Film Festival, which included approximately 90 films, including 24 world premieres and representing more than 20 countries. In addition to presenting an array of live programs and panels, this year also marked the debut of BlackStar Live!, a special daily morning show featuring filmmaker interviews, astrological updates and roundtable discussions of the day’s film programming, streamed exclusively on Facebook Live. Blackstar’s film program drew more than 30,000 views, and its daily slate of free live programming totaled more than 3.5 million.

The full list of Seen contributors includes Amy Sherald, Bing Liu, Blitz Bazawule, Darol Kae, Derica Cole Washington, Dessane Lopez Cassell, Donte Neal, Elizabeth Méndez Berry, Emir Lewis, Eric Branco, Erin Christovale, Heidi Saman, Heitor Augusto, Imran Siddiquee, Jason Pollard, Jemma Desai, Jheanelle Brown, Jon-Sesrie Goff, Juliana Reyes, Loira Limbal, Lulu Wang, Makeba Rainey, Maori Karmael Holmes, Michelle Ortiz, Nam Lee, Nehad Khader, Niela Orr, Racquel Gates, Radha Blank, Roni Nicole Henderson, Sham-e-Ali Nayeem, Sonya Childress, Susy Zepeda, Suzanne Kite, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Terence Nance, and Zeshawn Ali.

The issue’s cover features an illustration by Makeba Rainey. In addition to Holmes, the editorial staff includes Nehad Khader, Managing Editor & Essays Section Editor; Imran Siddiquee, Reviews Section Editor; Kavita Rajanna, Interviews Section Editor; Shauna Swartz, Copyeditor; and Jelsen Lee Innocent, Designer.

Seen’s Editorial Advisory Board consists of Jeff Chang, Akiba Solomon, John L. Jackson, Jr., Louis Massiah, Adam Piron, Roya Rastegar, Sally Singer, Elizabeth Méndez Berry, Tarana Burke, Greg Tate, Gina Duncan, and Zaheer Ali.

For more information on Seen, the BlackStar Film Festival, and other BlackStar programs, visit blackstarfest.org.

About BlackStar Film Festival

The BlackStar Film Festival is 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.

Press Contacts

Ed Winstead
Director, Cultural Counsel
ed@culturalcounsel.com