BlackStar Film Festival

The BlackStar Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by BlackStar Projects. The festival focuses on films about and by black, brown and indigenous people from around the world.[1] It takes place each August in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It has been described as the "Black Sundance."[2][3]

BlackStar Film Festival
LocationPhiladelphia, United States
Founded2012
Founded byMaori Karmael Holmes
Websitewww.blackstarfest.org

The festival is named after Marcus Garvey's shipping line, the Black Star Line.[3] It was founded in 2012 by Maori Karmael Holmes, with the first BlackStar Film Festival initially conceived as a one-day "microfestival" that, due to the large number of submissions, ultimately turned into a four-day international event.[4] Backers of the festival include the MacArthur Foundation, the Knight Foundation, HBO, CAA, Comcast, and Lionsgate.[3]

The first festival included a master class and screening of part of Middle of Nowhere by Ava DuVernay.[5][6] Later festivals have included films by Gabourey Sidibe,[7] Janine Sherman Barrois,[8] Darius Clark Monroe, Nijla Baseema Mu’min, and Naima Ramos-Chapman. Panels have included Bradford Young, Rashid Shabazz,[4] Spike Lee, and Tarana Burke.[9]

Yaba Blay, Akiba Solomon, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter have all previously served on the advisory board of the festival.[10]

References
  1. Blichert, Frederick (July 4, 2019). "Questlove, Alex Gibney-produced hip hop docuseries to screen at BlackStar Film Fest". RealScreen. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  2. Hatmaker, Julia (August 4, 2017). "'The Black Sundance' is under way in Philadelphia". PennLive. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  3. Obenson, Tambay (August 1, 2019). "BlackStar: How a Film Festival for People of Color Became 'the Black Sundance'". Indiewire. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  4. Allen, Taylor (February 28, 2019). "How one woman expanded a Philadelphia-based black film festival to the international stage". WHYY. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  5. Zeglen, Julie (February 20, 2018). "Maori Karmael Holmes moved to LA to work for Ava DuVernay. What about BlackStar?". Generocity. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  6. Rickey, Carrie (October 5, 2012). "She's a Graduate of an Unusual Film School: Ava DuVernay and Middle of Nowhere". The New York Times. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  7. Hornaday, Ann (August 17, 2017). "Festivals celebrating black films provide cinematic safe space when it's sorely needed". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  8. Brara, Noor (August 2, 2018). "8 Standout Films to See at This Year's Blackstar Film Festival in Philadelphia". Vogue. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  9. Sims, Megan (July 15, 2019). "Spike Lee and Tarana Burke to participate in 2019 BlackStar Film Festival". The Grio. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  10. "Board". BlackStar Film Festival. Retrieved July 23, 2019.


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