BlackStar Film Festival
 | |
| Location | Philadelphia, United States |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2012 |
| Founded by | Maori Karmael Holmes |
| Website | www |
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]
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
[edit]- ^ Blichert, Frederick (July 4, 2019). "Questlove, Alex Gibney-produced hip hop docuseries to screen at BlackStar Film Fest". RealScreen. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
- ^ Hatmaker, Julia (August 4, 2017). "'The Black Sundance' is under way in Philadelphia". PennLive. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
- ^ a b c Obenson, Tambay (August 1, 2019). "BlackStar: How a Film Festival for People of Color Became 'the Black Sundance'". Indiewire. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
- ^ a b Allen, Taylor (February 28, 2019). "How one woman expanded a Philadelphia-based black film festival to the international stage". WHYY. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
- ^ Zeglen, Julie (February 20, 2018). "Maori Karmael Holmes moved to LA to work for Ava DuVernay. What about BlackStar?". Generocity. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Brara, Noor (August 2, 2018). "8 Standout Films to See at This Year's Blackstar Film Festival in Philadelphia". Vogue. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
- ^ Sims, Megan (July 15, 2019). "Spike Lee and Tarana Burke to participate in 2019 BlackStar Film Festival". The Grio. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
- ^ "Board". BlackStar Film Festival. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
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