23 Jul Philadelphia Organization Spotlight: BlackStar Film Festival

BY ERICK BARRAGÁN RAMÍREZ

The cinéSPEAK Journal publishes a monthly Philadelphia Organization Spotlight highlighting a local film or moving image focused organization, business, or collective doing unique and impactful work.

Founded in 2012 by Maori Karmael Holmes and celebrating its 13th edition this year, BlackStar is more than a film festival: the organization provides year-round opportunities and resources to elevate the work of Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists and filmmakers. Last year, I had the opportunity to see the film La Lucha at the festival, a documentary about people with disabilities who forced the then-president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, to give them a pension so they could cope with the challenges of using a wheelchair in the Andes. I remember very clearly the words of the director, Violeta Ayala, who stated that these types of festivals are necessary and that she sought to screen her feature film at BlackStar due to what it represents for filmmakers with diverse ethnic origins.

For me, being a foreigner surrounded by a world different from the one I come from, BlackStar provides me with a safe space in which I can connect not only with films from my country but with films from my Black, Brown, and Indigenous cousins.

cinéSPEAK talked with BlackStar’s Chief Communications Officer, Imran Siddiquee, about their 13th festival season and how they represent different voices that don’t get enough exposure in other festivals in the United States.

cinéSPEAK: What is unique about BlackStar within the Philadelphia landscape?

BlackStar: We prioritize visionary work that is experimental in its aesthetics, content, and form, and builds on the work of elders and ancestors to imagine a new world. We elevate artists who are overlooked, invisibilized, or misunderstood, and celebrate the wide spectrum of aesthetics, storytelling, and experiences that they bring. We bring that work to new audiences as well as place it in dialogue with other past and contemporary work. And, we curate every aspect of our events to be intentional community building efforts, connecting diverse audiences in a Black-led space centered on joy and thriving.

cinéSPEAK: What is one thing the general public might not know about your organization?

BlackStar: We also produce a journal of film, art, and visual culture, Seen, which will release its seventh issue this fall.

cinéSPEAK: Tell us something exciting that is coming up for your organization.

BlackStar: The 2024 BlackStar Film Festival (BSFF) is set to feature a total of 94 films representing 40 countries, including 16 world, 16 North American, 10 United States, 14 East Coast, and 37 Philadelphia premieres. This year’s films engage with self-discovery, climate justice, immigrant rights, decolonization, and queer liberation.

cinéSPEAK: What is unique about this year’s festival?

BlackStar: BlackStar Founder and Chief Executive and Artistic Officer, Maori Karmael Holmes, shares about the upcoming festival, “We are proud to present our thirteenth festival this August, amidst a time of unimaginable pain and loss, as a platform for urgent cinema of the global majority, critical discourse, and much-needed, joyful gathering.”

“The filmmakers in this year’s program are unafraid to meet the moment,” says Festival Director, Nehad Khader. “Their films speak to what matters most to our communities today and to a collective vision that another world is possible.”

cinéSPEAK: What are some highlights and new components of the 2024 festival?

First of all, BlackStar Film Festival is committed to accessibility—ScreenDaily named BSFF one of the five most accessible festivals in the world. [Another special component is] the host of panels that will take place throughout the festival. [There are also a] great number of Palestinian films included in the festival, [such as] Mahdi Amel in Gaza: On the Colonial Mode of Production, The Battle of Empty Stomachs, A Stone’s Throw على مرمى حجر, Bye Bye Tiberias, Dancing Palestine, Life is Beautiful, and Post Trauma, and the panel Media Making in The Time of Genocide,

Additionally, there are a number of very exciting films from local filmmakers this year, some making significant premieres at the festival. These include The Whites of Our Eyes, directed by Yaba Blay and Maame Adjei, making its world premiere; Dreams in Nightmares, directed by Shatara Michelle Ford, making its world premiere; You Don’t Have to Go Home, But…, directed by Aiden Un, making its world premiere; Do You See Me, directed by Walé Oyéjidé, making its North America premiere; Expanding Sanctuary, directed by Kristal Sotomayor [Editor-in-Chief of the cinéSPEAK Journal!]; and Dallas, 2019, directed by Darius Clark.

cinéSPEAK: What are some of the programs or opportunities at your organization that folks can get involved in?

BlackStar: In addition to attending the festival, we have annual artist opportunities like BlackStar Pitch, the Lab, and North Star Fellowship. The Lab is now closed but offers $50,000 each to four Philly filmmakers in order to make a short narrative film from start to finish. The Pitch offers a prize of $75,000 to one short documentary filmmaker during the festival, and $25,000 to a runner-up. Presented in collaboration with Points North Institute, the North Star Fellowship supports four innovative media artists and filmmakers who are developing projects that span the latitudes of creative nonfiction.

cinéSPEAK: Can you share more about attending BlackStar?

BlackStar: BlackStar Film Festival is an annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people from around the world. Produced by BlackStar Projects, the 13th edition of the festival takes place August 1-4, 2024, both in-person in Philadelphia and online around the world. Tickets and passes are on sale now.

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*Featured Image: Image of filmmakers speaking on stage at the 2023 BlackStar Film Festival. Photo credit: Daniel Jackson.

Would you like your organization to be featured in a future spotlight? Please fill out the Philadelphia Organization Spotlight form. The cinéSPEAK Journal maintains sole discretion over the publishing of any information provided via the form. Questions: journal@cinespeak.org.

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Erick Barragán Ramírez is an immigration specialist at Catholic Social Services of Philadelphia, PA.  In addition to being an avid cinephile he serves as a board member of the Association of Mexican Business Owners of Philadelphia. With a background in law studies in Mexico, he came to the US in 2017 and actively volunteers at various organizations supporting immigrants in Philadelphia, including the Welcoming Center, the Consulate of Mexico, and the online radio Philatinos.