^{Blackstar Film Festival Brings Diverse Films and Themes to Philadelphia}

Founded in 2012 by Maori Karmael Holmes, BlackStar Film Festival returned to Philadelphia August 2-6 for their 12th annual film festival organized by BlackStar Projects. Each year, the festival focuses on films about and by Black, Brown and Indigenous people from around the world, highlighting themes that cover topics like “climate justice, queer stories and narratives on migration and displacement.” This year, the festival featured 93 film screenings, panels, conversations, live podcasts, and exclusive events at venues including the Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Cultural Campus, Lightbox Film Center, Suzanne Roberts Theater, the Barnes Foundation, and the Daily Jawn Stage at KCCC.

Blackstar has been recognized as a leader in the field of media arts, for what the New York Times described as [their] “ambitious bridging of cultural specificity, social justice and the avant-garde.” In the 2022 Annual Report, in a letter from the CEO Maori Karmael Holmes, Holmes stated, “In 2022 alone BlackStar alums received the MacArthur “Genius Grant” and won grand jury prizes at Sundance; they were selected for the Venice Biennale and to lists like the 25 New Faces of Independent Film, and they released projects on nearly every major streaming platform.”

BlackStar hosted both local and global premieres for established and emerging BIPOC artists and filmmakers. The Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB), highlighted films such as Accidental Athlete (2023) by ​​Kevin Jerome Everson and Claudrena N. Harold as well as Foragers (2022) directed by Jumana Manna. During the festival, a standout for us was Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (2022) directed by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster about the life, career, and impact of poet and cultural icon Nikki Giovanni. In this film, they leverage archival footage and innovative cinematography to visually represent the enduring legacy of one of America's most iconic artists and social commentators. In August 2023, HBO Documentary Films acquired U.S. and Canada television and streaming rights to the film after winning the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, and the filmmakers spoke about bringing the film to life during the screening at BlackStar.

We couldn’t be more proud of the incredibly powerful work Blackstar is doing to advance BIPOC artists, the City of Philadelphia and the artistic medium of film writ large. They set the standard for cultural production, we can’t wait to follow the journey to 2024’s festival!