July 28, 2021 - August 28, 2022
BlackStar Projects, Philadelphia, the premier organization celebrating visionary Black, Brown, and Indigenous film and media artists, marks its 10th anniversary of the world renowned BlackStar Film Festival in 2021.
BlackStar’s vision is to create a “liberatory world in which a vast spectrum of Black, Brown and Indigenous experiences are irresistibly celebrated in arts and culture.” In addition to the acclaimed annual film festival, their work includes year-round programming—film screenings, exhibitions, a filmmaker seminar, film production lab, and a journal of visual culture.
“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 dialog 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.”
BlackStar and the film festival have grown and blossomed over the past ten years. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 festival included approximately 90 films with 24 world premieres and represented more than 20 countries. It was a combination of virtual programs and panels with three in-person drive-in screenings at Philadelphia’s Mann Center for the Performing Arts. Numerous new initiatives were also launched in 2020, like the biannual print journal Seen, the podcast Many Lumens, the streaming talk show BlackStar Live!, and in 2021, the organization debuted the three-day William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar.
