For 12 years, the BlackStar Film Festival has showcased the best of films from Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) creators.
It started in 2012 as a collection of films from African diaspora creators that were curated and showcased by Maori Karmael Holmes, BlackStar’s chief executive, artistic officer and founder. Since then, it has grown into an annual film festival that this year will showcase over 90 films from BIPOC creators representing 40 countries.
Holmes says that the festival spans the breadth of genres and style of films — comedies, documentaries, dramas, short films, family films and anything else that uses the medium of film.
Filmmakers are always responding to the world and what is going on within their communities. This year, with a turbulent year for United States politics and conflicts around the globe, as well as a climate crisis that spans the entire world, it’s hard not to get overwhelmed.
“The filmmakers who submit to BlackStar are responding to the moment that they’re living in,” said Nehad Khader, the festival director. “This year we have equal parts deeply joyful films and equal parts films that are talking about the most important and difficult topics of our time, from genocide to climate change and everything in between.”
Holmes does note that, though this year has been a big one for international politics, BlackStar Film Festival has been making sense of world events since its creation. It has historically showcased films that advocate for social justice for people in underserved communities and for humanity in general.
A medium for good
The medium of film itself, she adds, is a conduit for social change, especially when it is used as a force of good.
“It’s really important that we are programming work that is breaking convention, because so much of our conventions use stereotypes, so much of our conventions are rooted in white supremacy, in misogyny and things of that nature,” Holmes said. “Our hope is that the work we show and what we’re doing as a project is really aiming toward liberation.”
Beyond films, the festival also presents panels that explore themes of the films, provide Q&As with the audience, and more. Holmes said that they are an opportunity for the audience to further engage with the works being presented at the festival and that they provide ASL interpretations at all of the panels so that all audience members can be able to engage with with the art. It is one of the many things that makes the event unique — along with the festival providing travel accommodations to any filmmakers who may need it.
Philly born and raised
Many things have stayed the same since the festival’s 2012 debut. Philadelphia has hosted the festival since its beginning and the tenets that the festival were built on remain largely unchanged.
The individual locations where films have screened has changed a few times, however. Until 2019, films were screened at the University of Pennsylvania’s International House. When that venue closed, the Lightbox Film Center was forced to move, and BlackStar with it. The Film Center and BlackStar moved to University of the Arts — until an unexpected closure forced them to move again. The screenings will be held at the Kimmel Center, Susan Roberts Theatre and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA). The opening night party will be held at World Cafe Live and the closing party at Star|Bolt.
In spite of the challenges, Khader wants the festival to stay in Philadelphia.
“Independent black films were skipping Philadelphia. There’s New York just north of us and D.C. just south of us, so we’re sort of sandwiched between two seemingly more global cities,” she said. “Help Philadelphia stay a place that is able to retain all of these exciting and innovative art practices, because it would be really sad for the city to lose out — not just on BlackStar, but on a lot of the other programs and arts that are happening here.”
The BlackStar film festival will kick off this Thursday and premiere films and panels until Sunday. To buy a ticket or pass, or for a full list of films, panels, and events, go to blackstarfest.org/festival.
