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]
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]