We Had the pleasure of attending the BlackStar Film Festival on August 3rd -7th in Philadelphia, and Here is our Experience!
Photo! Flash! Focus! Record! The 2022 BlackStar Film Festival was engaging, entertaining, and a chance to get up close and personal with filmmakers, writers, directors, creatives, and business owners from all walks of life.
Not only did attendees indulge in unfettered Q&A’s by filmmakers, but nightly entertainment with The Daily Jawn, a talk show hosted by BlackStar Film Festival Founder Maori Karmael Holmes in person and streaming online. Opening nightly with comedy from the hilarious D’Lo, who is unapologetically queer, transgender, and funny!
Musical guests from different genres performed, but one of our favorites was Durand Bernarr, whose energy was electric. Check out his performances here:
What would this festival be without a BlackStar Bazaar? We met CConnect360, LLC, who traveled from Kenya to adorn us with beautiful jewelry, art, fashion and accessories.
But the pièce de résistance was the films! There were so many great films that took our breath away. Jazmine Is a Star caught our attention with the coming-of-age story of a young girl with albinism showing us that beauty is beyond complexion!
Another film impactful and inspirational is Selahy “My Weapon” by Alaa Zabara. This film gives us a glimpse of life in Yemen, where war is a part of life and a young deaf girl’s escape through the lens of an old camera introduced to her by her brother.
Interview with Writer and Film Director Alaa Zabara
You can find other work from Alaa and follow her journey through film directing on alaazabara.com, IMDb, Instagram, Linkedin, and Twitter.
Other films that made a statement were Quarantine Kids by local director Bilal Motley and daughter Bria Motley who won the Love+Grit Philadelphia Filmmaker Award, giving a real-life perspective on the impact Covid19 has on children; One Take Grace, directed by Lindiwe Matshikiza, with a vivid portait through Mothiba Grace Bapelathat’s life, as a South African woman who shares unimaginable experiences she’s had growing up as a teenager leaving home to work as a domestic worker, being a mother, actor, and more over a span of decades winning the BlackStar’s Best Short Documentary.
And the award goes to…
After viewing each film, the audience rated from 1-5, and the BlackStar Film Festival winners are:
Juried Awards
| Best Short Narrative Sunday Morning/Manhã de Domingo Dir. Bruno Ribeiro Short Narrative Honorable Mention For Love Dir. Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor Best Feature Narrative Mars One/Marte Um Dir. Gabriel Martins Best Short Documentary The Game God(S) Dir. Adrian L. Burrell Best Feature Documentary One Take Grace Dir. Lindiwe Matshikiza Feature Documentary Honorable Mention Wisdom Gone Wild Dir. Rea Tajiri Best Experimental Film Conspiracy Dirs. Simone Leigh and Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich Experimental Film Honorable Mention Golden Jubilee Dir. Suneil Sanzgiri |
Audience Awards
| Best Short Narrative Glitter Ain’t Gold Dir. Christian Nolan Jones Best Feature Narrative Lingui, the Sacred Bonds Dir. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun Best Short Documentary Still Waters Dir. Aurora Brachman Best Feature Documentary Wisdom Gone Wild Dir. Rea Tajiri Best Experimental Film Foreign in a Domestic Sense Dirs. SofÃa Gallisá Muriente and Natalia Lassalle Morillo Shine Award Storming Caesars Palace Dir. Hazel Gurland-Pooler |
Special Prizes
| BlackStar Pitch Postcolonial Piñata Dir. Daniel Larios BlackStar Pitch Honorable Mention Occupy Dir. Sonali Gulati Love+Grit Philadelphia Filmmaker Award Quarantine Kids Dirs. Bilal Motley and Bria Motley Lionsgate/STARZ Best Speculative Fiction Clones Dir. Letia Solomon |
A big thank you to each film director and BlackStar for affording us the opportunity to view their work and be a part of this Culturally Creative Experience! We can’t wait to see what each has next and hope to see you at the next BlackStar Film Festival. For additional information, upcoming events, and more, signup the BlackStar Film Festival mailing list and follow them on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter.
Photo and video credit: URBN SOCIAL LLC
