Liberated with BlackStar 15!

This year was BlackStar Film Festival’s 15th convening and it was as liberating, energizing, and fulfilling as always.  

It was an honor to celebrate the work of young creative forces shaping the field along with our filmmaking masters, Haile Gerima (Black Lions – Roman Wolves) and Louis Massiah (Tenants of Lenapehocking in the Age of Magnets).  It’s quite electric to come together to talk craft, share visions, and simply lay eyes on each other in a space that requires nothing. The only challenge is mapping out your screening schedule wishing you could watch all 91 films programmed. Oh, and there’s pronouncing the name of the shorts block you just saw!PM on Screen

BPM on Screen

Several BPM filmmakers premiered work at this year’s festival and we’re proud to note that two of those films walked away with prizes. The 2024 PitchBLACK Award winner Zenón and the Rebel Boats — by Juan C. Davila Santiago and Camila M. Rodriguez won — BlackStar’s Best Feature Documentary award. The film’s recounting of Carlos “Taso” Zenón’s intrepid leadership in Puerto Rico’s decades-long confrontation with the U.S. Navy, over environmental protection and human rights, is masterful. 

Finding Your Laughter, by Arlieta Hall and Brittany Alsot won an honorable mention for Best Feature Documentary. It was just a year ago when they won BPM’s PitchBLACK’s top prize.  With producer Yvonne Welbon, their hard work led them to a BlackStar premiere and a guest appearance for Arlieta on BlackStar’s talk show, Daily Jawn.

Congrats Nehad Khader and BlackStar Team!

Thank you for bringing us together with powerful stories and imagination from around the world. Cheers to another 15 and more!