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By Indie Means Necessary

The BlackStar Film Festival is an annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of the African diaspora and of global communities of color, showcasing films by black, brown and indigenous people from around the world.

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RT @IndieWire: In @TambayObenson's interview with Eddie Murphy, the star talks about his supposed "comeback," the Oscars, working with @net…

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RT @prince: The Library of Congress has announced that Prince's iconic, breakthrough film Purple Rain has been added to the National Film R…

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  • Now streaming online: Faren Humes (@canopyjones) “Liberty,” on @Vimeo as part of their staff picks! We screened this short at our festival this year.⠀ ⠀ Synopsis: Alex and Milagros deal with great life upheaval as they prepare to dance at their community's redevelopment groundbreaking ceremony.
  • Don’t forget to register for our Winter Solstice Jam! ⠀ Join us for a celebration of the new season and of all that we have accomplished over the past year.⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀ 📍@johnnybrendas⠀ 📅 Sunday, Dec 15. 9pm - 12am⠀ 🎶@djrekha, Precolumbian (@cordill3ra) and Femi (@olwfm)⠀ 🎤 Hosted by Ayesha Innocent (@ayeshatjordan).⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ Access to the event is FREE. Donations are appreciated 💛🌟
  • Questlove will make his directorial debut with the feature documentary, “Black Woodstock.”⠀ ⠀ @variety reports: Held in 1969, the outdoor festival featured performances from some of the leading Black musicians of the day — a group of heavy-hitters that includes Sly and the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, B.B. King, the 5th Dimension, David Ruffin, Mahalia Jackson, the Staple Singers, and Gladys Knight and the Pips. The festival took place one year after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and was intended to celebrate African American culture and politics, as well as to promote black pride and unity.⠀ ⠀ It unfolded in Harlem’s Mount Morris Park during the same summer that Woodstock captured the attention of the world. Despite drawing over 300,000 people, the Harlem Cultural Festival received virtually no coverage from mainstream media, a staggering omission that Thompson’s film hopes to rectify.⠀ -⠀ Reposting @questlove: This Is #BlackWoodstock. ⠀ Say if I told you there was a “Black Coachella” w all the amazing acts of the day (J Cole/Solange/Thundercat/Snoh Aalegra)—-say if I told y’all 300,000 people saw it.....& it was free. ⠀ Say if Nobody Remembered it.⠀ ⠀ That’s the story of #BlackWoodstock. A Gathering Of the GIANTS. Gospel. Salsa. Jazz. Comedy. Afro Caribbean. Blues. Soul. ⠀ This all went down in the summer of 1969 mere weeks before a similar festival captured the attention of a nation and defined an entire generation. ⠀ I can’t fathom that up until last year there was little to NO fanfare/info about this momentous musical gathering.⠀ ⠀ That all changes now kids. Were you or your parents/teachers/neighbors/relatives/loved ones in attendence? We want you to share the story. History has its eyes on us so lets tell it correct! Please contact us at BLACKWOODSTOCKFILM@gmail.com
  • The @nytimes profiled French director @ladjly. His film, “Les Misérables,” is a sharp-edged feature that depicts the harshness of the French capital’s immigrant suburbs (banlieues). The film garnered a top prize at Cannes and is France’s candidate for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. It has most recently also been nominated for a slew of stateside awards including the Critics Choice and Golden Globes.⠀ ⠀ @les_miserables_lefilm takes place in Montfermeil, a suburb of Paris, which was also where a section of Victor Hugo’s story was set. At a local police station, we meet members of the Parisian anti-crime squad who become implicated in a police misconduct case, which was recorded by a local boy’s drone.⠀ ⠀ Before becoming a professional filmmaker, Mr. Ly was the child with the video camera in his pocket, filming rough police “interventions,” partly to protect the banlieues’ inhabitants and often suffering the consequences.⠀ ⠀ Mr. Ly captures the tension of these encounters [in the film] with exactitude, because he knows them intimately. “I can’t count the number of times I was taken into custody,” he said, laughing.⠀ ⠀ “I was inspired by my own history,” he said in an interview. “Everything in the film comes from my life, from beginning to end.”⠀ “It’s a sort of autobiography, and a witnessing,” he added. “I tried to make a film that resembles us. To live in these towers — it’s violent, it’s degrading.”⠀ ⠀ The film will be released in theaters in the US in January 2020.
  • In her cover interview with @elleusa #Beyonce was asked about her journey to becoming a director: “Directing has, in a way, always been a part of my creative process. I’ve always had a passion for writing treatments for videos since Destiny’s Child. In 2008, I started a production company and sat in a room full of editors who taught me how to use Final Cut Pro. I spent a year editing and creating “Life is But a Dream.” I went through hundreds of shows worth of footage, and that experience taught me to love the filmmaking process. I love how mixing media can take you on a journey, which inspired projects like #Lemonade and Homecoming. I love combining doc-style footage with live performances and incorporating all aspects of my life in film.”⠀ ⠀ “Homecoming” was recently awarded Best Music Documentary from @idaorg!
  • Terence Nance (@terenceetc) spoke to @freethework about the importance of creating counter-programming that combats the negative messages perpetuated by mainstream media. He touts Nijla Mu’min’s (@nijla1) “Jinn,” and @tchaiko Omawale’s “Solace,” as two films that should be watched. ⠀ ⠀ “Well, for me, as a black kid in America, the media fosters self-hate. The biggest challenge is finding a way to counteract that psychological warfare by encouraging people to look in the mirror and love what they see. The FCC has these policies about how much news has to be on a network for them to get their license. It should go farther. Children's programming should be required to espouse self-love and advice of self-acceptance for children. It should be required to be affirmative of all genders, skin tones, and sexual orientations. That kind of counter-programming is necessary for Black people to make as a community and it should be widely available, widely marketed.”
  • Congrats to @missnuma whose film #Jezebelmovie has been acquired by @arraynow and will premiere on Netflix on January 16, 2020. “Jezebel” will also screen in select theaters the same month. At this year’s BlackStar Film Festival we hosted the Philadelphia premiere of the film which tells the story of 19-year-old Tiffany (Tiffany Tenille) as she navigates her dying mother’s financial struggles. By working as an Internet fetish cam girl in the ’90s, the young woman uses her fantasy world as an escape from her real-life circumstances.
  • Reminder: Don’t forget to take the BlackStar survey at the link in our bio ➡️ @blackstarfest!⠀ ⠀ If you’ve attended our festival, we’d love your participation in the survey to help us better understand the impact that the festival has on the Philadelphia region. ⠀ ⠀ All responses will be kept anonymous; however, at the end we request your email address if you would like to be entered into a raffle for 2 free tickets (winner and a guest) to a film screening of your choice during the 2020 BlackStar Film Festival. The survey will close on December 8.⠀ ⠀ Thank you for taking the time to assist us in this effort! 💛🌟