Texture

William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar 2026
A seminar for Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists working in cinematic realms, hosted by BlackStar. Registration open now.
BlackStar Presents Texture
A short film program and reception curated by BlackStar, hosted in partnership with BAVC Media and the Bay Area Media Maker Summit (BAMMS). This film program brings together a collection of works by Bay Area-based filmmakers and their experiments in texture.
Seen Issue 009 Contributors Roundtable
Please join us for food, drinks, and a live conversation between Seen Issue 009 contributors Maya S. Cade, Jenny Yang, and Darol Olu Kae, moderated by editor-in-chief Heidi Saman.
TCB – The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing
A special screening of Louis Massiah and Monica Henriquez's TCB – The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing at Vidiots in Los Angeles, followed by a conversation with Massiah moderated by Courtney R. Baker.
2025 Luminary Gala
BlackStar's annual benefit honoring luminaries in global arts and culture.
Living Memory Short Program
This film program brings together a collection of works by Indigenous filmmakers whose practices center cultural memory, sovereignty, and creative resistance.
Seen Issue 009 Launch Event
Please join us for food, drinks, and a live conversation between Seen Issue 009 contributors Nicole G. Young and Bedatri Datta Choudhury, moderated by editor-in-chief Heidi Saman.
Palestine Cinema Days: Divine Intervention
A screening is in support of "Palestine Cinema Days" Festival, co-hosted with Filmlab Palestine.
BlackStar Film Festival 2025
Our annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of the global majority. This year's festival will be in-person in Philadelphia and online around the world.
Joiri Minaya: Venus Flytrap
A new performance series and installation from artist Joiri Minaya, curated by Dessane Lopez Cassell.
Assembly @ cinéSPEAK Under the Stars
We are partnering with cinéSPEAK for the Philadelphia premiere of Rashaad Newsome and Johnny Symons’ Assembly
The Will to Dream: Seen Issue 008 Reading + Conversation
On Saturday, May 24, Seen contributor Imran Siddiquee will do a reading of their new essay, published in issue 008 of the journal, "The Will to Dream: Patriarchy and the limits of our cinematic imagination," followed by a moderated conversation.
Seen Issue 008 Launch w/ Sky Hopinka
Please join us for an intimate conversation between this issue's guest editor, artist and filmmaker Sky Hopinka, and founding editor Maori Karmael Holmes. They will discuss Hopinka's influences, including some of the films that shaped his point of view
William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar 2025
A seminar for Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists working in cinematic realms, hosted by BlackStar. Registration open now.
BlackStar Selects
This special program, focusing on altered states, the occult, liminal worlds and liminal beings.
On Becoming A Guinea Fowl Special Screening
On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family, in filmmaker Rungano Nyoni’s surreal and vibrant reckoning with the lies we tell ourselves.
Love + Time Film Series
BlackStar-curated screenings co-presented with the Barnes Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, taking place across both venues this fall and winter.
Lose Your Mother: Shorts
An evening of short films exploring ancestral connections through time and space at the ICA Boston.