Schedule
Slow Down & Stretch: All Levels Yoga
Before the films and discussions begin, we invite you to turn your breath and attention inward to reflect on the impact of the stories we are telling and sharing in the BlackStar festival space. Join Reshma of Monarch Yoga for a yoga and mindfulness experience.
The Daily Jawn – Morning Show
Hosted by Maori Karmael Holmes, Rashid Zakat and Anne Ishii
- American Sign Language interpretation in-person
The Shadow Scholars
dir. by Eloise King
Tens of thousands of young and well-educated Kenyans are hired online by undergraduates and doctoral students at Western universities to write their essays and theses in a multibillion-dollar underground industry.
- Open captions in-person
- Open captions in-person
Compensation
dir. by Zeinabu irene Davis
A landmark of independent cinema, Compensation is Zeinabu irene Davis’ moving, ambitious portrait of the struggles of Deaf African Americans and the complexities of loving relationships at the bookends of the 20th century.
- Audio description in-person & online
- Open captions in-person
Binnigula’sa’ (Ancient Zapotec People)
dir. by Jorge Ángel Pérez
While working the land in 1964, a Zapotec boy named Cándido discovered a stone-carved deity that was subsequently taken from him to be exhibited in the country’s capital.
- Open captions in-person
The Politics of Perspective Panel
With Lana Garland, Laurens Grant, Rafael Samanez and Shola Lynch; moderated by Natalie Bullock Brown
- American Sign Language interpretation in-person
Abolish! Shorts
Post-carceral stories, from the individual to the systemic.
- Audio description in-person & online
- Open captions in-person
Guided Wellness Space with Kim Hunter-Bryant
Join Kim Hunter-Bryant, LCSW, PMH-C, a licensed clinical social worker, wellness facilitator, and community healer, for a 4-day immersive wellness experience at BlackStar. These guided sessions invite festival-goers into a collective space to reflect, reset, and reconnect.
Seeds
dir. by Brittany Shyne
Seeds is a portrait of centennial farmers in the American South.
- Open captions in-person
All That’s Left of You (اللي باقي منك)
dir. by Cherien Dabis
After a Palestinian teen gets swept up into a West Bank protest, his mother recounts the family story of hope, courage and relentless struggle that led to this fateful moment.
- Open captions in-person
- Trigger warning: Colonial violence
Black Media Legacy Panel
With Louis Massiah and Marcia Smith; moderated by Maori Karmael Holmes
- American Sign Language interpretation in-person
Third Act
dir. by Tadashi Nakamura
Generations of artists call Robert A. Nakamura “the godfather of Asian American media,” but filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura calls him Dad.
- Open captions in-person
- Open captions in-person
- Trigger warning: Flashing lights - 08:46-09:03
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions
dir. by Kahlil Joseph
Conceived as a cinematic experience that mirrors the sonic textures of a record album, BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions is a genre-bending documentary adapted from Kahlil Joseph’s renowned video art installation.
- Open captions in-person
We Want the Funk!
dir. by Stanley Nelson & Nicole London
We Want the Funk! is a syncopated voyage through the history of funk music, spanning from African, soul and early jazz roots to its rise into the public consciousness.
- Open captions in-person
