William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar: A three-day seminar for Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists working in cinematic realms
Example
BlackStar creates the spaces and resources needed to uplift the work of Black, Brown and Indigenous artists working outside of the confines of genre. We do this by producing year-round programs including film screenings, exhibitions, an annual film festival, a filmmaker seminar, a film production lab, and a journal of visual culture. These programs provide artists opportunities for viable strategies for collaborations with other artists, audiences, funders, and distributors.
We prioritize visionary work that is experimental in its aesthetics, content, and form and builds on the work of elders and ancestors to imagine a new world. We elevate artists who are overlooked, invisibilized or misunderstood and celebrate the wide spectrum of aesthetics, storytelling and experiences that they bring. We bring that work to new audiences as well as place it in dialog with other past and contemporary work. And, we curate every aspect of our events to be intentional community building efforts, connecting diverse audiences in a Black-led space centered on joy and thriving.
Example 2
BlackStar is building a liberatory world in which a vast spectrum of Black, Brown and Indigenous experiences is irresistibly celebrated in arts and culture. We create fertile spaces for ongoing imagination, learning and community building for Black, Brown and Indigenous artists to have the resources, support and shine we need to create visionary work.
We are building solidarity amongst Black, Brown and Indigenous artists globally to create this world and thrive together.
Mission
BlackStar creates the spaces and resources needed to uplift the work of Black, Brown and Indigenous artists working outside of the confines of genre. We do this by producing year-round programs including film screenings, exhibitions, an annual film festival, a filmmaker seminar, a film production lab, and a journal of visual culture. These programs provide artists opportunities for viable strategies for collaborations with other artists, audiences, funders, and distributors.
We prioritize visionary work that is experimental in its aesthetics, content, and form and builds on the work of elders and ancestors to imagine a new world. We elevate artists who are overlooked, invisibilized or misunderstood and celebrate the wide spectrum of aesthetics, storytelling and experiences that they bring. We bring that work to new audiences as well as place it in dialog with other past and contemporary work. And, we curate every aspect of our events to be intentional community building efforts, connecting diverse audiences in a Black-led space centered on joy and thriving.
Vision
BlackStar is building a liberatory world in which a vast spectrum of Black, Brown and Indigenous experiences is irresistibly celebrated in arts and culture. We create fertile spaces for ongoing imagination, learning and community building for Black, Brown and Indigenous artists to have the resources, support and shine we need to create visionary work.
We are building solidarity amongst Black, Brown and Indigenous artists globally to create this world and thrive together.
Values
Building Community
Bringing people together is the fundamental base-building needed to build movements for social change, strengthen the webs of connections between different individuals and organizations, and together rectify the inequities caused by systems of oppression. By building community, we are building new means of reclaiming power and mobilizing the resources artists need to thrive.
Care
We create spaces in which we are all kindred and cared for. Our care manifests in forms from fair work practices for our staff to providing childcare for filmmakers to devoting resources to language translation.
Intersectionality
We bring an analysis of race, gender and power to everything we do. We recognize that there is no singular Black, Brown or Indigenous experience. We uplift work that embodies these intersections, continually widening the global cultural frames we use to understand power and how we relate to one another.
Liberation
Diversity and representation are not guiding us, liberation is. Our work is centered on shifting power and defying the perceived limits of imagination. We need artists to be the architects of a world we’re trying to make through these experiments of narration.
Reparative
We build on the collective legacies of our elders and ancestors and carry their visions forward while building anew. Through our programs we are understanding the experiences of those before us, healing ourselves and our trauma, and creating a different world for future generations to follow in.
Rigor
We are committed to uplifting work that is outside the confines of genre, creating new definitions of aesthetics, storytelling and craft. Audiences engage with our programs knowing there will be a consistent level of rigor in our curatorial practices.
Solidarity
We build solidarity amongst Black, Brown and Indigenous artists to create mutual support and work to center our voices, together. We are challenging a history of divide and conquer and instead coming together, building solidarity amongst Black, Brown and Indigenous creators.
Board of Directors
- Denise C. Beek Chief Communications Officer,
‘me too.’ International
Co-Chair - Amanda Branson Gill Co-Founder, Kilo Films
Treasurer - Sekou Campbell Partner, Culhane Meadows PLLC
Co-Chair - Michael Garden Principal, Michael Garden Group
- Sunanda Ghosh Nonprofit Strategy
Consultant - Maori Karmael Holmes Artistic Director & CEO, BlackStar
- Ted Passon President, All Ages Productions
- Taj Reid EVP, Executive Design Director, Edelman
- Tayyib Smith Principal, Little Giant, Smith&Roller, Pipeline Philly
Secretary
$1,000+ Luminary Circle
- Amatus Ali
Anonymous
Charles and Annette Worthy
Dorian and Simone Missick
Evelyn Hsu
Jasmine & Sekou Campbell
Jonathan Kraus
Kimberly Brundidge
Maori Karmael Holmes
Tarana J Burke
Ursula Kay Gilmore
Members
- A Matter of Xpression II
Aarati Kasturirangan
Adam Neuhaus
Adrien Gystere Peskine
Aisha Evelyna
Mr Alain Dennis Joinville
Alexander Alberro
Dr Alexandra E Leigh
Ms Alexia Chororos
Alice Conconi
Allison Erdneka Budschalow
Amanda J Hay
Amanda Branson Gill
Amira Smith
Amy Sadao
Andrea Ogundele Gosfield
Annabelle Jellinek
Anonymous
Dr. Aronte Bennett
Ashley Wabara
Ashley Ijoema Omoma
Barbara Attie
Bernadine Hawes
Bjorn Henriques
Braden Lepisto
bree gant
Brenda Coughlin
Brian Newman
Cindie Hurley
Clare Kobasa
The Cobb Family
Corbett vs Dempsey
Corinne Warnshuis
Courtney Dailey
Cristine Paull
Dan and Michelle Stoeckel
Debora Kodish
Deborah Thomas
Denise M Brown
Diversity in Cannes - Doris Berger
Early Bird Films
Edward Crawford
Elizabeth M. Webb
Elliott Feldman
Emily Cavanagh
Emily Letourneau
Eric Bai
Eunice Levis
Ezra Nepon
Feather O Houstoun
Felicia Pride
fern ramoutar
Firelight Films
Garland McLaurin
Geneva White
George Lawrence
George McNeely
Germaine Ingram
Heather Gibson Moqtaderi
Jason F Griesser
Mr Jason Fitzroy Jeffers
Jason Griesser
Jason Patience
Jeffrey C Kann
Jessica Lingel
Jessica Murray
John Corbett
John Morrison
Johnica Rivers
JP Paul Kalmeijer
Judilee Reed
Juliana Rowen Barton
Julie Rainbow
Kameel Hall
Karen Redrobe
Kathleen Ogilvie Greene
Ms. Kerri Park
Khari McClelland
Mr. Kirwyn F Sutherland Jr.
The Greenwood Collective presents the Drive-In, curated by BlackStar. Featuring films from the first decade of the BlackStar Film Festival.
Opportunities
Chief Operations Officer
Full-Time
BlackStar Projects is seeking a Chief Operations Officer (COO) to provide strategic and operational leadership to the organization as a whole, with a focus on fundraising efforts, financial management and internal operations in support of continuing growth, organizational sustainability, and current and emergent programming.
Address
BlackStar
1901 South 9th Street
Bok 414
Philadelphia, PA 19148
Newsletter
From August 4-7, between 9 am and 5 pm ET, All Access Passes can be picked up in person at the BlackStar satellite office located at The Study at 20 S 33rd St, Philadelphia, PA 19104. On August 8 all passes must be picked up directly at the Mann. When picking up your pass, please have your pass QR code ready, which you can access by visiting festival.blackstarfest.org/passes and clicking “show barcode.”
PASSES
$125 All-Access pass (access to all virtual and in-person events)
$100 Virtual pass (access to all virtual events)
$45 BlackStar @ the Mann Pass (access to all in-person screenings on August 8)
TICKETS
$5 Individual tickets for virtual screenings
$45 Ten-ticket bundle (choose any ten virtual screenings)
All passes can be purchased at blackstarfest.org/tickets.
For virtual screenings, individual tickets can be purchased through our schedule by pressing “Buy Ticket” for the screening of your choice. Festival passes can be purchased at www.blackstarfest.org/tickets.
Yes, you will need to create an account in order to view the virtual film festival. When you purchase a pass or ticket you will be prompted to create your account. You can view your account information at anytime after by logging in at festival.blackstarfest.org/login.
BlackStar is offering a 50% discount to youth (ages 13 to 21) and seniors (ages 55 and above) for BlackStar @ the Mann, happening August 8 at the Mann Center for Performing Arts in Philadelphia. To use the discount enter the code “youthsenior” at checkout when purchasing a BlackStar @ the Mann pass. When arriving at the venue you may be asked to verify your age.* Note that the code will only work on purchases of a BlackStar @ the Mann pass and there are no other youth or senior discounts available.
*All children 12 and under are admitted free to this event and do not require a pass or ticket to enter.
BlackStar is offering ACCESS cardholders individual tickets to the virtual festival and BlackStar @ the Mann passes, happening on August 8 at the Mann Center for Performing Arts for $2.00. To receive the discounted tickets or pass, use the discount code “ACCAR21” at checkout when purchasing an individual ticket or BlackStar @ the Mann pass. When arriving at BlackStar @ the Mann, you may be asked to present your ACCESS card at entry.
Your pass is immediately available after purchase or at the start of the festival. An All-Access or Virtual Pass will work until the end of the festival on August 8. A BlackStar @ the Mann pass will only work in-person on Sunday, August 8, at the Mann Center in Philadelphia.
Contact Us
BlackStar is a leader in a global movement recognizing media arts and visual culture as a vital component in rectifying historical imbalances and creating a more equitable world.
William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar: A three-day seminar for Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists working in cinematic realms
- Deadlines
- January 21, 2021 – Application Opens
- January 31, 2021 – Applications Close
- February 10, 2021 – Notification Date
The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) and BlackStar are proud to present Revival!, an audio-visual meditation celebrating the visual and sonic culture of shared Black spiritual experience.
- Featuring an audio-visual mix by filmmaker and artist Rashid Zakat, this installation is an attempt to reimagine and practice what collective joy and resilience look like in times of crisis. Subtly drawing upon José Esteban Muñoz’s notion of ecstasy as “an invitation, a call to a then-and-there, a not-yet-here… a collective potentiality,”
- Revival! treats ecstasy not only as a corrective balm to injury but a world-making claim to the right of life, imagination, and joyful expression, an especially critical response to our current moment.
Based on the success of the day-long filmmakers’ symposium at the annual BlackStar Film Festival (that has included 100 filmmakers of color annually), BlackStar is proud to present the William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar, a three-day gathering for Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists working in cinematic realms. Participants will explore the technical and creative aspects of media-making, while having honest conversations about the successes and pitfalls of their work.
- The Seminar is named after visionary filmmakers William and Louise Greaves, who together co-produced landmark documentaries such as Symbiopsychotaxiplasm and Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey. Read more about the importance of William’s decades-long career, which included over 200 documentary films, here.Symbiopsychotaxiplasm and Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey. Read more about the importance of William’s decades-long career, which included over 200 documentary films, here.
The Seminar is free to attend, thanks to support from Cinereach, but interested attendees must fill out an application.
The BlackStar Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab is a partnership with Comcast with additional support from Wyncote Foundation, All Ages Productions, Kickstarter, and Vimeo.
BlackStar Live! Co-hosted by BlackStar’s founder, curator and filmmaker Maori Karmael Holmes and DJ and filmmaker-artist Rashid Zakat — this is a talk show unlike any other.
Seen is a journal of film and visual culture focused on Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities globally, published by BlackStar Projects twice each calendar year.
You can help BlackStar shine by becoming a Member or making a one-time donation today. Members commit to giving monthly or yearly, and are eligible for exclusive perks
