BlackStar Luminary Gala
BlackStar’s premiere fundraising event, supporting a suite of year-round cultural programming for and by Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists.
The Luminary Awards — previously handed out at the annual film festival — honor individuals and collectives for their contributions as artists and cultural workers. The 2024 awardees honored at the Gala were New Negress Film Society, Tourmaline, Annemarie Jacir and Louis Massiah.
Host Committee
- Adjoa Jones de Almeida
Andre Carroll
Andre Robert Lee
Bill Adair
Dana Gills
Deesha Philyaw
Dyana Williams
Ernest Owens
Irit Reinheimer
James Claiborne
Jenny Raskin - Kyle Easley
Lauren Holland
Marcel Pratt
Noura Erakat
Nikil Saval
Nuala Cabral
Rachel Branson
Rakia Reynolds
Raymond Perkins
Reggie Brown
Tina Farris
Annemarie Jacir
A pioneer whose work inspires us to ask questions, exchange ideas, to dream and invites discourse around urgent human rights issues. Annemarie Jacir has written, directed and produced over sixteen films with premieres in Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Locarno and Toronto. All three of Jacir’s feature films have been selected as Palestine’s Oscar Entry for Foreign Language Film.
Louis Massiah
A documentary filmmaker and community activist committed to sharing his passion for film to make the medium more accessible for aspiring local filmmakers. In 1982, Massiah founded the Scribe Video Center, a Philadelphia non-profit organization which explores, develops and advances the use of electronic media as a tool for social change and to document contemporary concerns and events. Massiah’s documentaries include The Bombing of Osage Avenue and W.E.B. Du Bois: A Biography in Four Voices.
New Negress Film Society
New Negress Film Society was founded in 2013 by Kumi James (formerly Wendy James) in response to her observation that the films and critical interventions made by Black women filmmakers were seldom highlighted or discussed in public and private institutions. In May 2013, James organized a screening called I Am A Negress of Noteworthy Talent showcasing the works of Nevline Nnaji, Nikyatu Jusu, Nuotama Bodomo, Ja’Tovia Gary and herself and then convened the screening’s participants to form New Negress Film Society in June 2013 with Nevline Nnaji, Nuotama Bodomo and Ja’Tovia Gary and herself as its founding members. Stefani Saintonge and Yvonne Michelle Shirley will accept the award on behalf of New Negress Film Society.
Tourmaline
An artist, filmmaker, writer, and activist whose practice highlights the experiences of Black, queer, and trans communities in her films and photographs. Tourmaline has had solo exhibitions at MUDAM and Chapter NY and her work has also been presented within significant group exhibitions such as the 2024 Whitney Biennial, Acts of Resilience at South London Gallery, Artist and Society at Tate Modern; the 2022 Venice Biennale; Mountain/Time at Aspen Art Museum; Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Slipstream: Reflection, Resilience, and Resistance in the Art of Our Time at the Bronx Museum and Critical Fabulations at MoMA.
