(Palo Alto, CA — February 16, 2024) BlackStar Projects, the premier organization celebrating visionary Black, Brown, and Indigenous film and media artists, is thrilled to announce the subject and public ticket information for the keynote address of the fourth annual William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar. To be delivered by Neptune Frost co-director and cinematographer Anisia Uzeyman, “Film Resistance: 3rd Eye Cinema Praxis” will explore how “even the most fragile expression of resistance is a conductor in the transfer of power.” The 2024 Greaves Seminar is a three-day in-person gathering for Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists working in cinematic realms presented in partnership with the Stanford Institute for Diversity in the Arts (IDA), on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA.
Tickets for the public program are $20 and available for purchase here. Registration for the Greaves Seminar overall is sold out and closed.
“We are honored to have the renowned and radical filmmaker Anisia Uzeyman to help us set the tone for our fourth Greaves Seminar,” said Maori Karmael Holmes, Chief Executive & Artistic Officer and Founder of BlackStar Projects. “While the rest of the Seminar is an intentionally intimate experience for attendees, we’re looking forward to this new partnership with the IDA as an opportunity to engage Stanford and the wider Bay Area community in an expansive public conversation.”
Anisia Uzeyman’s work has been celebrated for its revelatory approach to science fiction and deep critique of patriarchal capitalism. Anisia directed and acted in her debut experimental film Dreamstates, shot entirely on iPhone in 2016. Additionally, she has performed in starring roles in Tey (Aujourd’hui, 2012), and Ayiti Mon Amour (2016)—both of which screened at previous BlackStar film festivals.
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. Previous keynote addresses have been delivered by Nuotama Bodomo, Violeta Ayala, and Cauleen Smith. The weekend’s programming will also include workshops on afro-futurist audio films, making an immersive media project, a director’s commentary with All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt director Raven Jackson, and a special advance screening of Yance Ford’s POWER. Additionally, artists’ wellness will be prioritized, with yoga classes and mindfulness sessions, all taking place on Stanford’s campus.
The Greaves Seminar is produced by BlackStar Projects, home of the annual BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia. Last year’s 12th-anniversary Festival featured 97 films, including 19 world premieres, representing 31 countries. The lineup spanned narrative features and shorts, documentary features and shorts, and experimental films and showcased 19 world, 11 North America, 5 US, and 10 East Coast premieres. 47 films were Philadelphia premieres. In addition to presenting an array of live programs, panels, and in-person events and screenings, 2023 also marked BlackStar’s biggest festival to date and its first time taking place along Philadelphia’s central Broad Street. The 2024 BlackStar Film Festival will return August 1-4, in-person in Philadelphia and streaming worldwide. Additional information on ticketing, jurors, sponsors, programming, and the slate of films that will be featured at this year’s festival will be announced soon. Visit blackstarfest.org for more information.
BlackStar Projects and its year-round programs are generously supported by Ford Foundation/JustFilms, Forman Arts Initiative, Gucci ChangeMakers Fund, Independence Public Media Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Michael Jordan Black Community Commitment Fund, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Mighty Arrow Family Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation
Perspective Fund, Philadelphia Cultural Treasures Fund, PopCultureCollaborative, Ruth Foundation for the Arts, Samuel S. Fels Fund, Surdna Foundation, Wallace Foundation, William Penn Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, in addition to its board of directors, community partners, and a host of generous individual donors and organizations.
About BlackStar Projects
BlackStar Projects is the producer of BlackStar Film Festival, an annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of the African diaspora and global communities of color — showcasing films by Black, Brown, and Indigenous people from around the world. In addition to the acclaimed festival, BlackStar presents an array of programming across film and visual culture year-round and produces the journal Seen.
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