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2020

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By Indie Means Necessary

BlackStar Projects, home of the annual BlackStar Film Festival, celebrates and provides platforms for visionary Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists.

Twitter

@BlackStarFest - 2 days

RT @cousinorg: Program 2 of COUSINS AND KIN kicks off today! Dig into these works by our artists and friends who are bending the form of In…

@BlackStarFest - 2 days

The eight-part @IndependentLens series #PhillyDa begins Tuesday on PBS and the PBS Video app:… https://t.co/BQCx8qJn39

Instagram

The newest print in our year-long 10th Anniversary

The newest print in our year-long 10th Anniversary Print Sale is from visionary artist @cauleen_smith! ⁠Drawing from structuralism, third world cinema, and science fiction, Cauleen Smith (#BSFF13, #BSFF19) makes things that deploy the tactics of activism in service of ecstatic social space and contemplation. This still is from the 2018 film SOJOURNER, which explores what a radical feminist utopia might look like.⁠⁠
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Cauleen Smith⁠⁠
Still from SOJOURNER⁠⁠
2018⁠⁠
11 x 8.5 in. ⁠⁠
Edition of 30⁠⁠
Pigment Print⁠⁠
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Cauleen’s short films, feature film, an installation and performance were showcased at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2019. And has had solo exhibitions at The Whitney Museum of American Art, SFMoMA, and MassMoCA. ⁠⁠
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Learn more about Cauleen and the sale at the link in bio!⁠⁠
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Purchases of this limited edition print support BlackStar as we celebrate a decade of our annual Film Festival. A new print from a festival alum will be unveiled on the 15th of every month for the rest of the year. 🎉⁠⁠

#BlackStar10
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[Image Descriptions: First slide features a still from Cauleen Smith's film SOJOURNER, showing a Black person standing in a desert landscape, looking off into the distance. Behind them in the near-distance are a number of objects which are part of the community the film imagines. The second slide advertises BlackStar's 10th Anniversary Print Sale with confetti and stars in teal and pink, all against black.]⁠⁠

Check out this free event hosted by @imaginenative

Check out this free event hosted by @imaginenative and @freethework tomorrow that brings together Indigenous, Afro-Indigenous, and Black artists "in conversation around disruptive recountings, future tellings to witness current intersections of Afrofuturism and Indigenous Futurisms."⁠
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Moderated by Jessie Ray Short, with panelists Zainab Amadahy, Syrus Marcus Ware, Nisi Shawl, and Asinnajaq. A playlist curated by imagineNATIVE's Teineisha Richards will also be available to view after the panel.⁠
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🗓 Thursday, April 15 at 4:00 PM ET ⁠
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Learn more and RSVP at the link in bio.⁠
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[Image Description: A flyer for "Futurisms: A Conversation Exploring Intersections of Afrofutirism + Indigenous Futurisms," happening April 15 at 4 ET at fb.com/imaginenative. It features a film still from Syrus Marcus Ware's ANCESTORS, DO YOU READ US? (DISPATCHES FROM THE FUTURE), 2019.]

Three powerful documentaries from last year's Blac

Three powerful documentaries from last year's BlackStar Film Festival (#BSFF20) are available to watch in the US this week: @uliang's Down a Dark Stairwell, about the shooting of Akai Gurley and the trial of Peter Liang, has its television premiere tonight at 10 ET, and will then be available tomorrow via the PBS app. Meanwhile, @darkcitybmore — @tttheartist's musical documentary reimagining the narrative of Baltimore City through Baltimore club music — comes to Netflix on Thursday. And @shalinikantayya's @codedbias, about the fallout of Joy Buolamwini's discovery of racial bias in facial recognition algorithms, started streaming on the platform last week. ⁠⁠
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Congrats to all of these filmmakers! More info about the Down a Dark Stairwell premiere at the link in bio, and you can find the other two films via Netflix.⁠⁠ 📺
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[Image Descriptions: First slide features a film still from Down a Dark Stairwell, showing a a Black person — wearing an orange scarf and a t-shirt with Akai Gurley's name on it — speaking to someone who stands obscured in a doorway. The second photo is a still from Dark City Beneath the Beat, showing a Black child in the mid-dance, with their arms raised. The final slide is a still from Coded Bias, and shows a Black person ina red suit walking across a street with their face being scanned by a computer, while the US capital building is visible in the background.]

"There is value in choosing how to be seen, in rec

"There is value in choosing how to be seen, in reclaiming the right to select the face you show the world, in insisting that others see you as you know yourself to be. In proudly and boldly framing ourselves in the ways of our own choosing, to say: Here I am, this is me. In a way, this is a form of love, too." - Celeste Ng (@pronounced_ing) in a @nytimes essay, "Keeping Love Close: What does love look like in a time of hate? Asian and Asian American photographers respond."⁠⁠
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Read/view at the link in bio.⁠⁠
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📸 Leftmost photo on first slide by Stephanie Mei-Ling, lower right photo on that slide by Justin J Wee. Photo on second slide by Sandy Kim.⁠⁠
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[Image Descriptions: First slide is a screenshot from a New York Times article mentioned above. It includes two photos, one features a person with their arms folded above their head in a state of relaxation or meditation. The second shows two people facing each other, one of them holds up a mirror for the other to see themselves. The second slide features a photo of Sandy Kim in Koreatown, Los Angeles. Mouth open, their parents feed them, with the accompanying quote: "Every week my parents drive an hour and half away to visit me in Los Angeles. They stock my fridge, clean my house, do my laundry, cook meals for the week and fix anything broken. It’s important to them that I stay on track ever since I overcame a decade-long opiate addiction. I’ve spent the last two years relearning how to live, replacing all the shame I had with love and connection instead. I am so grateful to be alive, and for the love, support and hope they give me."]⁠⁠

Good Pitch Local returns to Philadelphia this summ

Good Pitch Local returns to Philadelphia this summer — on July 27 — in a half-day virtual event with @PhillyCam! ⁠
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Good Pitch Local supports short-form non-fiction media projects and powerful stories from community leaders addressing issues urgent and important to local communities. The live event will feature a curated selection of pitches and presentations in an atmosphere of radical collaboration, where storytellers and change-makers connect with funders, media platforms, and partner organizations that can help ensure these stories get made and make a difference.⁠
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Apply by May 5. Link in bio! via @thedocsociety.⁠
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[Image Description: A promo graphic features a photo of three people, two of whom are standing at microphones, ready to pitch their project. One person wearing a yellow dress is smiling at the camera and the other two are wearing masks. The overlaid text reads "Save the Date: Good Pitch Local Philadelphia; Tuesday, July 27, 2021; Apply Now! Closes May 5 http://bit.ly/GPLPhilly21"].⁠

.@albustanseeds has begun a weekly film series —

.@albustanseeds has begun a weekly film series — "Ten Years Since Tahrir" — on the Egyptian Revolution, curated by film critic Joseph Fahim. The films will screen virtually over the next two months, starting this week, and include several documentaries, features, and shorts.⁠
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Tickets are $3-$10. Learn more and register for the films at the link in bio!⁠
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[Image Description: A flyer for "Ten Years Since Tahrir; Weekly Film Series on the Egyption Revolution; Beginning April 2, 2021." It then features the dates for the films I AM THE PEOPLE (April 2-4), RAGS AND TATTERS (April 9-11), CROP (April 16-18), WAVES (April 23-25), as well as an illustration of two figures in an embrace.]

Huge congrats to @apshantology and @inourmothersga

Huge congrats to @apshantology and @inourmothersgardens on this amazing news! "In Our Mothers' Gardens," which premiered at #BSFF20 (as "Daughters Of") and won the Shine Award, will be released in select theaters and begin streaming on Netflix May 6 — thanks to @arraynow. 🙌🏾⁠⁠
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Read the full article at the link in bio!⁠⁠
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[Image Descriptions: Two screenshots of a Variety article titled "ARRAY Acquires ‘In Our Mothers’ Gardens,’ Sets Limited Theatrical Release and Netflix Debut," by Angelique Jackson, are placed against a teal background. The first also includes the film's poster and an image of its director, Shantrelle P. Lewis. The second includes text explaining the acquisition of the film by Array and its subject matter. It can be read in full at variety.com, via the link in bio.]⁠⁠

"Nearly 140 documentary filmmakers have signed ont

"Nearly 140 documentary filmmakers have signed onto a letter given to PBS executives, suggesting the service may provide an unfair level of support to white creators, facing a 'systemic failure to fulfill (its) mandate for a diversity of voices.'" - @edeggans⁠⁠
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Read the full letter sent to PBS by the #BeyondInclusion collective at bipocmakers.com. And read the full article at @NPR via the link in bio.⁠⁠
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[Image Descriptions: First slide is a screenshot of an article from NPR, titled "Filmmakers Call Out PBS For A Lack Of Diversity, Over-Reliance On Ken Burns," by Eric Deggans. It features a photo of Ken Burns at a PBS podium, taken by Amy Sussman/Getty Images. The second slide is another screenshot of the article text, featuring the paragraph above and more, which can be read in full at npr.org via the link in bio.]⁠⁠

The Netflix Nonfiction Directing and Producing Fel

The Netflix Nonfiction Directing and Producing Fellowship, developed with @ghettofilmschool, will provide career development curriculum, coaching, and production company placements for selected filmmakers — with a particular focus on filmmakers of color. ⁠⁠
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"[A]n all-in experience for directors and producers ready to advance their craft and careers, including the opportunity to shadow a director or producer on new and/or returning nonfiction series. Selected Fellows will be provided with ongoing production company placements on series and programs throughout the year-long Fellowship. Fellows will also attend monthly virtual briefings to provide guidance on goals and expectations throughout the program. Additional virtual meetings include, but are not limited to, masterclasses, and meet and greets with executives across the industry, and throughout Netflix and production company partners.”
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Learn more and apply by April 26 at the link in bio!⁠⁠
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[Image Descriptions: A two slide carousel advertises the Netflix Nonfiction Direction and Producing Fellowship, providing program details which are also written above.⁠⁠]

2020 Festival Re-cap

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