Schedule
BlackStar Pitch
Eight filmmakers will pitch their short nonfiction projects in front of a panel of judges, including funders, executives, distributors and producers, to receive feedback and have an opportunity to win a grand prize of $75,000 in production funds.
Listen to the Voices (Kouté vwa)
dir. by Maxime Jean-Baptiste
During his summer holidays in French Guiana, Melrick, a young boy, becomes aware of the reasons why his family has been destroyed by a tragic death.
- Open captions in-person
Don’t Cry, Butterfly (Mưa trên cánh bướm)
dir. by Dương Diệu Linh
Tam, a hardworking staff member at a wedding venue, finds out about her husband’s affair on live TV. Instead of confronting him, she seeks to win back his love with the help of a powerful spell master.
- Open captions in-person
Sugar Island
dir. by Johanne Gomez Terrero
Makenya, a Dominican-Haitian teenager, navigates an unwanted pregnancy and the harsh labor that defines her world.
- Open captions in-person
Hanami
dir. by Denise Fernandes
On a remote volcanic island that everybody wants to leave, little Nana learns how to stay.
- Open captions in-person
- Open captions in-person
- Trigger warning: Flashing lights - 01:00:11-01:00:41, 01:10:29-01:10:46, 01:15:47-01:16:52
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.
- Open captions in-person
- Trigger warning: Maternal death
Next Life
dir. by Tenzin Phuntsog
A Tibetan family seeks moments of “temporary happiness” while living in exile in suburban America.
- Open captions in-person
- Audio description in-person & online
- Open captions in-person
Reclaiming the Reel Panel
With Ambreen Qureshi, Charlie Raboteau, Ginou Choueiri and JT Takagi; moderated by Sahar Driver and Sonya Childress
- American Sign Language interpretation in-person
Cais
dir. by Safira Moreira
After her mother’s death, Safira travels through a river route to dive into new perspectives on memory, time, birth, life and death.
- Open captions in-person
- Open captions in-person
- Trigger warning: Flashing lights - 00:41-02:20
TCB – The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing
dir. by Louis Massiah & Monica Henriquez
TCB – The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing is a biography of the influential writer Toni Cade Bambara, whose literary works and film collaborations were a catalyzing force in 20th century cultural and political movements.
- Audio description in-person & online
- Open captions in-person
