Tinsel & Tine Coverage of

BLACKSTAR FILM FESTIVAL

August 1-4, 2019

By Le Anne Lindsay, Editor

Tinsel & Tine has gotten the opportunity to cover portions of The BlackStar Film Festival since its inception! Here's links to our 2017 | 2018 posts. I even met someone at last year's fest, which turned into a 6 month romance. Sadly, we didn't make it to return together this year - August 1-4, 2019; however, I'll be back to witness another stellar slate of black, brown and indigenous films from around the globe.

Founded in 2012 by Maori Karmael Holmes, BlackStar has become the hottest event on the film festival calendar. Exposing and providing its audience with must-see film premieres, poignant artist discussions, and discoveries of emerging filmmakers. Remember, artists like Terence Nance (An Oversimplification of Her Beauty; HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness), Matthew A. Cherry (9 RIdes; ABC's Whiskey Cavalier), Nijla Baseema Mu'min (Jinn) and more have shared their work at the festival, and from BlackStar cultivated a fanbase that has grown with their careers.

Here's some highlights to look out for this year: 



The festival kicks off with JEZEBEL (narrative feature) written and directed by Numa Perrier, explores the complex young life of a 19-year-old, introduced to the world of internet fetish cam girls. The screening will mark its Philadelphia premiere.




BlackStar will present the LUMINARY AWARD to Marcia Smith, President of Firelight Media,
a nonprofit production company dedicated to using historical film to advance contemporary social justice causes, and to mentoring, inspiring and training a new generation of diverse young filmmakers committed to advancing underrepresented stories.




To commemorate the 30th anniversary of  DO THE RIGHT THING, filmmaker Spike Lee and activist Tarana Burke will discuss the possibilities of using radical storytelling to center social justice and foster narrative change.



The Philadelphia Premiere of  THE APPOLLO, a documentary feature from Academy Award-winning director, Roger Ross Williams (Music By Prudence, God Loves Uganda).



BlackStar Film Festival will host the inaugural BLACKSTAR PITCH. Filmmakers will pitch their projects in front of a live audience and a panel of judges to receive feedback and have an opportunity to win a cash prize of $1,000. This first BlackStar Pitch will be focused on feature documentary projects and is open to any filmmaker who identifies as a person of color.



Sneak Preview of HIP HOP: THE SONGS THAT SHOOK AMERICA  a New Documentary Series from Executive Producers Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson (from the band, The Roots), Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter (also from the band, The Roots), Shawn Gee, and Alex Gibney
each episode of the series focuses on a groundbreaking song pivotal to the evolution of American music and culture.



Solange Knowles to screen WHEN I GET HOME on August 4th, as part of BlackStar’s Closing Night Film Presentation of films that examine cultural history through music, and/or collaborations with musicians who are also directors.

And SO MUCH MORE Visit Blackstarfest.org and be sure to return to Tinsel & Tine and our social media channels @tinseltine and @tinsel_tine (IG) during the festival!

Please note: Tinsel & Tine is in the process of moving our content to a newly designed site with a featured section for Film Festival Coverage.  The URL may change on individual posts, however our domain name will remain the same tinseltine.com