Attendees got a first look at the festival line-up and heard from participants, including Denée Benton, Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich, Zeba Blay, and Shatara Michelle Ford.
On July 11, BlackStar hosted a special press preview of the 2024 film festival at NeueHouse in New York City. The media in the room learned about the festival’s overall vision and how this year’s opening and closing night selections are emblematic of the power and urgency of the entire line-up.
The evening began with a deeply poignant discussion with Dreams in Nightmares director Shatara Michelle Ford, star Denée Benton, and BlackStar founder and CEAO Maori Karmael Holmes, moderated by Zeba Blay (“Media-Making in the Time of Genocide“). They spoke to the structural barriers faced by Black queer filmmakers and actors, and what’s possible when they’re given space to dream beyond those barriers. Benton shared that the safety she felt on this set, with other Black queer femmes, was unlike any other she’s been on. And Ford powerfully explained to the room their intentional decision to world premiere the film at BlackStar.
That conversation was followed by a preview of The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire, and a panel discussion with director Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich and BlackStar’s festival director Nehad Khader, moderated by curator Dr. Ashley James. In discussing the many layers of her lush portrait of the overlooked anti-colonial writer, Suzanne Césaire, Hunt-Ehrlich imagined a future for film, where spaces like BlackStar continue to thrive so that Black indie filmmakers have the freedom and resources they need to create profound work.
In addition to NeueHouse, support for the event was provided by Ten to One Rum and ASHYA.
