The seventh annual BlackStar Film Festival, announces its full lineup of films for the 2018 program. The celebration of black cinema will take place in Philadelphia on Thursday, August 2 through Sunday, August 5.
Festival favorite and multidisciplinary artist Terence Nance will debut his new HBO comedy series Random Acts of Flyness on Friday, August 3 at 8pm at Lightbox Film Center, followed by a premiere reception at the Institute of Contemporary Art. This year’s lineup of over 80 films also includes:
World Premieres
Menelek Patrice Lumumba’s feature 1 Angry Black Man, about a college senior drawing inspiration from favorite writers to navigate his emotional reality
Four Days in May, a short documentary about state violence in Jamaica
Naima Ramos-Chapman’s short narrative film Piu Piu, about a young woman’s surreal trip to the city.
Other Highlights
Jenn Nkiru’s afrofuturist short Rebirth is Necessary
Alaska is a Drag, Shaz Bennett’s tale of a drag performer in rural Alaska
Khalik Allah’s documentary Black Mother about Jamaica’s gender dynamics and cultural contradictions
The Black Museum, Oliver Hardt’s documentary about the National Museum of African American History and Culture
Faraday Okoro’s Nigerian Prince, about a Nigerian-American teenager who joins forces with an internet scammer
Roni Nicole Henderson’s bridge/refrain, an experimental short about a young woman traveling to the land of her ancestors
Douvan Jou Ka Leve, Gessica Généus’ documentary about life in Haiti
A Drop of Sun Under the Earth, Shikeith Cathey’s experimental short about trauma and compassion
Assia Boundaoui’s documentary The Feeling of Being Watched, about FBI surveillance in an Arab-American community in Chicago
Ephraim Asili’s Fluid Frontier, an experimental short about the African Diaspora in Detroit and Windsor
French Fries, Janine Sherman Barrois’ short about a couple‘s creative interplay and emotional conflicts
Fucked Like A Star, Stefani Saintonge’s experimental short about women’s work
Mariama Diallo’s short Hair Wolf, about gentrification and a black hair salon in Brooklyn
Happy Birthday Marsha, a short about transgender artist and activist Marsha Johnson, legendary inciter of the Stonewall Riots in New York
Mr. Soul!, a feature documentary about Ellis Haizlip, producer and host of the public television show SOUL!
The full festival schedule can be viewed at blackstarfest.org/2018schedule. Screenings take place at Lightbox Film Center and Pearlstein Gallery at Drexel University, with panel discussions at the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Opening Reception at Johnny Brenda’s on Thursday, August 2, and the Closing Awards Show on Sunday, August 5 at World Cafe Live.