The Blackstar Film Festival

The BlackStar Film Festival will take place August 1-4, 2013 in Philadelphia. Its mission is to celebrate the visual and storytelling traditions of the African diaspora and to showcase film and video works by and about black people from across the globe.

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Black Actress - The Web Series will be a 10 episode series featured on the Issa Rae Productions YouTube channel, starring Andrea Lewis (Degrassi: The Next Generation). As a seasoned actress, Lewis has experienced first-hand the common stereotypes associated with Black characters, as well as the general ups and downs of the entertainment industry. Through these experiences the idea for Black Actress was born. The series will be depicted in "mock-umentary" style, showing the everyday struggles of black actresses.

Congrats to them for reaching their funding goal! 

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Ahh yes, taxes are almost due. Crowdfunding is popular source of funding for many filmmakers, but before you run to the bank, did you know that the money your receive is all taxable income? Check out this article featured on Salon.com and make sure for your next project you put some away for the man.

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Blackstar Film Festival is led and supported by a group of talented individuals. Once a week until the festival begins we will highlight what we do when we are not working together to bring great independent black films and filmmakers to you.

Alaskaland, directed by Chinonye Chukwu, tells the story of Chukwuma, an Alaska-raised Nigerian who is struggling to balance his cultural heritage with the pressures of the larger world around him. Find out more on where to catch the full film here. Chinonye has recently received a 2013 – 2014 Hodder Fellowship, which gives writers and other artists of exceptional promise an opportunity to pursue independent projects at Princeton University for one year. We look forward to seeing what develops!

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Byron Hurt and his award-winning documentary film Soul Food Junkies were both a hit last year at our festival. Byron's next cinematic effort in-the-works is to tackle the controversial topic of hazing with "Hazing: How Badly Do You Want In", which upon completion will be a 60-minute documentary film . Sounds interesting? With a few days left of fundraising, you can make this film happen!

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Blackstar Film Festival is led and supported by a group of talented individuals. Once a week until the festival begins we will highlight what we do when we are not working together to bring great independent black films and filmmakers to you.

David McDowell is one of our visual and audio producers. Known musically as Aeon, he is largely known for his production with the group Tanya Morgan, as well as for being an excellent photographer. Today we bring to you his release with Von Pea, "Things Have Changed" from their newest EP, "Duly Noted". Smooth sounds for the spring.

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Congratulations to Justin Simien, whose project "Dear White People" has been designated Indiewire and Tribeca Film Festival's Project of the Year! Read more about the story behind the film here, and keep track by following their Tumblr.

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The 1st annual BlackStar Film Festival, Philadelphia’s only celebration highlighting film makers from the African Diaspora will take place Aug. 2-5, 2012 at the International House of Philadelphia in University City.