The second annual BlackStar Film Festival ended on Sunday August 4, after an even more impressive year!
Certainly a black film festival that’s very quickly making its mark, not only in Philly, but around the world, with its international lineup of films.
This year’s festival screened 15 feature films and 60 shorts from 17 countries, programmed by a team led by founder and Artistic Director Maori Karmael Holmes.
During the festival’s closing night ceremony, the producing committee announced the winners of its first-ever juried and audience film competitions, the short screenplay prize (with a cash award of $2,500) – all selected by a renowned group of filmmakers, artists, and critics – and honored the Howard University Film Program with the first BlackStar Award, presented to filmmaker Haile Gerima.
The evening ceremony was hosted by producer and radio personality Dyana Williams and featured local notable presenters, poet Ursula Rucker, radio personality/actor Quincy “Q-Deezy” Harris, radio personality Al Butler, music executive Brandon Pankey, cultural critic Yaba A. Blay, and curator Shantrelle P. Lewis.
The full list of award recipients follows below:
Juried Film Competition Awards
Best Short
The Bluest Note
Dir. Marques Green
Jurors: Montré Aza Missouri, Roberta Marie Munroe, and Michelle Trotter
Presented by:Al Butler
Best Music Video
Dear whoever,
Dir. Temitope Olutunmbi
Jurors: Nzinga Kadalie Kemp, Shawn Peters, and Dyana Williams
Presented by: Ursula Rucker
Best Experimental Film
Reifying Desire
Dir. Jacolby Satterwhite
Jurors: Rich Blint, Simone Leigh, and Paul D. Miller/DJ Spooky
Presented by:Yaba Blay
Best Documentary
Homegoings
Dir. Christine Turner
Jurors: Byron Hurt, Louis Massiah, and Michelle Parkerson
Presented by: Shantrelle P. Lewis
Best Feature
Things Never Said
Dir. Charles Murray
Jurors: Nekisa Cooper, Nicole Giles, and Rashaad Ernesto Greene
Presented by: Quincy “Q-Deezy” Harris
Audience Awards
Favorite Short
Happy Birthday to a Beautiful Woman
Dir. Mickalene Thomas
Presented by: Al Butler
Favorite Music Video
Heir Conditioning
Dir. Roni Nicole
Presented by: Ursula Rucker
Favorite Experimental Film
The End of Eating Everything
Dir. Wangechi Mutu
Presented by: Yaba Blay
Favorite Documentary
Living Thinkers: An Autobiography of Black Women in the Ivory Tower
Dir. Roxana Walker-Canton
Presented by: Shantrelle P. Lewis
Favorite Documentary Short
Merkato
Dir. Sosena Solomon
Presented by: Shantrelle P. Lewis
Favorite Feature
Nairobi Halflife
Dir. David Tosh Gitonga
Presented by: Quincy “Q-Deezy” Harris
Special Awards
Short Screenplay Prize
FOH
Written by Radha Blank
Presented by: Brandon Pankey
Judges: Lisa Cortés, Adesuwa McCalla, Dorian Missick, and Tariq “Black Thought”
Trotter
BlackStar Award
Howard University Film Program
Accepted by Haile Gerima
Presented by: Maori Karmael Holmes
