BlackStar Film Festival is a celebration of cinema focused on work by and about people of African descent in a global context. BlackStar highlights films that are often overlooked from emerging, established, and mid-career directors, writers, and producers working in narrative, documentary, experimental, and music video filmmaking.
11:30AM
Panel: Behind the Scenes
Filmmaking is a team effort, but often the only people to get recognized are the directors and actors. This panel is intended for tweens, teens and young adults to get an insider’s view on careers behind the camera. Hear from cinematographer, designer and editor Hans Charles (MOTHER OF GEORGE, MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, PARIAH); set designer Ola Ronke (SHAFT, HAMLET, STATE OF AFFAIRS); producer NJ Frank (LIFE’S ESSENTIALS WITH RUBY DEE), and writer/director Nijla Mu’min (DREAM). The panel will be moderated by Olivia Haynes, one of the creators of the video NOT YOUR MAMA’S DRAMA, produced in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting and Scribe’s Documentary Youth History Project.
Presented by PECO
1PM
Shorts: Youth Program
A mix of short narratives and documentaries examines social justice, beauty standards, family and science fiction created by teens and young adults. Films include: A TEEN’S DREAM, CHANGE GON’ COME, GROWING APART, IGNORANCE, KADI (LANTERN), LOST & FOUND, NOT YOUR MAMA’S DRAMA, PRINCESS KIKI, SOCIETY’S COLORING BOOK: CONVERSATIONS AROUND SHADEISM & COLORISM, THE UNDECIDED, THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE, and V THE GREAT PERFORMER.
Presented by PECO
3:20PM
The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo
THE ART OF AMA ATA AIDOO, directed by Yaba Badoe (Ghana/UK, 2014, 78 min), explores the artistic contribution of one of Africa’s foremost woman writers, a trailblazer for an entire generation of exciting new talent. The film charts Ama Ata Aidoo’s creative journey over a life that spans seven decades, from the early years in colonial Ghana and the tumultuous era of independence to a more sober present-day Africa where nurturing women’s creative talent remains as important as ever. Over the course of a year, the film follows Aidoo as she returns home to her ancestral village in the Central Region of Ghana, launches her latest collection of short stories in Accra, and travels to the University of California, Santa Barbara to attend the premier of her seminal play about the slave trade, Anowa. With contributions from Carole Boyce Davies, Nana Wilson- Tagoe and Vincent Odamtten, The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo gives a fascinating insight into the life of a feminist poet and novelist and brings Aidoo’s writing to new audiences. The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo celebrates an acclaimed Pan-African feminist, poet, playwright and novelist and provides a fascinating insight into her life.