BlackStar Film Festival

The BlackStar Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by BlackStar Projects. The festival focuses on films about and by black, brown and indigenous people from around the world. It takes place each August in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It has been described as the "Black Sundance."

The festival is named after Marcus Garvey's shipping line, the Black Star Line. It was founded in 2012 by Maori Karmael Holmes, with the first BlackStar Film Festival initially conceived as a one-day "microfestival" that, due to the large number of submissions, ultimately turned into a four-day international event. Holmes developed the festival due to her view that there were very few film festivals for Black filmmakers, as well as a desire to share stories that go beyond stereotypical representations of people of color. Backers of the festival include the MacArthur Foundation, the Knight Foundation, HBO, CAA, Comcast, and Lionsgate.

The first festival included a master class and screening of part of Middle of Nowhere by Ava DuVernay. Produced by nonprofit BlackStar Projects, that festival included 40 films from four continents. Later festivals have included films by Arthur Jafa, Ja'Tovia Gary, Terence Nance, Jenn Nkiru, Gabourey Sidibe, Janine Sherman Barrois, Darius Clark Monroe, Shatara Michelle Ford, Garrett Bradley, and Naima Ramos-Chapman. Panels have included Bradford Young, Rashid Shabazz, Spike Lee, and Tarana Burke.

Yaba Blay, Akiba Solomon, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter have all previously served on the advisory board of the festival.

In 2024, the festival had over 17,000 attendees.

Sister programming from Blackstar Projects includes Seen, a biannual journal of art and writing; a seminar for artists of color; a fellowship; and exhibitions.