5 Questions for BlackStar Film Festival Filmmakers 2020

Le Anne Lindsay, Editor

The 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival (Virtual year) runs Thursday, August 20 – 26, 2020. For more of what’s in store click HERE

Tinsel & Tine started a 5 Questions Series a couple years ago as a great way to highlight and get to know some of the filmmakers screening their Shorts during various Film Festivals in Philly. It later expanded to include actors. What I love about these interviews is how different and revealing each person’s responses are to the same questions. As you’ll see below:

Jump to:	A Storybook Ending	As Above
Behind The Mask	Black Boy Joy	Broken Bird
By Way of Canarsie	Cover/Age	Dear Nyakio
DVD & Chill	Echoes of a Winter Sunshine	Gossamer
Gulf	I Am Free Now, You Are	It’s Snowing Outside
Keon	Lovable	Midnight Oil
Nilā	Origin of Hair	The Deliverer
We Are Free Harriet Tubman	Zero Zero

Echoes of A Winter Sunshine
Filmmaker : Oniffe White
Screening Date: Shorts Program: Kindred – Thurs. Aug 20th 5:30pm
If you miss it, catch it on STARZ in Oct.
TRAILER | Behind The Scenes | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Synopsis: A 16 Year old girl and her younger brother find themselves homeless in Harlem.

Oniffe White intro…

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Oniffe White: My film has many themes of what it means to be young, black, homeless, etc, but the main theme is Blackness in America as the title Echoes of a Winter Sunshine explains. Winter Sunshine is Blackness in America. The bitterness of a cold existence in a space that refuses to acknowledge your collective existence but that collective continues to rend apart the overcasted, clouded, winter sky and let in the sunshine. The foundation of America is literally built on that sunshine. The two children are the current Echoes of that Winter Sunshine. As the film shows, things aren’t going so well, we always get a temporary reprieve but it’s still frigid outside.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

OW: This may be a long answer because I’d like to answer both questions. Even though production went very smooth, music was the main obstacle I faced. From not being able to secure a composer in pre production because they found the material too dark, which forced me to be creative with one of our multi talented actors. The singing in the beginning is a direct creative result of that obstacle. When I wrote the screenplay I listened to both Nina Simone and Kid Cudi’s Kids See Ghosts on a loop. The Rhythm influenced the pacing of the scenes. I was lucky because she had Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair in the public domain. I could answer so much more to this question but I don’t want to occupy too much real estate on your site.

Food plays a very important part in the story as well as production. For a few scenes it’s a Macguffin, which reveals the theme of our characters and the selflessness of the Homeless community. As for production it’s a big thank you to my community of Harlem for both the corner store and coffee shop for allowing me to film there for free, and not only that, but Proof Coffee shut down an hour early and fed the crew for free. Shout out to Harlem for being so welcoming.

T&T: Was there a point where you almost didn’t finish your film? And if so, what pushed you forward? OR What’s been the most memorable response you’ve received thus far from anyone after seeing your film?

OW: The most memorable initial response I had for this film was in the beginning of test screening to audiences outside my family. They loved the film but their responses could be tainted out of love for me so of course I tested it all over the place. I sent it to a young friend of mine and he watched it with his then girlfriend and they both came back crying and she was bawling asking me for more and questioning me of what happened next. Those were the emotions I wanted to evoke in an audience – I saw it overwhelm someone’s soul. That satisfied me for weeks, to which, if no one else liked the film I didn’t care.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

OW: There’s an amazing group of people I’d like to thank but my initial thanks is to my big headed big sis Allyson White. She was the first person I let hear the script and as I read it over the phone to her I could hear her crying. That’s when I knew I had something and it was an indicator that I knew how to provoke someone emotionally in a creative medium. You may think you’re skilled at something but you don’t know until you put it to the test. Her response revealed I had the structure of something that was going to communicate what I wanted. The Amazing Sonja Cirilo who read the script, had a similar reaction as my sister and agreed to be one of my leads. Cylinda Whitted, Noble Whitted’s mother who allowed her son to be a part of this film. Noble for being exceptional, an amazing young up and coming actor, and a great person to have around. My Cinematographer, Editor and Colorist David Siciliano, who brought his extensive experience that made shooting my first film overwhelmingly easy, it’s obvious I Ieaned heavily on that expertise. Marjorie Cabrera, Langston Darby, Dariane Durham, Grace Adriane, Kossim Osseni and my classmate, friend and assistant Leeanna Hariprashad. Sound Production: Eamon Redpath, Robert Calbimonte and Justine Plouzennec. For post production I’d like to thank the sound mixer Eric Schmall, Daniel Farrell the composer and to Bes for creating the original Song “Prayers Go Unanswered”, there’s a fun story of how we met that’s for another time.

A very special thank you goes to Kim Kupperman and Sami for their enthusiasm and belief in the themes, message and storytelling of this film to award us an Honorarium and the headline feature of the Chapbook Uncommon Sense. It was the first contest I entered so you can imagine how it helped to boost our confidence.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

OW: Choosing to do things different from the normal decorum and not getting accepted by a community of peers is to be expected. My filmmaking style is that of old. But it’s still disappointing when you put your soul into something and the professional audience to which it’s intended say “We’re not interested.” So having BlackStar invite me to the dance means the world to me. BlackStar is the first American Film Festival that has selected my film for screening. I’m on another plane of existence with happiness as my companion that BlackStar recognized what my film is intending to do and chose to screen it for the world to experience it too.

BROKEN BIRD
Filmmaker : Rachel Harrison Gordon
Screening Date: Shorts Program: Kindred – Thurs. Aug 20th 5:30pm
TRAILER | Instagram | Instagram | Website | Website

Synopsis: Birdie, a biracial girl raised by her Jewish mom, spends a rare visitation day with her father while preparing for her Bat Mitzvah. She overcomes her doubts, and decides to risk inviting him back into her life. Birdie confronts what independence means as she steps into adulthood on her own terms.

Rachel Harrison Gordon intro…

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Rachel Harrison Gordon: Broken Bird is a semi-autobiographical story. I hope people who grow up feeling like they straddle multiple worlds, not quite fitting into either, will feel comfortable in their skin and empowered by their own uniqueness. I aimed for this film and its ending to send a message of resilience, to encourage people to believe that the future will get better, even if taking the risk in the present is painful, or means overcoming the ways people you love have hurt you.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

RHG: Both! Music signifies the different worlds and cultures Birdie moves through over the course of a day, and shows the vast, complicated and beautiful world we live in of references, homages, and the ways history blends into the future. Music was one of the ways my dad and I communicated; we would share lyrics with each other when we were unable to articulate ourselves in other ways.

Growing up, my limited exposure to my dad was spent at restaurants. Our meals were often shorter than the time he had traveled to get there, but those moments left a momentous impact and grew in importance as I tried to figure out my own life and learned to stop pushing away a potential father figure, and the idea of my Blackness.

Food is also a huge part of my Jewish upbringing. All events, from celebratory events like Bat Mitzvahs, to moments of mourning, like sitting Shiva for someone who has passed away, were surrounded by food and wine. I think that’s part of the resiliency of the Jewish people: being able to gather, to laugh and love, no matter the circumstances.

RHG: We premiered Broken Bird at a festival outside the US. Before it played, I was concerned that the subject matter would feel foreign to that audience, and that some of the subtle messages would be lost in translation. But I was wrong. The audience clapped along to the music and became silent and serious during the intense moments of the film. At one of the Q&As afterwards, where there were many young audience members, a boy about Birdie’s age asked me “how do you live this life?” It was a complicated, philosophical question about being biracial and Jewish, and gets directly at the resilience and strength it took to (eventually) be myself, and to stay authentic to my experience during the pre- and post -production process in the competitive film school environment where the story was developed. It amazed me how universal and relatable this story could be, even to people who weren’t Black or Jewish.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

RHG: I could not be more grateful to the team of talented, creative people who volunteered their time and energy to this incredibly personal story, who took a huge leap of faith on me, without being able to show them any previous work, or barely knowing me at all.

I particularly want to thank Rashad Frett, the film’s cinematographer, who was my ally at school from day one, and has treated me with love and respect like a big brother to this day.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

RHG: It is an honor to be part of this festival, one of the first festivals I ever knew of, years before I believed I could or would make movies. I spent much of my life in Philadelphia, and met my life partner here, so part of it, even remotely, feels like a homecoming.

It also feels like an invitation to accept part of my identity. Growing up in a primarily white neighborhood, I was called “mixed” rather than Black, and never fully felt like I belonged within Black communities or was allowed to call myself Black. As a result, I grew up feeling a huge gap missing from my heart. The process of making this film, of writing personal experiences that other people have related to, has given me a sense of validation that I’m empowered by.

GULF
Filmmaker : Walter Mzengi
Screening Date: Shorts Program: Gravitaxis – Thurs. Aug 20th
Instagram | Instagram

Synopsis: Facing a dire situation, a woman flees her badly governed homelands; heading north with the desperate dream of finding a better life. Although she later discovers that to be fully accepted into the community, means losing a part of herself.

Walter Mzengi intro…

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Walter Mzengi: The main inspiration came from an interview I saw, whereby the interviewee was speaking about their experiences in their war-torn country, before immigrating to America. Though their stories were harrowing, at the end of the interview they were asked the question, “Do you like living in America”. They responded, “no”. At the time, I honestly didn’t expect their answer to be no, which made me extremely curious. Ultimately, this led me to research about the concept of belonging and the difficulties of assimilation. Soon after I started to write about my own migrational experiences, growing up in different countries. As the notes piled up, I realized there was potential for a script, and Gulf was made.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

WM: Gulf is a quiet film, and the music was used sparingly. With that being said, I believe that our brilliant composer (Reece Coetzer) constructed pieces that were subtle and nuanced, to our subject matter. We realized that it gave an audience a break from the quiet, but also increased the tension whenever music was absent.

WM: Honestly – locations. Shooting on windy dunes, especially on an indie micro-budget is difficult at best and you start to look at sand differently. But at the end of the day, we pushed through with our sun hats and the ability to think about the bigger picture.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

WM: I would like to give the biggest shout out to my crew for believing in me and the story. Maren Lindberg, our amazing producer who never gave up no matter the scope of the production. Richard Watson and Luca Strappazzon, our two extremely talented DOP’s. Trine L. Hagan, for editing at ridiculous hours with me and who also storyboarded the hell out of the film. Zaid Abarder who did our VFX – our long conversations about Science Fiction motivated me along the way, and I truly thank you. The duo, Reece Coetzer (composer) and Josh Goldman (sound designer), we’ve worked with each other for a while and I’m grateful every single time we get the chance to do so.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

WM: As a proud black man, I am deeply honored to have Gulf screen at Black Star Film Festival. I believe the film’s concept is relevant, and platforms like Black Star Film Festival are a step in shining light on the issues, thus furthering the dialogue.

Gossamer
Filmmaker : Charlie Schmidlin
Screening Date: Shorts Program: Kindred – Thurs. Aug 20th 5:30pm
TRAILER | Website | Website | Instagram

Synopsis: Every other weekend, Imani (Krystel McNeil) returns to her family’s Illinois farm to help her widowed dad Leonard (Anthony Irons) keep the animals fed, house clean, and crops alive. However, once their livestock start disappearing, prompting fears of wild animals or just bored kids from the surrounding suburbs, Imani confronts the reality of her and her family’s future.

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Charlie Schmidlin: For nearly my entire life my family lived on a small farm in rural Illinois, and Gossamer was driven by a two-pronged approach: conveying the sounds, sights, and feel of that environment in a tactile way that I hadn’t seen on-screen before, and delving into themes of familial responsibility. I wanted to explore the question of how a younger generation faces a given timeline of property that’s bought and passed down – especially since the number of black farmers in the U.S. has declined – and how that question weighs on the person next in line.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

CS: When Gossamer begins, the first elements you hear over darkness are the sounds of the farm, and the score. For me, the two were such a powerful driving force in establishing the film’s tone and pace, and our composers Michael Sachs and Kim Mayo stepped up to that challenge in such a beautiful way.

Having previously collaborated with them on visual work for their band Moonheart, I knew Michael and Kim could sort through the chaos of ideas and references that I threw at them and extract what they needed. In this case it was a blend of Gustav Holst, Luboš Fišer, natural sounds, and snippets as specific as a chord change in Nina Simone’s cover of “Please Read Me”. They’ve been on this project since its inception, creating the entire time, and it was a blessing to have their score demos bouncing around in my head while imagining the film.

CS: Because this film is so rooted in environment – a humid summer on an Illinois farm – there was always a very specific window of time in which it could happen. Shoot in March, you run the risk of rain. Shoot in October, you run the risk of snow…and rain. In the two or three years when it looked like a version of Gossamer could happen, weather, jobs and life curveballs forced the crew and myself to delay year after year, and staring down another 12-year waiting period to make the film was hugely frustrating. But once the window clicked in place to shoot last summer, it clicked spectacularly, and I couldn’t have asked for a better combination of talent on both sides of the camera.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

CS: I have to thank my two producers Lissette Feliciano, who helped shape the story in the middle of making her first feature, and Rothwell Polk, who flew in to help AD/chicken wrangle when required. Our DP Olivia Aquilina, alongside her camera crew Paige Hochstatter and Rebecca Johnson, straight away understood the intent and tone of the project and delivered. Our cast – Krystel McNeil, Anthony Irons, and Dan Waller – are wonderful actors but above all lovely people. And special mention must go to our Propmaster Phi Tran, who supplied the entire crew with her dad and grandma’s homemade egg rolls, boosting crew morale about 42%.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

CS: To screen at Blackstar is a huge honor, and a chance to place your film in the hands of a team who values the ideas, methods, and history behind what’s put on-screen, as well as the community that watches. Especially this year, the festival has been a breath of fresh air, and the chance to share work with anyone during this isolated time has been so rewarding.

KEON
Filmmaker : E.G. Bailey
Screening Date: Shorts Program: Malaise
Fri. Aug 21st 10:00am
TRAILER |Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Synopsis: Keon, a young Black photographer, meets up with his brothers, Amiri and Dre, and they embark on a journey to acquire a new camera to complete his college entrance portfolio. Along the way, they negotiate obstacles and dangers, subtle and complex but all too real, in an environment intent on policing their bodies and their expression. Inspired by the films of the L.A. Rebellion filmmakers, along with Ousmane Sembene, Francois Truffaut, Agnes Varda, and the tradition of Black filmmakers and photographers from Gordon Parks to Carrie Mae Weems, it is shot in black and white as a nod to early independent Black cinema, the French New Wave and NeoRealist films.

E.G. Bailey intro…

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

E.G. Bailey: I keep notebooks for my various projects, and in one of the notebooks, on December 22, 2014, I wrote: ‘Just came up with this idea tonight. It’s a short film. It follows three friends, photographers, Black, that go out to shoot some photos. They go around the city. Have a great day, but later in the day…’ Later in the day, they have an encounter with the police.

This was in the aftermath of the death of Dontre Hamilton, Eric Garner, John Crawford III, Michael Brown and Tamir Rice, all within the span of months. And just over 2 years after the death of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis. There seemed to be a war on Black men, especially young Black men. I was troubled and heartbroken, and began to think about how I could address this through my work. Because we know what happens after their deaths—the victims are further victimized by the media and others, portraying them as criminals, thugs, druggies, etc.—I wanted to show their lives prior to encounters with the police. I wanted to show that they had family. They had dreams, plans and goals. They had joy, and were simply living life, when it was cut short. I wanted to show their humanity, the fullness of their lives that we often don’t have the opportunity to see. It evolved into a love song to young Black life and Black joy.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

EGB: I knew that the soundtrack of the film needed to be jazz, even as I was writing the script. My instincts also told me that I needed to work with Davu Seru. I wasn’t sure why at the time, but I trust my instincts. I met Davu through a mentor and spoken word artist, J. Otis Powell?!. Davu often performed with J. Otis, and after a performance one day, I told him, ‘I think you’re supposed to do the music on my next film.’

It would be another few years, while I finished the script and shot the film, before I reconnected with him. Originally, he was going to compose a score for the film but I began to use some of of his recorded music for temp music and it fit perfectly. It was as though it was written for the film. Now, I can’t imagine the film without Davu and the No Territory Band music. It is a perfect synthesis. They belong together. And the great thing is that Davu is born and bred in Minneapolis, particularly North Minneapolis, which is the epicenter of the Black community in Minneapolis and spiritual home of the film.

EGB: This film has been a huge journey. After coming up with the idea, I had an opportunity to go to Berlinale in Germany for the premiere of a film I was an editor for, Petting Zoo. I was so inspired that I came home and wrote the first draft of the script in about a week. I planned to shoot it that year. We started fundraising and rehearsals but the cinematographer’s wife was about to have a baby so he couldn’t shoot. I had to put it on hold. That was in 2015.

I rewrote, and expanded, the script to 25 pages later that year. But I hadn’t shot a film in years so I needed to go through the paces again, and wanted to create something I could shoot in one day, one location with no more than 5 actors—figure out how to ride that bike again. That film ended up being New Neighbors, which premiered at Sundance, and was at Blackstar in 2017. We planned to shoot that year but our cinematographer, Anton Shavlik, who shot New Neighbors, got into AFI and had to move to LA the week of the shoot. So we had to had to delay it again. Even after we shot it, and were in the middle of post, the pandemic hit. So it’s been quite a ride. And every point of the way, I wasn’t sure it would ever be finished. But I knew that I had to keep going because of the story. It’s a vital story. The lives of these young Black people need to be celebrated and honored. They need to be seen in their full humanity, not just how they died or the aftermath of their death. They were someone’s son or daughter. They had siblings, parents, friends, a community, love, and joy. That’s the heart of the film. And it’s this that pushes you forward.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

EGB: It really does take a village to make a film and this one had a pretty big village. It would be hard to acknowledge everyone here. But I am grateful for every person that has been a part of this project and process. Every workshop, every rehearsal, everyday of production. Everything. The film wouldn’t be what it is without them. The cast was phenomenal. Most of my casts are made up of theatre actors because we have one of the strongest theatre communities in the country, filled with incredible actors. But they often don’t get a chance to work in film.

Because I’ve been a part of the theatre community for decades, I know their work and how talented they are, so I’m always looking for roles for them. For many, this is their first film, especially the younger cast, and they did brilliant work. They were so natural and gelled so quickly you’d think they’d been friends their whole life. The crew did a great job under challenging circumstances. We shot in 9 days all over the city, with one extra day to reshoot a scene, during the hottest time in Minneapolis. Also grateful to the donors, to folks that helped in various capacities inside and outside the production, and of course our families that support regardless of the sacrifices they have to endure.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

EGB: I love Blackstar. It was one of the best festival experiences we had with New Neighbors, which screened at over 100 festivals. There’s nothing like watching a film with a Blackstar audience. They are engaged, vocal and not afraid to tell you how they feel about your film—while they’re watching. The events, panels and dialogues were all great. The selection of films are always top-notch from some of the best filmmakers working today. We had a blast, and hope to continue to be part of Blackstar for years to come.

BEHIND THE MASK
Filmmaker : Sophie Lee
Screening Date: Shorts Program: Malaise
Fri. Aug 21st 10:00am
Facebook

Synopsis: In the early stages of the Coronavirus outbreak, Chinese students in UK were attacked because of wearing the face mask. Therefore, to prevent this from happening, student Lee carries pepper spray with her. When Lee walks down the street, people looks at her differently which makes her afraid and worried. However, when Lee finds herself followed by a black person, unconsciously she thinks he wants to attack her. White people attacking Chinese students reflects that they discriminate against Asian. In the same way, some Chinese also discriminate against black people. It is the chain of contempt. Everyone has hidden prejudice, which is more terrible than the viruses.

Sophie Lee intro…

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Sophie Lee: The theme of my film is everyone has discrimination to some extent, maybe on race, maybe on gender. Discrimination is much more terrible than Coronavirus.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

SL: I use music on the scene of using slow-motion and the scene when the black young man follows the Asian girl. Because both of them focus on the mentality of the characters.

SL: The first point is hard to find a black man to act in my film. Someone just suggested me to find a white man since it is easier to achieve in UK. However I know I want to tell a story about race discrimination so one day when I had lunch in the canteen of our school, I saw a black young man sitting there and just went forward to ask him whether he would like to act in my film.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

SL: Actually we are a three-people team because it is part of my master course project. Thank my classmates Pedro Engelmann, George Lee, Avi Pattnaik to help me with that. Also, my teachers Witold and Jonathan gave me useful feedback when I showed them my film so I did some adjustments about it after that.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

SL: It’ my honor to get this and it is an important encouragement for me to start my film career after graduation. Now I have more confidents about my talents in film as well. I want to be an international filmmaker and shoot more films focusing on the social problems in the future.

DEAR NYAKIO
Filmmaker : Nyakio Ndicu
Screening Date: Screens with
ROCÍO Sat. Aug 22th 5:30pm

Synopsis: Dear Nyakio is a reflexive film that aspires to add to the dialogue of borders and the upheaval they create. It depicts the lengths two parents go to maintain a father’s relationship with his children despite distance, and immigration status.

Nyakio Ndicu Intro…

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Nyakio Ndicu: Dear Nyakio, was made during a film class I took in the Spring of 2019. My children and I were going to see their father after 5 years and I started to document the process. My children’s father has not been in the United States in 5years. It made me reflect on all that had taken place for my children their father and I to get to that point. While on the trip I lost my grandmother, whom I am named after and as I put together the film it became a conversation between me and her as well as with myself.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

NN: The music had chosen me by children. It evoked the feelings that felt while going through this process.

NN: There was no point at which I felt that I could not finish the film. I did however, want to turn in the film and I was asked by my teacher Sosena Solomon to dig deeper and pull from the emotions I had and use those as a guide especially during the editing process.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

NN: I want to thank my children and their father for being a part of this process I appreciate them for letting me document them.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

NN: The work that Black Star does is necessary. Their amplification of our stories is It was amazing! I am truly grateful for this opportunity.

ORIGIN OF HAIR
Filmmaker : Carrie Hawks
Screening Date: Shorts Program: Kinetic– Sat. Aug 22th 7:30pm
Website | Instagram

Synopsis: Speculating about the birth of Rock and Roll and the best curl pattern. This film explores Black queer identity and self acceptance as a pathway to personal utopia. Origin of Hair culls from Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s legacy as a Black queer woman in the 50s and 60s claiming power through musical invention and radical self-love.

Carrie Hawks Intro…

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Carrie Hawks: The main inspiration was experimentation. I got into the studio and played around with the objects on hand. After cutting out a little Black girl and a guitar from a magazine, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the queer grandma of Rock n Roll immediately came to mind. Then, I cut out the text, “The Origin.” That lead to naming the piece, “The Origin of Hair” animated and directed by me, Carrie Hawks

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

CH: The beginning music features Sister Rosetta Tharpe. It’s a recording of a performance featuring her and Marie Knight, her girlfriend, who toured on their own, no men.

CH: The most memorable response was my friend saying she wanted to play it on loop.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

CH: I’d like to thank the Jerome Foundation @ Camargo Residency where I lived for a month last summer. They provided me with time and a studio space to concentrate on my work. Also, the Ann Arbor Film festival for having a deadline. That kicked my butt into gear to finish the film.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

CH: BlackStar is one of my favorite phenomenons on the planet. I love being a part of it, soaking up all the different ideas and aesthetics, the debates, and seeing the beautiful Blackness

WE ARE FREE BECAUSE OF HARRIET TUBMAN
Filmmakers : Nadine Patterson, Dir.; Sonia Sanchez, writer of “Haiku and Tanka for Harriet Tubman”; Marlene G. Patterson researched names of enslaved Africans that Tubman lead to freedom

Screening Date: Sun. Aug 23 10am screens w/ “A New Country”
Website | Twitter | Instagram

Synopsis: We Are Free Because of Harriet Tubman is a meditation on resistance, history and nature. Professor Sanchez’s words speak to us today as many in America struggle to find their own liberation. The imagery is meant to heal and aid the viewer in reflection upon the text.

The four and a half minute film was shot on location in Harmony Maryland, along the Underground Railroad Trail as marked by the state of Maryland and in Philadelphia, where Harriet Tubman found refuge in a community of Free Blacks and Quakers.

Nadine Patterson intro…

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Nadine Patterson: The power of place. Ancestral homes. The land of my maternal grandfather in Maryland– Harmony Road, the Fowling River, and the Choptank River– were places on the Underground Railroad that Harriet Tubman, William Still and many others travelled on the road to freedom towards Philadelphia. The other inspiration is Olde City Philadelphia, around the Painted Bride at 2nd and Vine. When my grandmother first moved to Philadelphia, she arrived at Reading Terminal. She also worked as a seamstress at Third and Market. That whole area is a place where Free Blacks and Abolitionists and Quakers lived, worked and organized. Being able to walk in these sacred spaces, North and South, gives us a sense of history being ever present.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

NP: The music track is a collaboration between Sonia Sanchez and Christian McBride. They did three takes of the list of names of Africans that Harriet Tubman lead to freedom. I mixed them all together as the basis for the music track. Sister Sanchez’s voice is the second instrument. They are truly performing a duet.

If you can, use headphones or a really big speaker system when you watch the film. It is mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound.

NP: When we screened the film in a theatrical venue before Kasi Lemmons’ feature film HARRIET, audiences were stunned at the beauty of the Maryland landscape, actual places on the official Underground Railroad and by Sister Sanchez’s voice. I heard one person say “Beautiful!” in a hushed whisper. Our history in America is difficult to tell and painful to hear, but the Black American story is a story of hope and triumph. It is awe inspiring.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

NP: My film partner of 30 years and my dear mother, producer extraordinaire Marlene G. Patterson, who knows what elements are needed to tell the story- no more, no less; the amazing Sonia Sanchez who wrote and performed the beautiful poetry and recites the ancestral names with haunting power; Stephanie Malson, my director of photography who listened to the spirit of the ancestors while filming– which is not an easy thing to do!; Christian McBride, composer and bassist, who worked with Sister Sonia on the amazing soundtrack; Morani Sanchez, associate producer, who always supports his mother; Parris Moore and Catalina Bajenaru who as executive producers saw the potential in this project; John Baker at Philly Post who mixed the soundtrack and brought the ancestors into the present; to the Painted Bride Art Center’s Micro-Residency Program 2018 where I developed the concept and started principal photography.

I want to give a special shout out to members of the SIFTMedia 215 collective– Taitana Bacchus, Yolonda Johnson Young and DP Stephanie Malson for traveling to theatrical screenings of the film and for their support and encouragement.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

NP: The last time I screened a film in the major film festival in my home town was in 1989 at Neighborhood Film Video Project’s Festival of Independents. Thirty-Eight Twenty was about my grandparents journey North for freedom and opportunity. In 2020 the major film festival in Philadelphia is BLACKSTAR and I am screening a film set in the land of my grandparents– Philadelphia and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. We Are Free Because of Harriet Tubman is about the same desire for freedom and a better life. I feel seen and heard.

MIDNIGHT OIL
Filmmaker : Bilal Motley
Screening Date: Shorts Program: The Grind– Sun. Aug 23 1:30pm
Trailer | Twitter | Instagram

Synopsis: Midnight Oil is the story of the massive explosion at Philadelphia’s 150 year old Oil refinery, and the aftermath that followed. Created by refinery worker Bilal Motley, it depicts his struggles to reconcile his love for his distressed co-workers and his growing awareness of environmental justice.

Bilal Motely intro…

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Bilal Motley : The theme of the film is money vs. people and the ongoing fight for environmental justice.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

BM: I wanted the mood of the music be dark. We enlisted Rachel Icenogle, AKA Uncle Valentine, to create an original score that matched the film’s intensity.

BM: Yes, I wanted to stop shooting the film several times. Mostly because of the heat I knew I would receive from refinery workers who disagreed with my environmental stances (which later proved true). I thought of my deceased mother when I wanted to quit. She fled her racist town in Mississippi and ran away to Chester, PA to live with an aunt at the age of 14. The stories of her audacity pushed me through the rough patches when filming.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

BM: Thanks to Dan Papa (producer/editor), Louis Massiah (Scribe Video Center), Sloan Seale, PhillyThrive, Bettina Escauriza, and my family for your support and guidance.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

SHR: My crew knew that I had two goals when making this film: first, to create a film that my two kids would be proud of when they got older. Second, gain acceptance and premiere the film at Blackstar. I spent years submitting screenplays and applying to fellowships that didn’t seek to empower black and brown voices. That’s not my focus anymore. I want to align with organizations, like Blackstar, that truly understand my story.

COVER/AGE
Filmmaker : Set Hernandez Rongkilyo
Screening Date: Shorts Program: The Grind– Sun. Aug 23 1:30pm
Website | Instagram

Synopsis: The Affordable Care Act explicitly denies undocumented immigrants access to healthcare. While laws in California have now made healthcare available for undocumented young people, undocumented adults continue to be excluded. COVER/AGE follows an elderly caregiver and a policy advocate in the campaign to expand healthcare to include all people, regardless of immigration status or age.

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Set Hernandez Rongkilyo: Films about undocumented immigrants often represent our community as victims. For me, it was important to show that undocumented immigrants are leading the movements that impact our lives, and while we do experience challenges, we are not just survivors of circumstance but also resilient people who continue to push against the challenges we face. COVER/AGE follows how an elderly undocumented caregiver and a trans undocumented organizer are advocating to expand healthcare for undocumented immigrants in California. It shows how undocumented people who are deemed “essential workers” provide so much care in this country, but are not even eligible for the very services they provide for others due to their immigration status.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

SHR: Since the film is about care, food inevitably plays an important role. In one of the scenes, we see Emma, an elderly undocumented caregiver, lovingly prepare a meal for her elderly patient. She carefully selects what vegetables are healthiest for her patient; she minces the food so that it’s in bite-size pieces that her patient can eat more easily. At the same time, this care that Emma provides in feeding her patient is juxtaposed with how she herself as an undocumented worker does not have access to the care she provides other people. Her patient says that “Emma is always there when I need her.” But when Emma needs support, she has to advocate for herself as she is unable to rely on public services as an undocumented immigrant. In this subtle way, food becomes an entrypoint to expose an injustice that the protagonist experiences.

SHR: In one of the festival screenings in Seattle, I had the privilege of sitting next to Héctor, one of the protagonists of the film, as we watched the film together. As the ending credits rolled, I noticed that Héctor started crying, which made me tear up as well. This is Héctor’s second time watching the film, but they tell me how they are moved by the film when they watch it. It is such a powerful experience when the person who is at the center of a documentary feels affirmed in how their story is told. I honor the trust of the people I follow in my documentary work, and having seen Héctor’s visceral response to the film as I sat next to them was one of the most important responses to this film I’ve ever gotten.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

SHR: The California Immigrant Policy Center has provided so much support in creating this film. Special shout out to one of our producers, Almas Sayeed, who has always believed in this film from the get-go. Originally, we were gonna do a film about the expansion of healthcare for undocumented young adults in California, but Almas proposed to talk about elders instead. If it weren’t for her, this film would not be the film it is now, and I am grateful for her being our producer.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

SHR: I first met Maori and Nehad at the Allied Media Conference in 2018. The work they’re doing to push against the white status quo in the film industry and festival circuit is so important especially during this time. That work manifests itself in the way they have set up BlackStar Film Festival, uplifting voices of BIPOC fillmmakers from all over the world. I am humbled to have COVER/AGE programmed with other short documentaries that come from Iran, India, Trinidad and Tobago, and other parts of the U.S. Blackstar is leading the way in the field to create spaces that center and celebrate BIPOC artists.

Nilā
Filmmakers : Ashya + Anthony Prince Leslie
Screening Date: Shorts Program: The Grind– Sun. Aug 23rd 1:30pm
TRAILER | Instagram | Facebook

Synopsis: Nilā, a collaboration with ASHYA, is an ode to one of India’s oldest indigenous communities, the Irula-“people of the night”-and their marveled relationship with the most venomous creatures of the continent. Through snake catching, the Irula are vital yet nearly unseen heroes in Indian healthcare.

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Anthony P Leslie: At the heart of the film, we explore the story of Maasi and Thangaraj Sadayan, father and son, and proud carriers of their family legacy as snake capturers. As people of the indigenous Southern Indian Irula people, their skills form a vital yet nearly unseen part of India’s healthcare system through venom extraction, used to create life-saving antivenom. I and ASHYA (creative directors) were drawn to the unsung story of the Irula community. As African Americans, we feel deeply connected to marginalized people around the globe and want to celebrate their contributions to society.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

APL: The music in Nilā plays an important part in storytelling. The film is layered with ambient sounds recorded from my phone. These recordings are from passing conversations in the streets, restaurants and frequent cab rides from Chennai to Kanchipuram. The intention was to immerse the viewer into the film. We collaborated with North India native Jay Gandhi to create original music. He used native instruments to help progress the story in an authentic way. I challenge you to listen to the film without pictures.

APL: The plan was always for us to get the film done but we did experience some challenges with translating. Our sound designer Rajuju Brown helped to connect us with Vinsia Maharajah in Toronto, originally from the Tamil Nadu region, who understood the specific dialect of Tamil that the film is narrated in. It was such an eye-opening experience because she taught us much about the differences and similarities of the many Tamil dialects. The film was quite nostalgic for her and reminded her of growing up in India and playing in the fields. To hear Vinsia make immediate connections between the film and home confirmed for me that we’d done something right.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

APL: Special thanks to creative directors, Ashley Cimone & Moya Annece of design label ASHYA for collaborating with me on their second short film as part of their film series, “Ode to Exploration”— which sparks conversations around travel and pays homage to indigenous communities and traditions.
Special shout out to Radha Rathi who is a local Chennai-based creative director who worked with us as the graphic designer/cultural advisor on this project. She helped guide us in bringing the visuals to life authentically and respectfully. Shouts to Rajuju Singh for connecting the dots sonically throughout the film through sound design. Last but not least, The Snake-Catchers’ cooperative (Ajay Kirk and Romulus Whitaker) for introducing us to Maasi and Thangaraj Sadayan

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

SHR: Screening my film at the 9th annual Blackstar Film Festival represents an evolution for me. This is my first festival and we’re looking forward to meeting new filmmakers and future collaborators. Check out the trailer here and more from my production company Equator, we recently relaunched our online platform.

THE DELIVERER
Filmmakers : Paul Pryce (Producer/Writer/Actor) Ron Morales (Director)
Screening Date: Shorts Program: The Grind– Sun. Aug 23 1:30pm
TRAILER | Behind the Scenes |Website | Facebook

Synopsis: A Trinidadian fisherman brokers a deal with a Venezuelan refugee to traffic cocaine to save his village from a corrupt government, in exchange for helping her find asylum for her family

Paul Pryce intro…

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Paul Pryce: The Deliverer is a film about the corruption of home. It’s inspired by real people and true events in Trinidad and Tobago, that tells the story of ordinary people resisting the government in order to claim their right to exist and reclaim their land. This film depicts the extremes a person will go to save his family and his home.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

PP: The music in the film recalls a dystopia or terror that connotes an impending challenge facing this small fishing community. This film blurs the line between thriller and drama, and the music plays a pivotal role in raising the tension in the scenes. While this is a short film, the music score serves to give the film scale as it captures the tone of trouble that is to come.

PP: To date the response has been tremendous, particularly from people from the Caribbean region. Seeing a cinematic depiction of the ongoing war on drugs and how it affects communities in the region is in some ways ‘a first’ in Caribbean cinema. People are thrilled to see themselves represented in such a serious and thoughtful way. They have been overwhelmingly encouraging. This is a proof of concept short film so people are clamoring for the feature length version.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

PP: There are so many people to thank! To my cast and crew and all the hard work that they have invested in the making of the film. To my executive producers who have supported me in the making of the feature film and all the vendors and partners along the way. Thank you!

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

PP:  It’s a huge deal! I love this festival and what it stands for. I had the pleasure of attending in 2019 because I was acting in one of the shorts, now to be in the line up for my own film is extraordinary. BSFF is sorely needed, a place where black cinema is celebrated, elevated and venerated. Yes! Bring it on!

BY WAY OF CANARSIE
Filmmakers : Lesley Steele and Emily Packer
Screening Date: Shorts Program: Solvent of Life – Mon. Aug 24th 5:30pm
TRAILER | Website | Website | Instagram | Instagram

Synopsis: A wandering portrait of an oft-neglected shoreline community, By Way of Canarsie imagines possible futures at odds with a peaceful present. Through brief encounters, observational mise-en-scene, and expressive use of analog film, we begin to understand this predominantly black New York City neighborhood’s shared desires for recognition and respect. As some community members advocate for a commuter ferry at the local pier, others reflect on the current use of natural resources, the indigenous history, and the impending environmental concerns that encompass Canarsie’s relationship with the water as it exists today. The competing futures for Canarsie Pier present complications about how and for whom this public space serves.

Lesley & Emily Intro…

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Lesley Steele and Emily Packer: We had been prompted to come up with an idea about transportation in New York, so we looked to see where there was a transit desert. We found that Canarsie, Brooklyn, was routinely overlooked when it came to infrastructural city planning, and that it would be virtually stranded when the one subway line shut down. This led us to the water at Canarsie Pier, where a host of ecological, spiritual, existential, and historical queries mixed in with the concern about transportation. We were inspired to make a film about this very special coastal community in Brooklyn whose future is uncertain.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

LS & EP: We are both pisces who love to eat fish! We spent many hours entranced by the fisherman at Canarsie Pier, learning about their local catch, tips for bait, and the history of the pier itself. Not only did we learn a ton about fish, we began to learn about the Canarsie neighborhood and start to wonder what would happen to the pier if there was a ferry? One of the first things we wondered was whether the ferry would scare off the fish! We’re grateful the fishermen included us in their community enclave and we were allowed to capture this ritual on film. Now, we’re working together on a new documentary all about oysters in New York City.

LS & EP: After the first preview of the film, the local Canarsie newspaper wrote a review! The Canarsie Courier seemed to really appreciate what we were trying to do, and we were humbled that they liked it.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

LS & EP: This film is a product of the Collaborative Studio at UnionDocs Center for Documentary Arts. We met through the program, and could not have made the film without their institutional, creative, and emotional support. We also want to thank our producer Shirin Ghaffary, our mentor Jem Cohen, composer Iglooroyalty, and our ferry advocate subjects Dorothy Lee and Marc Want. Also shoutout to Negativeland who developed and digitized our analog film!

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

LS & EP:  We are thrilled to premiere at BlackStar! Especially for Lesley as an African-American filmmaker with Jamaican roots, it is an extreme honor to be included amongst so many talented filmmakers whose stories highlight the spectrum of the black experience. We both wanted to make a film celebrating this black neighborhood for its cultural heritage and ties to nature and advocacy; we feel blessed to have it being recognized in this festival. It feels surreal, as we had no idea how or where our experimental documentary would live once it left our hands. It’s truly an honor for By Way of Canarsie to have its first home onscreen at this year’s 9th Annual festival.

I’M FREE NOW, YOU ARE FREE
Filmmaker : Ash Goh Hua
Screening Date: Shorts Program: Chronicles – Mon. Aug 24th 7:30pm
Website | Instagram

Synopsis: I’m Free Now, You Are Free is a short documentary about the reunion and repair between Mike Africa Jr and his mother Debbie Africa—a formerly incarcerated political prisoner of the MOVE9. This film meditates on Black family preservation as resistance against the brutal legacies of state sanctioned family separation.

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Ash Goh Hua: Very simply, the liberation of political prisoners is tied to the liberation of us all. As a filmmaker and abolitionist, my practice takes on the cultural dimension of the movement work—addressing the intangible and unquantifiable ways in which a tangible and quantifiable system affects and kills; this film about Mike and Debbie’s relationship allows us to see the complex and nuanced ways in which a violent state apparatus fractures relationships, and reinvigorates an urgency for the abolition of policing and prisons.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

AGH: The film doesn’t actually have any non-diegetic music or sound! Instead, we built soundscapes based off of wild sound that we recorded on location.

AGH: There was not a point where I didn’t finish my film, but there were definitely periods of exhaustion in its making which required time and rest. Deadlines pushed me forward, ha ha.  

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

AGH: This film is integral to its makers and is a collective effort of Arielle Knight (Producer), Mike Africa Jr (Creative Producer), Jude Chehab (Director of Photography), Lanee Bird (Colorist), Samantha Skinner (Sound), Lucas Gonzalez (additional camera) and of course, Debbie Africa. The film is also deeply indebted to Malav Kanuga, who kickstarted this journey with me in the summer of ’18; Sean Weiner, who supported with unwavering patience and faith; and Johanna Fernandez, for being a mentor, a revolutionary, and a steady pillar of support. Without any of them, this film would be impossible.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

AGH:  It is an honor to world premiere our Black Philly film at a Black Philly film festival.

Zero Zero
Filmmaker : Eva-Grace Bor
Screening Date: Shorts Program: Chronicles – Mon. Aug 24th 7:30pm
Instagram

Synopsis: Rooted in an ethnographic approach to filmmaking, Zero Zero mediates on one family’s relationship to identity and belonging.

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Eva-Grace Bor: Zero Zero focuses on coloured identity in Zimbabwe today, reflecting on the harmful impact of segregation imposed by British colonial rule and how this racial stratification still impacts the coloured community today. The film is centred around one family and through presenting differing attitudes towards what was gained and what was lost through the film highlights the complexities inherent in coloured identity in terms of the privileges that were afforded to coloured people as well as the inheritance of internalized colourism and how this affects sense of self. Ultimately the film becomes about making space for all these feelings rather than pushing a singular narrative.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

EGB: A lot of the film is based at home and so is centred around family life and of course food is a big part of that. One of the opening shots is my father picking lychees from a tree in my grandparents garden and off screen our days revolved around family meals and brais (bbq’s) so yes definitely good played a big role in the whole process. Whenever I’m making work I feel it’s really important the team is eating well, home cooked food that we share together feels like a good way of grounding collaborative work!

EGB: There were many points where frustration took over but I just think that’s part of the process of filmmaking, a lot of it is damage control and adaptability. Initially I thought I had a clear idea of what the film was going to be about but the more interviews I conducted the more conflicting narratives arose and I was struggling to weave them together. Ultimately though this became the crux of the film – the story is these contractions between generations and what that says about different time periods and how they impact our identities. As I began showing it to people it seemed to resonate with others who had similar family histories and that was very affirming.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

EGB: The Abrahams family! From my cousins driving me around and helping me with interviews and showing me their side of the city, to my Grandparents for being open to reflecting on painful things and for being an amazing example of self-sufficiency and love. And a big thanks to my producer Sorcha Bacon for her patience and perseverance and of course Hannah Bailey and Lisa-Marie Russo at Doc Society for their guidance and support. Also out to editor Jamie Kataky who really got the heart of the project and handled it with such care and allowed it to breathe, colorist Caroline Morin who brought the picture alive with the grade, sound designer Fred Pearson who weaved it all together so seamlessly and Kyless Bleu for the beautiful score.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

EGB:  I’m over the moon! It feels like the perfect home for the film and I feel really proud for it to exist amongst such a special body of work. I just hope to be there in person next year!

BLACK BOY JOY
Filmmakers : Martina Lee, Director Michelle Sam, Writer

Screening Date: Shorts Program: Nimbus – Tues. Aug 25th 7:30pm
TRAILER |Website | Website | Instagram

Synopsis: Black Boy Joy is a an introspective slice of life about two generations of Black men living within the same household, juggling the demands of raising a young son with autism. Miles tries to get his son Selim ready for his wife’s funeral when he gets into a confrontation with his father, Otis about the right way to raise his son. Selim’s favorite doll goes missing, sending him into a meltdown. It is only then when Otis and Miles come to terms with their own grief about their loss.

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Martina Lee: Black Boy is about loss, toxic masculinity, and black fatherhood. However, underneath all, it’s a story about love. We wanted to tell that story through the lens of a grieving family that also is dealing with a son who is on the spectrum. The conflict creates a more nuanced conversation about how to raise black boys living in America.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

ML: I am a firm believer that music should really enhance, but not overpower the emotion of the film. This film could easily get into a place of melodrama and I wanted to stay as far away from that as possible. There were also moments where I just wanted the emotion to play out with no music. It was my first time working with composer Ryn Jorgensen. Music is not one of my strengths so when we spoke about the music it was all about the emotional beats of the story and the characters. I knew I wanted a different sound for when Selim went into his meltdown or the times when he felt agitated. I also knew I didn’t want any music during some of the most emotional moments of the film because I wanted the audience to sit in that emotion with the character. The final composition had a really interesting combination of sadness and introspection that I was looking for.

The only time food is portrayed in the film is when Otis is cooking breakfast for Miles. It was an important scene because it showed how Otis is able to show his love to his son during his time of loss. It also allows us as the viewer to see Miles rejecting that love from his father.

ML: The beauty of being in an organization like film independent is that there are deadlines and a date for the screening. There was no doubt in my mind that we were going to finish the film. Production was difficult for lots of other different reasons, but finishing it or backing out of the film wasn’t really an option for me. The most memorable response I received was when a fellow Project Involve fellow came up to me after our first screening and told me she had to go check on her boyfriend in the bathroom because he was crying so much towards the end of the film. It feels really good to know that something you made touches people in that way.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

ML: Black Boy Joy wouldn’t be the film that it is without Michelle Sam, Elizabeth Franco, Nasir Kenneth Ferbee, Jhanvi Motla, Morgan Cooper, and Brandon D. Porter. These six people are incredibly talented filmmakers who are trailblazers forging their own path in the industry and I am so excited to see what they do next. Dea Vazquez and Francisco Velasquez, the organizers of Project Involve, were extremely supportive of my vision and supported us throughout the whole production process. I also want to give a shout out to our production designer, Nina Caussa and Composer Ryn Jorgensen who were both really amazing collaborators with instincts that were on target. Films aren’t made by just one person. It truly takes so many people to make something come to life. I have so much gratitude for everyone who has left their mark on this film because we wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

ML: It is a really great honor to be a part of such a talented group of filmmakers. Blackstar is a film festival for the culture and when you are there you feel like you are with the family. It was my first film festival last year for my film Blueberry. To be a part of such a small community of up and coming filmmakers is truly an honor. To also be nominated this year is something I couldn’t predict, but it is definitely icing on the cake.

#BSFF20 Day 6 (8/25) 7:30pm Shorts Program: Nimbus Q&A#blackstar20solit https://t.co/NFnJRzM0x3
— Tinsel & Tine (@tinseltine) August 26, 2020

A STORYBOOK ENDING
Filmmaker : Lanre Olabisi
Screening Date: Shorts Program: Entanglements – Wed. Aug 26th 5:30pm
TRAILER
Website | Instagram | Facebook

Synopsis: A dark comedy about a black man who accidentally kills a white cop in self-defense. The subsequent cover-up sets off a chain reaction of deceit, blackmail, and murder.

Lanre Olabisi intro…

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Lanre Olabisi: The idea was born out of an incident that happened to James Blake, a retired Black tennis star, in 2015. He was standing in front of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City waiting for a car to take him to the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament. All of a sudden, and for no apparent reason, a plainclothes police officer tackled Mr. Blake to the ground without ever announcing himself. The officer later claimed that he “fit the description.”

I’m 6’2, 240lbs. I wrestled at the University of Michigan. I’m a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I know how to defend myself. This incident actually scared me because I have always been acutely aware that at some point in my life I might just “fit the description.” This encounter led me to ask a cascade of questions that all started with: what if?

What if that happened to me? What if I fought back? What if I hurt the officer? What if I ran away in a panic? Fortunately, I never had to make this choice, but the main character in this film, Wale, does.

There is an aspect of the story that feels timely for many people, but if you think about it, you could really tell this same exact story for the past 100 years and it would still feel relevant.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

LO: I knew that I wanted the music to set the tone for the film very early. It puts the audience in a position where they know that the filmmakers are not taking things too seriously, so they don’t have to either. This helps because when the moments of levity do come, they feel free to laugh as opposed to being confused by a tonal shift in the film.

When it came to choosing the music, I always knew that I was going to play with opposites. I love the musical choices Kubrick made with A Clockwork Orange and what Danny Boyle did with Trainspotting. Both films are very dark at times and the music often plays contrary to what we see onscreen. My thought was: what’s the least likely thing someone would expect to hear at this moment that could actually work for this scene? With that as the starting point, finding the right song became infinitely easier.

LO: A friend of mine saw an early cut of the film and he REALLY did not like it at all. He said that he felt that the tone was all over the place and it wasn’t grounded. After I cursed him out in my head, I got back to work and made sure that I concentrated on the tone. I knew getting that right was going to be crucial to the success of the film. That is where music really came into play. Many of the choices that I made going forward was to make sure that I was able to handle that balancing act.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

LO: I couldn’t have done this without everyone who worked on this from the amazing cast: Carra Patterson, Rotimi Paul, Toni Ann DeNoble and Sawadi Wilson to the incredible team we put together: Producers Ross Vedder and Tiffany Smile; D.P. Piero Basso, AIC; and the best 1st AD I have ever had the pleasure of working with – Kate Branom.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

LO: This is my first time screening at BlackStar and I have only heard wonderful things about the festival. I am happy to be included and look forward to seeing some great works from diverse artists from around the world.

1-800-LOVABLE
Filmmaker : Rebeca Huntt
Screening Date: Shorts Program: Entanglements – Wed. Aug 26th 5:30pm
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Synopsis: Are you a single black woman yearning to be loved and desired? 1800 – Lovable provides the je nais se quoi that makes dreams come true, in this satirical short film shot on 16mm.

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Rebeca Huntt: I read an article on some popular site that stated black women were unlovable, it used statistics and “observations” out of context. I thought it was both frustrating and fascinating. It’s repulsive to live in a society that politicizes love, yet we are fed this propaganda on both conscious and subconscious levels. So I thought why not exploit the absurdity and the elusivity in the very idea of lovability?

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

RH: The music on my film is an ode to the song, “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” Recent generations have famously questioned the lyrics of this song, it just seems like the young woman really wants to go home. There is no food in my movie, but I’m sure any one of my ‘crown jewels’ could tear it up in the kitchen!

RH: My film was shot on a 16MM bolex– which is where my entire budget went. I wrote, shot, directed, and edited the film. The entire process of shooting, processing, and editing 16mm film is expensive and we had to get the shots on the first take. Luckily, I worked with some incredibly talented actors!

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

RH: Shout out to Lizzie No, Nova Scott-James, Ellie Foumbi, and Pascale Saintonge my talented, witty, and gorgeous cast. Shout out to Jason Lucas, my incredible voice actor. It was a great pleasure to work with them all.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

RH: I feel honored to have my short film, 1800-Lovable premiere at Blackstar this year. Blackstar is a festival I love and admire, it remains at the forefront of supporting promising young talent in the industry. Very excited!

IT’S SNOWING OUTSIDE
Filmmaker : Rayne Roberts
Screening Date: Shorts Program: Entanglements – Wed. Aug 26th 5:30pm
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Synopsis: A young woman confronts her father’s recent relapse from sobriety by turning to her new romantic interest for refuge.

Rayne Roberts intro…

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Rayne Roberts: The inspiration for It’s Snowing Outside came from me wanting to explore the Jungian notion of our “shadow sides” — the unconscious impulses we have which we are unaware of until they emerge dramatically, and force us to examine the less obvious parts of our psyches more closely. The main character in my film unconsciously chooses a partner that reflects her worst fears, and then she flirts with self-destruction disguised as love. This is the shadow side. I think self-destruction, as a theme, is very common and very fascinating. The notion that we hold up mirrors to each other, both positive and negative, is fascinating. We can learn so much from one another, and sometimes that comes with growing pains.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

RR: When I was writing the script I came across a beautifully atmospheric and immersive track called “And She Translated Into The Sky” by a young Kiwi composer named Levi Patel. The song really inspired a lot of the writing, and in my mind, this song was the dramatic track playing underneath a pivotal moment for my main character. When we were still in prep, I took a shot at reaching out to Levi and I was thrilled when he agreed to let me license the track. He also offered to write some original score for the rest of the film which was amazing. We had a fun long-distance collaboration and then Levi flew up from New Zealand to join me at the mix with my sound team which was fun for all of us. I also worked with a wonderful music supervision team out of New York called Groove Guild, and my dear buddy, music supervisor Steve Gizicki helped me source some additional tracks that were just right.

RR: I worked with a fantastic crew, most of whom were based out of St. Petersburg, Florida, and sourced by a great service production company in Tampa called Digital Caviar. DC served as my producers and they had this wonderfully energetic below-the-line crew they worked with frequently that they recruited for my short. So my most memorable response was showing the film to that crew at a festival down in St. Pete’s, getting to see their reaction to their work, and going out to dinner afterward. One of my crew members was particularly moved, and she confided in me that working on the film had inspired her to make the difficult decision to end a relationship with her partner who was struggling with substance abuse and begin her own journey of self-reflection. When she shared that I knew I had been successful because what I most hoped for in making this film was for anyone who had ever found themselves in a situation like that – where their head and heart were at such extreme odds about a relationship, and ultimately about themselves – to know they weren’t alone.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

RR: I have to shout out my amazing producing team: Tony Armer, Michael Brown, and Mea Tefka. Tony was my fairy-godfather who helped me believe I could even do this. Mea, who is a fellow alum from Tisch’s photo program at NYU, really pushed me to get this thing done when the going got tough. And Mike was my strongman on the ground who made it all come to life. ALSO, my cast, led by actors Joi Liaye and Sebastian Gregory, really carried this film emotionally and they were a dream. We became so close when we were rehearsing and filming, and we still are. I was spoiled by the level of talent from the rest of the crew (incl. editor Colin Goudie, DP Caleb Heymann, and Sound Editor André Fenley) who contributed to this film. There are too many to name, but they all elevated the film to levels beyond my wildest dreams.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

RR: There’s something so magical, especially in 2020, to be celebrated by visionary black programmers at BlackStar alongside really exciting indie black filmmakers. In the few Zoom get-togethers we’ve had as a group, I’ve gotten to know some of them and their work — so it’s even more humbling and profound to be sharing art alongside such inspiring talent and offering a little bit of light in a time of uncertainty.

DVD & CHILL
Filmmaker : Johnny Ray Gill
Screening Date: Shorts Program: Entanglements – Wed. Aug 26th 5:30pm
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Synopsis: In the City of Angels, a jungle filled with predators & opportunists perpetually on the prowl, Zora a beautifully exotic groupie wants nothing more than to rub shoulders with her celebrity obsession & Hollywood hunk Shemar Moor. So she arranges to spend the evening watching a DVD at her condo with Moor’s handsome slick tongued half-brother Cyrano in a ploy to use him as a stepping stone to Shemar. But Cyrano, hip to the hustle, & out to quench the thirst of his own desire, plots to use his charm & the fame of his half-brother as bait to seduce Zora. And as their movie glimmers, these two sexy beasts hunt one another & by the end of an intimate evening, one will never be the same.

Johnny Ray Gill intro…

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Johnny Ray Gill: DVD & CHILL comes from my desire to tell a Hitchcockian story with people of color at the center. It’s Tyler Perry meets Alfred Hitchcock and examines predators and opportunists and how they hunt one another. LA serves as the perfect backdrop because it’s a place these people tend to flock. The film explores colorism and the seductive power of light skin and also explores the toxicity of celebrity worship. Culturally Americans are obsessed with celebrity and it’s a huge issue. It’s why a reality tv personality is President and crowds cheer when Oprah, the Rock, and Kanye flirt with running for the highest office. Many look to celebrities & the wealthy like deities to solve complex problems and seek their counsel in crisis no matter how unqualified. Celebrity is unmatched currency and in the film Cyrano, the half-brother of Shemar Moor spends his brother’s currency like a sticky trap to obtain what he otherwise couldn’t. Zora, the other title character feels a dire need to own this celebrity. She needs to taste it, hold it, and caress it for herself, which is why she’s on an almost spiritual mission to do so. All these themes excite me and were the driving force behind bringing the film to fruition.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

JRG: The score was done incredibly by composer Cedie Janson. It’s sexy, dangerous, and does a tremendous job at shifting with the tone of the film and illuminating the subtext. Food does play a role in DVD & CHILL, it’s just not a food someone would typically order off a menu, lmao.

JRG: The responses that mean the most are the many that tell me they want to see more. They want to know what happens next after Cyrano walks out the door and knowing the film can be expanded makes me feel very warm and fuzzy inside! To know that there’s more to mine from this story and subject matter and folks are excited about the film becoming a feature-length is always a blessing. So naturally, we’re diving back in and expanding so we can give the people what they want.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

JRG: I want to give a shout out to my confidants and co-producers Patrick Jean-Joseph and Aleeah Sutton. They’ve been gracious enough to be sounding boards from idea to production and now to screening at festivals. I can be a lot to deal with when working on a project. My Virgo energy has my mind jumping this way and that and their often calming presence and helping hands and minds were invaluable. I’d also like to shout out Sheila Nortley, my mom Tangela, Lorene Chesley and my constant collaborator and fantastic cinematographer Colton Davie. It was a privilege to shoot on 35mm and I can’t wait to work on the next project with him. He’s so terrific.

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

JRG: It means a tremendous amount. I screened my short Pas De Restes at Blackstar in 2013 and it’s an honor to be back with DVD & CHILL. BlackStar is one of the best film festivals in the country and soon and very soon I’ll have a feature at the fest as well!

AS ABOVE
Filmmaker : Sewra G Kidane

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Synopsis: When your Earth Plane feels a strong sense of pull, setting in motion an enigmatic chase thru a maze of dimensional time… sparking an orgasm into enlightenment

Sewra Kidane intro…

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for your film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Sewra G Kidane:As Above” is essentially a reminder to who you are and how incredible we are when we vibrate at our highest level. We are so much grander than who we are right now, and we need to know that that grandness is already in us. God is already in us! We just need to recognize it. If you could dial yourself up to a 12, 15, 20!!! If you could be your freest self… Who is THAT person? And what’s preventing you from embodying that right now? That’s “As Above”.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film? OR Does food play a big part in your film? Or answer both.

SGK: The soundtrack for “As Above” is my favorite part!!!! There are so many things I wanted to convey with the music!! There’s no dialogue in the film, so the music is what’s really going to hold people. I usually know what the music is going to be when I conceptualize the ideas/story for my fashion films. I knew for “As Above” I wanted disco electronica specifically from the very late 70’s, very early 80’s. Georgio Moroder… a little Kraftwerk with a hint of John Hammer. But mainly a Georgio Moroder feel. I’m a DISCO HEAD!!! I absolutely LOVE disco!!! And Georgio’s sound is so distinct. No one else sounds like him. And as a disco head, it’s a totally different vibe out to dance to! If you REALLY listen to his tracks, there’s soooo much going on with his arrangements. The layers!!!! I also wanted the music to play out like a DJ mix…where the tracks blend into one another, and you feel like you’re in a club.

I initially reached out to a composer who specifically scores fashion films, but she was booked and recommended Alexia Riner. The Universe be working on our behalfs! Because Alexia was the perfect fit for the film. For one, she specializes in Electronic music. She has a degree in it!! Alexia put her whole foot, leg and thigh into the soundtrack! I told her she’s Klymaxx’s love child! Alexia and I talked about the sound I wanted, and I sent her a very descriptive breakdown of how I heard things and also a bit of personal background about me, because, a lot of my personal taste in music was going into the composition and I felt she just needed a bit of context to paint with. Gave her key words and samples of what I wanted the track to feel like and also what I wanted audiences to feel.

The soundtrack is broken up into four parts related to lovemaking… Act 1 is Foreplay, Act 2 is The DO, Act 3 is the Orgasm and Act 4 is the After Cigarette Moment when you’re feeling yourself (pun intended). My production company is named Gee Spot Cine; playing on my middle initial and, G-Spot, so the essence of all of my work is about making people feel good. I edited the film and used Donna Summer’s tracks; “Now I Need You”, “Working The Midnight Shift” and “I Need Love” for the first 3 acts respectively to cut to for pacing only. For Act 4, I cut with Kanye’s “Faded” as a reference track for pacing and energy. When you listen to the track, I wanted people to feel like 1) dancing in their seats! Grooving in their chairs! and 2) to be mesmerized and transported.

So the track starts off as a build-up to create this suspense and tension and then transitions into the other tracks. The very cool thing about Alexia’s music are her splits… the different parts of the tracks that make the song; they are their own separate sounding element! It’s very SunRa. I used her splits for the majority of sound effects. Cory Choy at Silver Sound Studios in NYC did the mix and sound design. I put the sounds I wanted on the timeline and in the mix, he upgraded what I did. There are crystal bowl sounds and electricity sounds!! I asked him to mix it like we’re in a club, so if you watch the movie wearing headphones or you have a great sound system, you can hear the music traveling from one speaker to the other, and I had him add a lot of bass, house music style. There are parts of the track where I had Cory strip the track and build it back up similar to when you’re at a house party and the DJ drops the beat low so you can catch your breath and then they start building it back up to get you hyped again.

SGK: After people watch the film, there are like 5 common responses I get which let me know I did good… because the words they’re using are the same words I used to describe the film when I started working on it. My favorite response is “HOLY F’n SHYT!” or “OH SHYT”, I accept both lol! But people will say that it was mesmerizing and they felt transfixed or transported. What’s most important to me, is that they walk away feeling good (Gee Spot!) and that the Universe reminded them of who they are and how dope they already are. No go out there and turn it up some more!

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

SGK: One Two, ONE TWO!!! Filmmaking is such a collaborative process …… I’m where I am, because of my team! I work the most amazingly creative people who take my audacious ideas and turn them up and out!! My cast! Lyfe Silva, Iman Artwell-Freeman and Nazlah Black! I don’t think they knew exactly what they were about to walk into when they came to audition for a fashion film, but they really put the work in and brought my characters to life!! Chandra Moore is my right hand and Fashion Editor. She’s worked with me since day one, doing the wardrobe for “Proclamation Punctuation”, “Fifty Four Eleven” and my next fashion film, “Bitch I Got An Attitude”. She is why everyone looks so damn fly in my films! Chandra brought Lorraine on board, Lorraine West Jewelry. We used her cuffs in “Proclamation Punctuation”. For “As Above”, Lorraine designed and custom made all of the jewelry featured in the film. She and Chandra worked together coming up with ideas to connect all 3 characters with the jewelry, which are their rings. When Lorraine first showed us the finished pieces, I told her she should make them for her line because they are DOPE! Glad she did, because they’ve since been worn on the TONY’S red carpet by playwright Dominique Morisseau, Zendaya and Beyonce is wearing them in “Black Is King”. SHOUT OUT to Anitra Michelle, who custom-designed for us the Divinity Kimono. She and Chandra also worked together with that design to keep the kimono editorial with a technical design, because it also doubled as a prop for a certain scene in the film. Anitra and I have since made two other fashion films together; “The Monks of Brooknam” and “Anitragami”. I want to also shout out my DP Michael Cooke who rode with me when I had a dollar and dream with “Proclamation Punctuation”! Shout out to my Lead Hair/MUA, Jey Belle, and Dana Bingham-Guanilo who began doing production support and the videography on “As Above” and is now my producing partner, having produced 5 of my fashion films and started her own production company, Makeda Filmworks!!!

T&T: What does it mean to you to screen your film at the 9th Annual BlackStar Film Festival?

SGK: It means everything! I don’t seek outside validation, but, let me tell you, getting that email from Blackstar saying “Congratulations”, that’s the affirmation that I contributed something artistic to our culture! They don’t let just any old film up in there! The programming over at Blackstar is out of this world! I watch the most creative films of every genre about all kinds of Black lives and I get to be a part of that!!! The films this year have really inspired me as a filmmaker and as an editor. Some of the editing on these films …I’m taking notes lol! I also like that my fashion films have a home at Blackstar and fits in seamlessly with the films screened. Their audiences are true cinephiles and they get all of the nuances in my work. I really appreciate the work Blackstar does to give us a space to be creative and different and express our Blackness in all the different ways it looks!