#blackstar-film-festival

#blackstar-film-festival

On May 2, 2025, arts and cultural organizations across the country received notifications that grants and funding promised by the National Endowment for the Arts were being rescinded. This was part of a larger initiative by the Trump Administration to dismantle not just the NEA, but also other arts advocacy programs including the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute for Museum and Library Services.

Sam Green's documentary follows his relentless pursuit of the world's oldest person, a journey that reveals deep insights into the nature of time and memory over a decade.

"In 'break bad (freddy flexing)' (2021), a slim man's attempt to exert physical strength instead displays his fragility. A gentleness in his eyes suggests truer strength beneath the performance."

The Sonoma Film Festival will offer a dozen queer features, documentaries, and shorts, showcasing diverse narratives and perspectives within the LGBTQ+ community.

In the film, Bronz's character is commissioned to compose a new national anthem for post-Oct. 7 Israel, and writes a warmongering ballad about destroying Gaza and 'love sanctified in blood.'

Many of these posters are the only surviving proof of certain shows, with no recordings of plays, and certain films, having been lost over time. They offer a history of Black Americans trying to counter harmful stereotypes and provide vital and humanizing contributions to a growing Black culture.

But rather than walk away from his creative calling, Driven said he pivoted - teaching himself videography and landing his first paid job through a Craigslist post filming Caribbean DJ, and DJ Mad Out. "That opportunity introduced him to New York's Caribbean music scene, where he went on to work with artists such as Shaggy, Ding Dong and Kranium," she said. "Those early experiences sharpened Hillmedo's eye for authenticity, capturing Caribbean culture not as spectacle, but as lived reality," she added.

With all due respect, I'm actually not going to talk about this. I'm laughing because in the intro when you said, 'Oh, yes, we'll be talking about what happened with Bafta', I chuckled because I said, 'No, we're not'.

From February 15 through February 21, the museum will host its annual Black Future Festival, a weeklong slate of performances, workshops, and hands-on programs designed to give children and families space to imagine the next century of Black creativity, resilience, and innovation. The festival runs during New York City public schools' midwinter recess and fills the museum's galleries with movement, sound, and art-making.

Walking through Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imaginationat the Museum of Modern Art, I noticed that the exhibition didn't have definite sections or texts, and the wall labels abstained from naming the nationalities of the photographers. It was an invigorating experience to be in a show that eschews geographic boundaries set up by Western nations, as well as rejects a cause-and-effect narrative that centers Western colonialism as a framework for understanding African aesthetic production.

Movies led by Black actors are more than just moments on a screen. Seeing the work lives of writer Darius Lovehall and photographer Nina Mosley unfold onscreen only made me feel more represented as a soon-to-be creative. And beyond their day jobs, exploring the vulnerability as the two meet and spark a romance, grow in relationship with their friends, and simply exist and unwind listening to poetry in their neighborhood speakeasy illustrates the overall humanity Black people deserve in and outside of a theater experience.

Known as the City of Brotherly Love, Philly is often highlighted for its food and sports legacy (with the glow of Jalen Hurts and the Eagles still illuminating the city). But beneath that surface lies a robust, vibrant lineage of artists, interdisciplinary creators, and collectives who've shaped the cultural fabric of the city with immense innovation and fierce local pride. From hidden gems to rising institutions, Philly's creative community has been laying the groundwork for centuries,

The signatories include many artists who have presented work at the Berlin Film Festival. Swinton was herself last year awarded its prestigious Honorary Golden Bear award. They said they "fervently disagree" with Wenders's comments, arguing that filmmaking and politics cannot be separated. "Just as the festival has made clear statements in the past about atrocities carried out against people in Iran and Ukraine, we call on the Berlinale to fulfil its moral duty and clearly state its opposition to Israel's genocide," the letter adds.

In many ways, David Greaves' inviting and historical documentary, " Once Upon a Time in Harlem," is the stuff of legend. A vital reclamation of a precious history, the film was born from a night in 1972, when his father, William Greaves, invited the living titans of the Harlem Renaissance to Duke Ellington's old flat for a four-hour party filled with fond memories, fierce debates, and copious alcohol.

"For me the reward has been all of it. Just getting the script done was a type of reward, my crew together was a type of reward, getting everybody to come to New Orleans, getting to share the screenplay, I shared it with Rosemary like I always do, getting good feedback from her. And then showing the movie to audiences, which is the biggest reward I could ask for," Coogler said.