Maori Karmael Holmes Looks Back on 15 Years of BlackStar
Hyperallergic profiles filmmaker and curator Maori Karmael Holmes as she reflects on 15 years of the BlackStar Film Festival, held in Philadelphia from August 6 to 9 for its 15th edition. Founded in 2012, BlackStar has expanded from an annual festival focused on Black and African diaspora storytelling into BlackStar Projects, a nonprofit supporting Black, Brown, and Indigenous filmmakers through programs including exhibitions, a filmmaker seminar, a production lab, and the journal Seen. The 2026 festival lineup included 91 films, highlighted stories from Haiti, and featured Haile Gerima’s five-part epic on Ethiopian resistance to Italian colonialism. Holmes programmed the festival for its first nine years before becoming chief executive and artistic officer, shifting her focus toward building institutional infrastructure.
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This story was covered in Closures, Cuts, and Culture Under Siege