BlackStar Projects Announces Lineup for 15th Annual BlackStar Film Festival

BlackStar Projects, the premier organization celebrating visionary Black, Brown and Indigenous film and media artists, is thrilled to announce the selections for the 2026 BlackStar Film Festival.

This year’s festival will take place from August 6-9, 2026, with in-person film screenings at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the Wilma Theater and the Suzanne Roberts Theatre. Parties and events will be held at various venues across Philadelphia to mark the 15th annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of Black, Brown and Indigenous people from around the world.

All access passes for the festival are available for purchase here; individual tickets for in-person and virtual screenings will go on sale in early July.

As it celebrates its 15th anniversary, the 2026 BlackStar Film Festival is set to feature a total of 91 films representing over 30 countries, including 22 World, 10 North America, 4 United States, 13 East Coast and 34 Philadelphia premieres. Highlights from this year’s lineup include the North America premiere of Haile Gerima’s Black Lions – Roman Wolves and the world premieres of Dr. Fahamu Pecou’s The Store, Iyabo Kwayana’s Old Man River, Louis Massiah’s Tenants of Lenapehocking in the Age of Magnets, Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes’ The Keeper, and Miryam Charles’ Treasure Island (L’île aux trésors).

“For fifteen years BlackStar has endeavored to bring both new films and a small selection of repertory ones to Philadelphia that not only meet the moment we are in, but deepen our collective understanding of it,” said Festival Director, Nehad Khader. “With this festival lineup we have continued that tradition.”

BlackStar Film Festival has grown in attendance year over year, with more than 20,000 tickets sold in 2025. In addition to this year’s film festival there will be daily panels and conversations with filmmakers and industry leaders, along with an opening night party at Frankie’s Summer Club, a Friday evening concert and celebration at the Barnes Foundation, a Saturday evening industry mixer at Leo and a closing night party at the Barnes Foundation.

“Since our first festival in 2012, BlackStar has blossomed into a complex, challenging and ever-changing celebration of filmmaking and its power to connect us,” said Founder, Maori Karmael Holmes. “We continue to provide a vital and urgent gathering for filmmakers and cinephiles of the global majority, just as we chart new directions forward for the medium, and for all those who are critically engaged with the times in which we live.”

Among BlackStar Projects’ other programs are Seen, a journal of film, art and visual culture, that recently published its tenth issue and the Greaves Filmmaker Seminar, held in March with Stanford University’s Institute for Diversity in the Arts. The organization recently unveiled its new brand identity created by New York-based creative agency Pacific. Through a multi-year process of research and refinement, Pacific developed a new visual identity and system that unifies the various initiatives that exist under the umbrella of BlackStar.

The full lineup of films is below:

66 Days (٦٦ يوماً), directed by Joude Bazzoun

A Bundle of Silences (Un montón de silencios), directed by Sofía Gallisá Muriente

A Different Image, directed by Alile Sharon Larkin

A Life in Art: Through the Eye of Dr. Leslie King Hammond, directed by Ben Baker-Lee and Rassaan Hammond

A Sad and Beautiful World (نجوم الأمل و الألم), directed by Cyril Aris

Aanikoobijigan (ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild), directed by Adam Khalil and Zack Khalil

After What Happened at the Library, directed by Syra McCarthy

An Afternoon with a Gnawa, directed by Meena Nanji

An Impossible Address, directed by Suneil Sanzgiri

An Incomplete Calendar, directed by Sanaz Sohrabi

And She Didn’t Die, directed by Kethiwe Ngcobo

Angels Pull Your Hair, directed by Gabby Beans

Another Day Shall Come (سيجيء يوم آخر), directed by Aida Kaadan

Are You Native?, directed by Victoria Cheyenne

At the Stage When, directed by Ci Shi Ci Ke and Hao Zhou

Authors of the Estate, directed by Abdou Cissé

Becoming Human, directed by Chiet Chea Manusa and Polen Ly

Black Lions – Roman Wolves, directed by Haile Gerima

Black Zombie, directed by Maya Annik Bedward

Boca Vieja, directed by Yovegami Ascona Mora

Bouchra, directed by Meriem Bennani and Orian Barki

Buckskin, directed by Mars Verrone

Charip: Lightning in the River (Charip: el relámpago del río), directed by GTANW | MULLU TV Gobierno Territorial Autónomo de la Nación Wampís

ChikaBOOM!!, directed by c. Craig Patterson

Communion (Comunhão), directed by Pétala Lopes

Don’t wake the sleeping child (Ne réveillez pas l’enfant qui dort), directed by Kevin Aubert

Ella, directed by Nikki Taylor-Roberts

Enjoy the tropix and have a banana ! (An diw jwi ! On a la banane sous les tropiques !), directed by Kristine Blonbou

Finding Your Laughter, directed by Arlieta Hall and Brittany Alsot

Fists of Mothers, directed by Tchaiko Omawale

For Peace of Mind, directed by Amandla Baraka

Free Joan Little, directed by Yoruba Richen

Free Lyric, directed by Cherish Oteka

Glass Bricks, directed by Simone Holland

God Sleeps on Sundays, directed by Naishe Nyamubaya

HomeGoing, directed by Julie Dash

How to Hide It, directed by Ramla Ali and Richard A. Moore

I Got My Brother, directed by Victor Gabriel

I Wonder Shall I Fly, directed by Harlan Banks

If I Go Will They Miss Me, directed by Walter Thompson-Hernández

Ish Meets a Mermaid, directed by Jonathan Thunder

Ixquic, directed by Elvis Caj

JESUS IS COMING (to take the Church away), directed by Cameron Clay

Lani B Supreme: Legacy, directed by Sabaah Folayan

Let Them Be Seen, directed by Nolitha Refilwe Mkulisi

Mickey, directed by Dano Garcia

Muoz-Doic Mixtape, directed by Quyen Nguyen-Le

National Seating, directed by Kevin Jerome Everson

No Sunshine in Here (Aqui Não Entra Luz), directed by Karol Maia

Nwanne M Nwaanyị, directed by Chiemeka Offor

Old Man River, directed by Iyabo Kwayana

Olinda’s Golden Arches (Os Arcos Dourados de Olinda), directed by Douglas Henrique

One More Show (ضايل عنا عرض), directed by Mai Saad and Ahmed Al Danaf

Our Bodies Ours, directed by Sonali Gulati and Sanam Sheriff

Palestine ‘36 (فلسطين ٣٦), directed by Annemarie Jacir

Philly Rumba, directed by Melissa Beatriz and Andrés Cisneros

Potato Salad, directed by Kyle Drew

Powwow People, directed by Sky Hopinka

Reading the World (Lendo o Mundo), directed by Catherine Murphy

Remote Views, directed by Alexis McCrimmon

Revival 24, directed by Darryl Daley

Same Water, directed by Martine Granby

Scene Not Heard: Women in Philadelphia Hip Hop, directed by Maori Karmael Holmes

Solace, directed by Rodney Evans

Tell Me When You Get Home, directed by Tshay Meade

Tenants of Lenapehocking in the Age of Magnets, directed by Louis Massiah

The Aura (L’Aura), directed by Fanta Sylla

The Keeper, directed by Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes

The Philadelphia Sensei: Lovett Hines, directed by Donn Thompson Morelli (‘Donn T’)

The Prophet (O Profeta), directed by Ique Langa

The Seeds We Carry, directed by Gabrielle Patterson

The Store, directed by Dr. Fahamu Pecou

The Tropic Sun and His Eyes (Soley Twopikal Ak Pitit Li), directed by Elisee Junior St Preux

To Run is to Return, directed by Precious Wura Alabi

Treasure Island (L’île aux trésors), directed by Miryam Charles

True North, directed by Michèle Stephenson

Variations on a Theme (Variasies op ‘n Tema), directed by Jason Jacobs and Devon Delmar

Vis-à-Vis, directed by Mamadou Yattassaye

Voicemail, directed by Lade Tinubu

Watch Out for the Ghosts, directed by Yvonne Michelle Shirley

We Act Like Children (Abinoojiikaasmin), directed by Evelyn Pakinewatik

We Are Not Dreaming (Não Estamos Sonhando), directed by Ulisses Arthur

We, People of the Islands (Nós, Povo Das Ilhas), directed by Elson Santos and Lara Sousa

West Side Familia, directed by Taylor Hosking

What Will I Become?, directed by Lexie Bean and Logan Rozos

When They’re Gone, directed Ragan Henderson and Lauryn Darden

Whispers of a Burning Scent, directed by Mo Harawe

White Musk, directed by Fatima Wardy

Wholesome, directed by Kimmy Campbell

Wood Street, directed by Caron Creighton

Zenón and the Rebel Boats (Zenón y la flotilla rebelde), directed by Juan C. Dávila Santiago

Information on juries, additional programming and events will be announced soon. For more information on the festival and its programs, visit https://www.blackstarprojects.org/festival.

This year’s festival is presented with major support from Open Society Foundations. Other sponsors include Eventive, FotoKem, Visit Philly, Hyperallergic, NEON, Color Congress, Firelight Media, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pillars Fund, Impact Partners, University of Pennsylvania Department of Cinema & Media Studies and The Gotham Film & Media Institute. Additional supporters include John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, City of Philadelphia and Councilmember At-Large Isaiah Thomas, Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development secured by State Senator Nikil Saval and State Representative Rick Krajewski, 188th District.

BlackStar Projects and its year-round programs are generously supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Critical Minded, Color Congress, Department of Community and Economic Development, Ford Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Mellon Foundation, People’s Media Fund, Perspective Fund, Pop Culture Collaborative, Ruth Foundation for the Arts, Surdna Foundation, Wallace Foundation and William Penn Foundation in addition to its board of directors, community partners and a host of generous individual donors and organizations.

About BlackStar Projects

BlackStar Projects, founded in 2012 by Maori Karmael Holmes as BlackStar Film Festival, creates the spaces and resources needed to uplift the work of Black, Brown and Indigenous artists working outside the confines of genre. Beyond the annual film festival the organization produces year-round programs, including film screenings, exhibitions, a filmmaker seminar, a film production lab and a journal of film, art and visual culture.

These programs provide artists opportunities for viable strategies for collaborations with other artists, audiences, funders and distributors. BlackStar is working towards a liberatory world in which a vast spectrum of Black, Brown and Indigenous experiences is irresistibly celebrated in arts and culture.