Inspired by true events, a Haitian refugee fights to survive the inhuman conditions at Guantánamo Bay.

Boat People

Featuring the music and lyrics of Tony Award winners Stew Stewart and Heidi Rodewald ("Passing Strange") the animation of Cinema Eye winner Thomas Curtis ("Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project") and the direction of Emmy winner Robe Imbriano ("Soul of a Nation"), Criminal is an animated musical documentary short film that confronts the injustice of people held at the Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas. The vast majority are there because they don't have enough cash to pay their way out before trial. Because they are poor, thousands are held for months or even shipped to jails out of state when they are supposed to be presumed innocent.

Criminal

An immigrant mother emerges as a community leader during the historic campaign to end the sharing of the Philadelphia police database with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Expanding Sanctuary tells a rarely told story about a Latinx immigrant community’s successful journey to change legislation and protect families. Thank you to our screening partner: <a href="https://www.blackdocumentarycollective.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Black Documentary Collective (BDC)</a>

Expanding Sanctuary

Based on research and interviews with both Palestinian hunger strikers and asylum seekers, this absurdist yet realist film stages a dialogue between the director and her mother tongue that centers on a single question: What do we know about hunger?This film is a poetic and musical tribute to those who suffered the aftermath of famine and migration, and to Palestinian hunger strikers whose resistance outlives the deafening silence of the colonial world.

The Battle of Empty Stomachs

Statism (Shorts) (Press & Industry)

Virtual Admission

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BlackStar Film Festival an annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities globally. 

All panels are recorded in-person and will be posted within the week of the festival.