14th annual BlackStar Film Fest. brings close to 100 films to Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- More than 90 films from around the world will appear on screen across Philadelphia during the 14th annual BlackStar Film Festival.

This event shines light on the cinematic works of visionary Black, brown, and indigenous filmmakers.

This year, the representation is more diverse than ever.

"We needed a platform that was looking at aesthetics and social justice and unconventional forms," says Maori Karmael Holmes, the founder of the BlackStar Film Festival.

That was back in 2012, when Holmes started what's become an annual celebration of storytelling, with artists from around the globe bringing what she calls "Cinema for Liberation" to Philadelphia.

"We're interested in supporting Black, brown, and indigenous artists of the global majority," Holmes says. "We're always looking to uplift that work that we think gets overlooked in the mainstream."

The annual Oscar-qualifying festival features close to 100 films over four days of screenings, conversations and panels.

"I think there's community fostered at the festival," she says.

"We Were the Scenery" is this year's winner of the Short Film Jury Award for Non-Fiction at the Sundance Film Festival.

"It was really unexpected, really surprising," says director Christopher Radcliff. "It's a very small film made by a really small team of like three people, basically. For it to sort of be appreciated in this way is extremely surprising and gratifying."

Radcliff's documentary short follows two Vietnamese refugees who arrived in the Philippines in 1975 and were cast as extras in the film "Apocalypse Now."

"It's sort of our attempt to reframe their story and kind of move their voices from the background of that film into the foreground," Radcliff explains.

And that sentiment is at the core of what the BlackStar Film Festival was built for.

"We're always hoping that people go away with something that they've never seen before that helps to expand their perspective, or shift their perspective," Holmes says. "We hope that people find joy."

The BlackStar Film Festival kicks off July 31 at venues across the city and runs through August 3.

"We Are The Scenery" screens July 31 at 7:30 p.m. at the Wilma Theater.

Click here for details.

Making its Philadelphia premiere Friday night is "Third Act," an incredibly powerful father/ son film about art, activism and grief.

"My whole life, I knew I had to make a film about my dad," says director Tadashi Nakamura. "I don't want him, or his work, to be forgotten."

"Third Act" is a feature documentary on Tadashi's father, Robert Nakamura, who's known as the godfather of Asian American media.

"It's a father and son film about his life, his pioneering career, our special father and son filmmaker relationship, and his battle with Parkinson's disease," Tadashi explains.

Robert Nakamura was diagnosed with Parkinson's during the filming process. He was there when "Third Act" celebrated its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this past January.

Robert passed away a few months ago, in June.

Tadashi says this film became so much more than he ever could have imagined.

"Now that he has this diagnosis, the time was limited for both him to tell me everything he ever wanted to, and for me to ask all the questions I always wanted to find out before it was too late," Tadashi says. "What started off as a kind of a simple biopic film turned into a really life-changing experience for both of us."

"Third Act" is making its Philadelphia premiere at the ongoing BlackStar Film Festival.

It screens Friday at 6 p.m. at the Kimmel Center's Perelman Theater.

Click here for details.