AUGUST
Thursday , August 1 - Sunday , August 4 2nd Annual BlackStar Film Festival
Dubbed “ the black Sundance ” by Ebony Magazine , the BlackStar Film Festival , presented by the Knight Foundation , is a unique gathering of filmmakers and cinéastes who will participate in screenings and related programming illuminating the global black experience . The only event of its kind in Philadelphia — focusing on work from the African Diaspora — BlackStar provides a highly visible platform for independent black filmmakers and films about black people from around the world , providing genre-defying and beautifully-crafted works to a diverse audience thirsty for fresh perspectives . Join us for approximately 40 films , over four days , from four continents ! This year ’ s festival will offer exclusive Philadelphia premieres of international music videos , narratives , experimental films , and documentaries from a wide diversity of emerging and established directors and producers . In addition to special Q & As with several award-winning directors and producers , other activities include panel discussions , workshops , a children ’ s program , a program of youth-produced media , a special honor presented to the Howard University Film Program , a live screenplay competition featuring celebrity judges , and a transmedia performance featuring renowned composer and music producer King Britt . For more info visit blackstarfest . org .
The 2013 BlackStar Film Festival is made possible by generous funding from the Knight Foundation , PECO , An Exelon Company , Howard University , individual donors , and in partnership with International House Philadelphia , The Barnes Foundation , two . one . five . Magazine , Okayplayer . com , Skai Blue Media , and our fiscal sponsor Art Sanctuary , Inc .
Tuesday , August 6 at 7pm CETRA LANGUAGE SOLUTIONS The Woman with The 5 Elephants dir . Vadim Jendreyko , Switzerland / Germany , 2009 , digital , German and Russian with English subtitles , 93 min .
The 5 elephants are Dostoyevsky ’ s great literary works , all of which have been translated by the 87-year-old Svetlana Geier , considered the world ’ s most masterful translator of Russian literature into German . The filmmaker visits with a woman whose fascinating , dramatic life story has been colored by some of the most violent events in 20th century European history : Stalin ’ s purges of the kulaks ( responsible for her father ’ s death ) and the Nazi occupation of the Ukraine ( ultimately responsible for saving her life and leading to a university education in Germany ). A rigorous intellectual whom we ’ re privileged to watch parse the language , word by word , with her colleague , she warms the screen with the depths of her dignity and humanity . Language as a civilizing force is the thread that runs through Geier ’ s life , and it illuminates every minute of the film .
Free screening .
Wednesday , August 7 at 7pm Preservation Alliance Contextualizing Jazz in Philadelphia : An evening of documentaries
Coltrane ’ s Philadelphia : A Documentary Film – Premier !
This short documentary relates the story of jazz giant John Coltrane and the years he spent in Philadelphia during the 1940s and 1950s . After migrating from his childhood home in North Carolina in 1943 , Coltrane spent years honing his craft in the City of Brotherly Love . This short film , featuring interviews with jazz musicians who knew Coltrane when he called Philadelphia home , as well as footage of the City during the time period Coltrane lived here , illuminates the urban context in which the artist moved the music forward .
Members of the production team will be available for question and answers at the screening .
Sun Ra : A Joyful Noise dir . Robert Mugge , US , 1980 , digital , 60 min .
This 1980 film documents performances by the Sun Ra Arkestra in Philadelphia , Washington D . C . and Baltimore . It features performances on the roof of the International House as well as interviews with Sun Ra and band members in both the University of Pennsylvania ’ s Museum of Archeology & Anthropology and at the band ’ s home base in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia . ihousephilly . org