BlackStar Projects (BlackStar Film Festival)

Food Films: What to Watch at the BlackStar Film Festival in Philly | Eater Philly

"I attended the 11th annual BlackStar Film Festival, a cultural festival celebrating the work of BIPOC storytellers and filmmakers that kicked off in Philadelphia on Wednesday, August 3 and runs through Sunday, August 7. Always one of the highlights of the Philly cultural calendar, this year’s program features 77 shorts and features and gives food a seat at the table, with many films centered on family celebrations, culinary traditions, and sustenance. If you’re overwhelmed by the selection, start with six food-forward shorts I recommend: Patty vs. Patty, a documentary short about Jamaican Canadian bakers going head to head with the government over the name of Jamaican beef patties (available in person or streaming beginning Saturday, August 6); You Can Always Come Home, a 6-minute virtual short about tradition, ritual, love, and celebration in a Black diasporic household; The Syed Xmas Eve Game Night, about a queer couple introducing a spouse to family (in person or streaming starting Friday, August 5); Woman of the Earth, streaming virtually, which follows generations of women in the Nahua community of Hueyapan, Puebla as they show resistance, rebellion, and self-love; Weidle’s, a black-and-white silent film that captures a neighborhood butcher’s routine in Mansfield, Ohio (streaming virtually); and Tonight We Eat Flowers, a love story featuring edible flowers between a gourmet chef and a “hold music” salesman—directed by Philly local Bettina Escauriza and available in person or streaming starting Sunday, August 7. Individual tickets are available for each feature and series of shorts, or you can buy an all-access or virtual-only pass online." - Dayna Evans