BlackStar Projects has announced the full schedule of events for the 2026 BlackStar Film Festival, taking place August 6–9 in Philadelphia and streaming online around the world.Â
Featuring 91 films from over 40 countries worldwide, the lineup includes the North American premiere of Haile Gerima’s Black Lions—Roman Wolves (2026) on closing night and the world premiere of West Side Familia (2026), from Taylor Hosking, on opening night.
The festival is an annual celebration of independent cinema from the global majority and a one-of-a-kind gathering centered on connection, discussion, and learning. Notable guests and speakers at this year’s festival include Sky Hopinka, Michèle Stephenson, Cybil St. Aude-Tate, Felicia Pride, and Alile Sharon Larkin — who will be in conversation with Melissa Lyde on August 9, after a retrospective screening of the new 4K restoration of Larkin’s highly acclaimed 1982 film, A Different Image.Â
Festival Highlights
West Side Familia — Dir. Taylor Hosking
Opening Night Film
West Side Familia follows a legendary Puerto Rican biker crew and community elders on Manhattan’s Upper West Side as they fight to preserve their neighborhood’s culture, history and traditions in the face of gentrification and erasure.
| World Premiere
Call of My Life — Dir. Dammy Twitch
Soluchi, 31, is a radiant and thoughtful call center agent, still carrying the scars of a long relationship with Kalu, a man whose neglect left her questioning her worth. When loneliness threatens to swallow her, a routine customer call connects her to Eli, a magnetic man whose kindness and attention awaken feelings she has long buried.
| U.S. Premiere (Festival)Â
An Incomplete Calendar — Dir. Sanaz Sohrabi
Forgotten songs and archives tell a different story of the developing world’s political calendar of liberation movements and the fight for oil sovereignty.
| North America Premiere
The Store — Dir. Fahamu Pecou
In a forgotten corner of the city, there exists a bodega like no other — a gateway to ancestral wisdom and untold possibilities. When patrons step inside looking for something ordinary, a veil between worlds reveals an alternate reality where Black people thrive.
| World Premiere
Treasure Island (L’île aux trésors) — Dir. Miryam Charles
Summer 1993. Marthe, 12, convinces her brother to run away from home and from the Haitian heritage they both reject. Joined by their cousins in a park, they debate what their future might hold. But as the hours pass, the children begin to realize that what they’re trying to escape is also what binds them together most deeply. Charles will also participate in a panel discussion on August 7.
| World Premiere
Black Lions–Roman Wolves — Dir. Haile Gerima
Closing Night Film
Haile Gerima’s Black Lions — Roman Wolves is a five-part epic on Ethiopian resistance to Italy’s 1935 invasion, revealing a war fought with arms, memory and culture and honoring a nation that refused to kneel.
| North America Premiere
To learn more, visit blackstarprojects.org/festival.
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