‘The city is full of ingenuity’: Six filmmakers tell us why they love Philly

The BlackStar Film Festival returns to Philadelphia this week, showcasing fresh, emerging works from Black, Indigenous, and brown filmmakers both international and local. This year’s lineup includes three world premieres (The Whites of Our Eyes, Dreams in Nightmares, You Don’t Have to Go Home, But…) and works that spotlight the power of community activism.

Ahead of the festival, six directors shared their insights on how Philadelphia has inspired them.

These interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.

Film: Dreams in Nightmares (Aug. 1, 7 p.m., Perelman Theater)

Based in: West Philadelphia and Los Angeles

What’s your film about? It’s about committing to chosen family, community, and yourself.

How did Philadelphia inspire your art? Philly doesn’t necessarily inspire my art, but it very much does nourish and inspire me as a person, which facilitates my art. The city is full of ingenuity. I love how Philadelphians solve problems. I love how the city is shaped by its very old history. I love watching Tyrese Maxey glide down the court. I love the late springs and early summers in the park. I love all of the amazing bars and bakeries and restaurants that have been cultivated by passionate people.

Favorite Philly film? Blow Out by Brian DePalma (*chefs kiss*). Close second: Unbreakable by M. Night Shyamalan.

What are you most excited to see at BlackStar? I literally JUST finished my film, and have not had a chance to see it with a proper audience yet, so I think it would have to be that!

Film: Expanding Sanctuary (Aug. 1, 1:30 p.m., John and Richanda Rhoden Arts Center at PAFA)

Based in: South Philadelphia

What’s your film about? Expanding Sanctuary follows immigrant mother Linda Hernandez, who emerges as a community leader during the historic campaign to end the sharing of the Philadelphia police database (called PARS) with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

How did Philadelphia inspire your art? The film started out as a way for me to find community as a recent college graduate. What began as a search for home in South Philly grew into a beautiful over six-year collaboration with immigrant rights nonprofit Juntos. South Philly is my home and the Latinx immigrant community has been my ongoing inspiration.

» READ MORE: 11 films you should not miss at the BlackStar Film Festival

Favorite Philly film? I love Quest directed by Jon Olshefski and produced by Sabrina Schmidt Gordon (consulting editor on Expanding Sanctuary). It exudes what I love so much about this city — the strong sense of community that carries and supports us through the good and the bad.

What are you most excited to see at BlackStar? You Don’t Have To Go Home But… directed by Aidan Un. I think it will be a beautiful film with stunning cinematography.

Film: Dallas, 2019 (Aug. 3, 1:30 p.m., John and Richanda Rhoden Arts Center at PAFA)

Based in: Jenkintown

What’s your film about? It’s an intimate, experiential, and observational five-part docuseries that studies and reveals how citizens are socialized, shaped, and formed within a society. Filmed in pre-pandemic Dallas, Texas, it follows the lives of public representatives and their varied constituents, capturing the city’s pulse and reflecting a state and country in crisis.

» READ MORE: ‘Rocky’, and the 49 other best Philly movies

How did Philadelphia inspire your art? This is my fifth BlackStar Film Festival and my seventh project to screen here. Since the Philadelphia premiere of my film Evolution of a Criminal at BlackStar in 2014, I have made a concerted effort to make work and screen it for the astounding and supportive BlackStar and Philadelphia audiences. BlackStar’s creative community pushes and inspires you to be better, aim higher, go harder. During the pandemic, I finally left Brooklyn for Philadelphia. Having more space, greenery, and a healthier work-life balance has had a huge impact on my artistic process and output.

Favorite Philly film? Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia.

What are you most excited to see at BlackStar? After a five-plus-year journey, I’m most excited to see my own film. There were many days when a premiere did not seem realistic, but being supported by an incredible team is the only way this series has been able to be birthed into the world.

Film: You Don’t Have To Go Home, But... (Aug. 3, 11 a.m., Perelman Theater)

Based in: East Lansdowne

What’s your film about? It’s a documentary about long-standing Philly dance party Second Sundae, following the lives of three dancers. The film asks: Why do people dance? What does it mean to be in community? How do you pair passion and the needs of living in capitalism? And where does a dancer go when the club lights come on?

How did Philadelphia inspire your art? After 17 years in Philly, I appreciate the city’s sometimes charming, sometimes blunt way of asking you to look more carefully, to dig under the surface. That house you pass by everyday is where Coltrane dreamed up A Love Supreme, or tucked away in someone’s backyard are ancestral chili plants, preserved over several generations. You don’t know which of these Philly pothole streets is actually a portal to another dimension.

Favorite Philly film? The Inheritance by Ephraim Asili.

What are you most excited to see at BlackStar? A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde by Ada Gay Griffin.

Film: The Whites of Our Eyes (Aug. 4, 3 p.m., Suzanne Roberts Theatre)

Based in: Germantown

What’s your film about? The politics of beauty and b/Blackness in my familial homeland in Ghana. It follows a young man who has an annual beauty ritual that involves bleaching his skin.

How did Philadelphia inspire your art? I can’t say that it directly inspires my art. However, I began my research on skin bleaching and Black body/identity politics while a graduate student at Temple University’s Department of African American Studies, where I earned my doctorate.

What are you most excited to see at BlackStar? A Mother Apart, directed by Laurie Townshend and featuring Staceyann Chin.

Film: The Whites of Our Eyes (Aug. 4, 3 p.m., Suzanne Roberts Theatre)

Based in: Accra, Ghana

What’s your film about? Taking a critical look at the ideas and ideals of beauty in modern-day Ghana.

How did Philadelphia inspire your art? I went to college in Philly and spent 12 years here. Philly is where I became a woman, where my creativity was sparked, and where I met my cocreator Yaba Blay. It plays such an integral role in this film even coming to life.

Favorite Philly film? Trading Places.

What are you most excited to see at BlackStar? It Was All a Dream by dream hampton.