Immersed in BlackStar's 12th festival, our producers followed two of the BlackStar Filmmaker Lab fellows, writer/director David Gaines and producer Elizah Turner, on the days leading up to the premiere of their first film: The Freedom To Fall Apart. This short dark comedy is a tender treatment of the tensions within Black masculine experiences, unearthing belly laughs and tears at its world premiere in Philadelphia. Listen in to hear about the process of making the film and the emotional journey of sharing it for the first time in Philadelphia. 

Nehad Khader is a filmmaker, curator, editor and writer whose work in film informs her work as a historian and vice versa. She serves as BlackStar’s Festival Director and chats with host Mackenzie River Foy about her start in the BlackStar ecosystem. Kader discusses the importance of supporting young filmmakers and how she brings her love of radical hospitality to her work as a director.

Maori Karmael Holmes is the curator, writer and filmmaker who founded Philadelphia's BlackStar Film Festival in 2012. Her pride and joy is in its 12th run this August as our host, MacKenzie River Foy, chats with Maori about the genesis of the festival.

Artist, Archivist and Black Joy Social Producer MacKenzie Foy discusses their relationship to gospel music beyond the church and the role of music in organizing and activist spaces. 

Black Joy founder and reporter Starr Dunigan shares some of her favorite gospel songs and discusses how she found healing and joy through gospel music.

Black Joy reporter, Danielle Buckingham, shares her experiences singing in choirs, what church taught her about the power of song, and her thoughts on the future gospel music.