By: Neha Aziz
In the summer, A-Doc put out a call for members to apply to be a part of our 2025 BlackStar Film Festival Cohort. Our participants were Homa Sarabi, Melissa Tinambacan, Pulkit Datta, Thien Dinh, and Un Kyong Ho. Each of these filmmakers are working on a project rooted in activism, to learn more about them, click here. Learn more about Homa’s and Un’s experiences below:
“Attending Black Star Film Festival was a ray of hope for me this year. As we navigate our paths through a world challenged by much negativity and chaos, lacking love and vision and free falling into hatred and division, the opportunity to gather is a privilege I was afforded by the support of A-Doc and so deeply am thankful for.
To be present at this unique and influential festival was a rejuvenating experience only made more influential and transformative in the company of others in our A-Doc cohort. This experience reminded me that the answer to many of our struggles today is collective action and community oriented thinking. The power of arts and documentary film in building connections, forming experiences and shaping a better world that works for many rather than a few is not to be underestimated. I hope to be able to come back to the Blackstar festival every year and I hope to continue growing along with my other colleagues and friends in the A doc community.” – Homa Sarabi
“BlackStar Film Festival was an exercise in joy and abundance. This year’s festival themes of liberation, legacy, grief, and community resonated deeply in my own personal life, and I carry them into the work to come. I’ve heard BlackStar referred to as a family reunion. That intimacy, camaraderie, and joy is baked into every element of the festival and I feel blessed to have been a part of it. Thank you to A-Doc and BlackStar for this opportunity. – Un Kyong Ho
Some highlights from my festival experience:
- BlackStar Pitch was an education in the evolution of documentary form and the ways in which artists from the global majority are paving the way with compelling stories and innovative storytelling. The chosen film teams led a masterclass on the elements of a good pitch. I’m rooting for all of them and can’t wait to see their films out in the world.
- I will never forget the experience of watching Tad Nakamura‘s THIRD ACT with an audience. Ted, producer Eurie Chung, and their team managed to make a film that is both a beautiful homage to his father and a co-creation about the art and labor of filmmaking. A transcendent experience and a necessary moment of collective grieving when we are all grieving so much.
- I loved navigating the festival with my A-Doc cohort. The substance of the festival was especially lush this year, but experiencing it with Melissa, Pulkit, TK, and Homa enriched it further. Homa spoke on the importance of community in sustaining us as artists and as humans, and the urgency of community is brought into starker relief at this precise moment when fascism works to constrict our lives and we endeavor to imagine better futures. It restored me to be in overlapping circles of community between my A-Doc members, Brown Girls mafiosas, and friends from across the doc and impact world.
Want to be considered for amazing opportunities like this one? Become an A-Doc member today!