For Andr\u00e9s Cisneros, who directed \u201cPhilly Rumba\u201d with Melissa Beatriz, sustaining community and culture requires deliberate action.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIntentional support keeps them going, keeps them thriving, keeps them funded \u2014 and that\u2019s where we all collectively come in,\u201d Cisneros said.\n<\/p>\n
Beatriz emphasized preserving history as a form of community care and building cross-generational connection.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI encourage everyone to digitize from your parents, grandparents and families. Find those tapes and see what other stories come out of those archives, and pass that on to whoever is kin to you,\u201d Beatriz said.\n <\/p>\n
While the filmmakers described the ideas behind their work, the people at the center of their stories offered their own perspective on what those themes look like in everyday life.\n<\/p>\n
Tony Crosby, a member of Little Afrika, a percussion group featured in \u201cPhilly Rumba,\u201d said the group\u2019s music is about more than performance. It is a way of sharing history and culture across communities.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get to inform people of what we do, our culture, in the English language, and it is easy to convey to everybody,\u201d Crosby said.\n<\/p>\n
The ideas shared by the filmmakers and the stories shared by the people at the center of the projects carried onto the audience members attending the festival and viewing the films.\n<\/p>\n
For Milena Mikael-Debass, a first-time BlackStar attendee, the documentaries reinforced the importance of taking ownership of your own story.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat resonated with me the most was this idea of not waiting for permission, of owning agency and getting creative,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n
Mikael-Debass said festivals like BlackStar serve an important role in bringing communities together because they provide \u201ca springboard from which we can share ideas for ways to fight and achieve liberation.\u201d\n<\/p>\n