Amplifying Diverse Voices: A Conversation with Maori Karmael Holmes, Founder of BlackStar Projects
Hey. Welcome to the Truth in His Art. I am your host, Rob Lee. And in this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with a renowned curator, filmmaker, and writer. My guest is the founder, chief executive officer, and the artistic officer of Blackstar.
Rob Lee:Blackstar Projects is producer of the Blackstar Film Festival, an annual celebration of the visual and storytelling traditions of the African diaspora and Global Communities of Color, showcasing films by black, brown, and indigenous peoples from around the world. Please welcome, Mayuri Carmel Holmes. Welcome to the podcast.
Maori Holmes:Thank you so much for having me.
Rob Lee:Thank you for coming on. And I have been looking forward to this. Like I've been kind of poking around. You've probably seen some names that, you might recognize who I have you. Taib is one of them.
Rob Lee:And, I was like, finally, we're getting here. Something fighting the final boss is a version of that a little bit. So shout out to you. I'm really been looking forward to this. So I want to start off.
Rob Lee:I mentioned like filmmakers and and things of that nature. I want to start off with sort of the some people will call it the origin story. Some people call it like this is when I first became creative. Can you, like, share a bit about, like, what was it like like growing up and when did you first discover your, your passion for film? Was there any movies like early on or filmmakers early on that left the impact on you as a youth?
Maori Holmes:Yeah. I mean, I think my first, real interest in moving image came from music videos. I was just one of those kids, you know, obsessed with MTV and watching videos constantly, and really, really curious about how they were made. I used to watch the, like, behind the scenes when they did it for thriller and when they would, you know, when there'd be, like, a music video premiere, which is so hard to even imagine now. But, you know, in the nineties, that was a thing.
Maori Holmes:And I would love to watch the making of, and I I really was really interested in them. I don't didn't really get into film as a, like, art form itself until later in high school. My mom, was friends with some independent filmmakers, and so, you know, we would go to their films. I remember going to, like, the National Black Arts Festival and other summer festivals with my mother and seeing daughters of the dust and Sankofa and being exposed to all of that stuff in high school. And then, you know, also, I was in high school from 91 to 95.
Maori Holmes:So I think about the, like, era of Miramax and the Merchant Ivory films, and so many amazing, like, just that, like, beautiful time of the, like, indie with a budget kind of situation. And so, Shock A Lot, I think about, oh gosh. House of Spirits and like Water for Chocolate and just all of those kind of like period films. At that time were just really, really, interesting to me. I also really loved, Dangerous Liaisons.
Maori Holmes:But all of those those those big costume dramas were huge for me.
Rob Lee:I dig it. I I've, I've watched a few of those sort of little little further back, but, I I was asked by my partner to watch Amadeus because those are her types of movies. And she was like, did we weren't dating at the time, but she had mentioned she was like, you know, this is kind of you, right? Like personality wise and then having like a friend. And I was like, oh, this is just playing out at the day job.
Rob Lee:We were all at us like, wow. I was like, once you get past the ruffles, it's a lot here. And, and also, yeah, I like your point earlier about music videos. That's a that's a that's a big thing. I remember it was, you know, like just you're you're rushing home.
Rob Lee:I remember this is so ridiculous, but it relates to Baltimore because, you know, I was a high schooler when the song song came out and everyone rushed home to see, like, what is this that's gonna happen? Because it's, like, one of our guys here locally doing his own thing. You know, Cisco doing his own thing. It's like, what is this video? Is like primetime premiere, rush home, see that and even like making a video, the whole series and things of that nature.
Rob Lee:And, you know, one time I sat down with some friends and, you know, I was kind of talking through, like, how can we remake the video? You ever you ever had one of those videos? They're like, it's not what I thought this was gonna be.
Maori Holmes:Yeah. For sure. I do that often with my mom. We recast things, and we've been doing that my whole life. So I totally understand.
Rob Lee:So you you have a background in filmmaking as well. So let's let's let's talk about that a little bit. Like, how did that come about? And like, how do you approach story? I have some sub questions in there, but at least want to, you know, start off there, like, having that sort of interest and turning that that interest, to, like, application to, like, kind of diving in and making film.
Maori Holmes:Well, I I have an interest in a lot of things. Photography, my first love is dance. My co first love is, fashion and clothes. So I've been interested in those things as long as I can remember. And then I was involved in theater.
Maori Holmes:People were always telling my mom to put me and my brother in front of a camera because we were so dramatic. And, you know, we had some skill for it, so we were in theater companies and in plays. And, yeah, I I've been engaged in the arts in some form or fashion all the time. I have, like, a draw. So, you know, I was always engaged in visual arts.
Maori Holmes:And I also was really invested in, the humanities. I won't say like all of academics. Math was not exciting to me, but history and English were really exciting, especially history.
Rob Lee:And so, I also
Maori Holmes:really passionately, like, pursued my academics and was passionately, like, pursued my academics and was kinda confused about what to do as a career because I didn't know any artist who made money, and I was really interested in having money. Mostly out of, you know, wanting to be comfortable in a certain kind of way. And so, pretty early on, like, around, you know, 6th, 7th, 8th grade, I started kind of like being unclear about the future because on the one hand, I was really interested and had a, you know, orientation toward the arts, but then I also wanted to be comfortable. And so, that started a really long period of straddling between a professional life, I'll say for shorthand and an artistic one. Although, obviously, you can be a professional artist and there are professional jobs that are very creative.
Maori Holmes:But, you know, when you're a kid, you don't know those lines. And so I thought, oh, maybe I should try to be a lawyer. Maybe I should try to be a journalist at one point. That's actually what I ended up applying to go to undergrad for. But still wasn't it was always every, you know, time I'd sort of pursue something, I'd still be confused because I'd find myself pulled by all these things.
Maori Holmes:And then I made the mistake, well, not the mistake, but I had the good fortune actually to be introduced to the music industry, early on and started working in that which further confused things because obviously that is both creative and professional. And so all that to say my making of work, has always been sort of like sitting right next to me, but then also all these other things. And, I studied history in undergrad. I had a dance minor. Although I did participate in film.
Maori Holmes:Yeah. And then I decided to apply to film school for graduate school, for my first graduate degree. And, so I have made work and I thought that when I finished, I would my film went around to a bunch of festivals. I thought I would, you know, maybe have a career making film, but I finished graduate school in 2005. It's a completely different atmosphere 20 years later.
Maori Holmes:You know? And so I applied for a couple of grants. I didn't get them. And I had also had some not great experiences while in graduate school with faculty. There's one professor who I remember very clearly telling me like I didn't have any talent.
Maori Holmes:And so, you know, as a young person, you kind of like, well, the things that people are praising me for, which is like organizing shows and, you know, a lot of my contacts with music industry followed me to Philadelphia. And so I found myself, like, hanging around musicians and doing PR for them and, you know, organizing things. And so I continue to kind of move in that direction, and it turned into, a career in nonprofit arts administration. And but always still, like, wanting to do something in film. I probably should have left Philadelphia after graduate school to really work in film, but I ended up getting married and so I was still here.
Maori Holmes:And I was like, how am I going to do something in the field? And, after taking my first film to a bunch of festivals, I fell in love with festivals. I was like, these are such amazing places to meet people, to make connections, to see other work. And so I started a festival for women, in 2007 and did that for 2 years. And then when the market tanked, we kind of tanked the project with it.
Maori Holmes:It was really, really hard. Had no idea what I was doing. Anybody who starts a festival, just like anyone who starts a documentary, it's like it's better that you don't know what you're getting yourself into. And, yeah. So I mean, I I've been, you know, formally engaging with work since graduate school either making or curating or, you know, producing for other people.
Maori Holmes:I do costumes. So almost every year, I've been in some production, if not directing of my own. I'd sometimes direct music videos. I'll do costumes. I'll produce, I don't really write for other people, but I, yeah, those are those are the 3 spaces I find myself.
Rob Lee:I was gonna say it's more than that. You're doing everything. I'm I'm sitting here like, alright. I'm qualified. I'm unqualified.
Rob Lee:I am unqualified. So thank you. Thank you for that. Oh, no. No.
Rob Lee:No. No. No. It's it's it's great to hear hear that. I mean, you know, you you think back I I think back in in being younger and thinking about, like, what do I wanna do when I all of that different stuff.
Rob Lee:And I joke about it on occasion. The real story is I wanted to be a comic book artist. The sort of fake story is what I had interest in it. I wanna be a comic book artist and an astronaut because those things exist. And it didn't work out.
Rob Lee:And I went to a school here with my work, with my portfolio and all of that to see if I can get in. And they said, you're not talented. It's very childish. And, you know, at 13 or 12 or whatever I was and that in kind of being the only, like, arts oriented person in my family, I didn't have the sort of the how do you conceptualize this? How do you take this feedback and what do you do with it?
Maori Holmes:Yeah.
Rob Lee:And and I I I think it's one of those things where you get to a point, you know, like, what am I what am I good at? What am I gonna do? Especially when you want to do something that is creative, but also you need to make money. I mean, I relate and, you know, I had this job coming out of coming out of college. 1st job I had making the most money I've ever had.
Rob Lee:But I want to say within about a year and a half, I was burnt out. You ever hear someone being burnt out at 24? You know? And it was it was wild. So ultimately, I just was listening to a podcast one day and I was like, How did they do that?
Rob Lee:So did that curiosity, that music video level curiosity, how do they make this? And I'm just listening, and I was like, I know you're gonna slip up. I know you're gonna say that the gear is and so on. So going back to 2009, that was when I bought my first equipment at my first podcast, and I've been podcasting since. Mhmm.
Rob Lee:I was still having this sort of data day job thing, and I look at it as the day job is the funder for my fun art stuff.
Maori Holmes:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's how so many people exist, right?
Rob Lee:Yeah. Yeah. So let's let's talk about, let's talk about Black Star a little bit because, you know, we were you were kind of touching around some of the, you know, arts administrative being in that sort of lane. So let's let's talk about the you know, can you provide some, the can you provide an overview of the mission of Blackstar? How did it come about?
Rob Lee:And I think there's some significance around, like, the names. I definitely wanna get that as well.
Maori Holmes:Yeah. So I decided to go back to graduate school and pursue an MFA in costume design. I went to Cal Arts, so I left Philadelphia and moved to Southern California or back. I'm from there originally, but, moved away from the life that I had built and, started going back and then I decided to leave school after a year and, you know, sort of back to the finances. Needed a job.
Maori Holmes:I wasn't finding anything in LA immediately, and my former job in Philly offered me a raise, so I came back. And, I was determined if I was gonna be in Philadelphia again that I would need to make sure I was involved in the arts and definitely in filmmaking of some kind. Because I had, you know, done this big thing of going to graduate school and dropped out. And, one of the things I realized in graduate school was that I loved costume. I love clothes, like, very passionately.
Maori Holmes:I love design, but I didn't wanna be someone's costume costume designer. Like, it's so collaborative,
Rob Lee:but I
Maori Holmes:was like, I really wanna direct. Like, I I don't want to have some director telling me what they think about, you know, these costumes. So, you know, I was determined to make film, and I was determined to, keep myself engaged in filmmaking. And so I started having these brunches when I got back and would just invite filmmakers and friends who are in the, you know, in the world. And I also started curating a film series with a friend.
Maori Holmes:And we that friend decided to take we were doing the film series every month, and she said she was taking the summer off. And I, particularly at that time, I'm getting better the older I get. But a decade ago, I had no chill. And I was like, well, I don't know what that means. Like, I'm gonna keep working.
Maori Holmes:And so I was like, what can I do that's different from the series we're doing? And I started thinking doing, like, an arts festival writ large, like a bigger sort of thing. But I started with film because that is, you know, a place where I had some expertise. And so, it was gonna be a focus on Africa, and I started thinking about films that hadn't screened in our city in Philadelphia, and in any form, any repertory or other festivals. And very quickly, I had a list of, like, 30 films.
Maori Holmes:It was kind of ridiculous. Like, Harry Stance's film had not screened here, and, you know, I could go on and on the films that had not played from 2011 and 2012. And so, I stopped thinking about other disciplines, and I was like, actually, I think this is a film festival.
Rob Lee:Yeah.
Maori Holmes:Or at least this, you know, like this one time thing. It's gonna look like a film festival. And some of these branches, you know, I had been meeting with these folks. I had another meeting, and I brought some folks together. And I was like, hey.
Maori Holmes:Would you be down to help organize this? And, I was also doing, some freelance, like, book design and, working with my good friend, Yaba Blei, on her book, One Drop, around that same time. And I don't remember if it was in one of our meetings around the book or just as friends or what. But in trying to figure out the name for this event, she suggested Blackstar, as a nod to Yaba's, from her parents are from Ghana. So obviously, Blackstar is so huge to Ghanaian culture, but it's also huge to Pan African culture overall.
Maori Holmes:Right? Like, you think about Rastafarian, symbology and, symbolism and you think about, just who what Nkrumah means to, you know, many things. So just thinking about black people in the art of light, which is what cinema is, and also thinking about Afrofuturism, which at that time was, you know, becoming such a buzz worthy thing to kind of discuss. And then also this connection to Pan Africanism and the African diaspora. All of that at one time just it was like, oh, this would be a really great name.
Maori Holmes:And, you know, yeah, it was also Yaba's idea to make it one word. And so, yeah, that's how we got the name of it and the festival having it in August, making it, you know, part of the lineage of Black August. Yep. That's how we began.
Rob Lee:I'm sitting here just eating this up. You know? It's great. I love it. I love it.
Rob Lee:Yeah. Yeah. No. That's I mean, as a person that's tried and and and we we'll probably talk, off mic about it. But as a person that's tried to, like, say, hey.
Rob Lee:You know, we have this stuff that's been here. Why don't people know about it? And taking it upon myself to try to do a monthly series of, of film that is provocative. I was like, shot in Baltimore. They're like, are you trolling us?
Rob Lee:I was like, no. These movie movies were filmed here, and I'm being a provocateur because that's what I enjoy to do. But, also, most of you haven't seen these movies, and that's a reason, you know, that we should celebrate them. We should kinda, like, take a look at these again. So, yeah, definitely trying to, like, get that off the ground.
Rob Lee:And I could only imagine that an actual real festival not, hey, let's get together and do this, but a real festival that is, that's huge. And, it and it's great because I'm, definitely I have some movies that are are listed. I might be looking into some things in the future that I'm gonna review and, see if I can get in touch with some of the filmmakers. So trying to trying to do a few things. Nice.
Rob Lee:So could you could you share some of, like, you know, notable, like, moments during this? Because this is, what, 2012 is what I read. Know, everything kind of, like, started the the founding of Black Star started. So over the more than 10 years at this point. Right?
Rob Lee:What are some of, like, the notable, like, highlights that really, like, stick out, like, forefront? I mean, I would imagine, obviously, you know, each year has its own different, like, things that, like, this stuck out because of this or, well, that was the COVID year and we were able to flex in this way. So what sticks out during this journey?
Maori Holmes:Yeah. I mean, each year is a miracle and particularly those early years when it was such a side project. You know? I don't think people really realize how much blood, sweat, and tears went into putting this festival on. I mean, I had a day job all the time.
Maori Holmes:There were 2 years when I was freelancing, but that meant I was working more as all freelancers know. And, it was just like 85% of the labor was me giving up any vacation time, my evenings, my weekends to organize it, you know. And then all these other people giving up a lot of their summer to, you know, work on this festival. And so, it's it's hard to remember specific moments. I mean, I think the premiere of Terrence Nance's Random Acts of Flyness that first season doing that at the festival was really special.
Maori Holmes:I think, we had a conversation. We we used to do an award a luminary award at the festival each year. And, yeah. I think, 1 year we held sort of, an award ceremony at the Kimmel Center, and we had Doreen Missick and Simone Missick as the coast of the award ceremony, and Blitz, the ambassador, was our one the musical performer. And just thinking about, like, how long ago that was and then how big all of them are now, but that night was also just really, really special, because people, you know, hadn't connected that Blitz was, like, as amazing as a musician as he was a filmmaker.
Maori Holmes:You know? I think about, there's one screening. Oh my goodness. There's this one short screening. I wanna say it was 2016 that this happened.
Maori Holmes:And in the middle of the screening, the power went out. And it was just like and it went out after this filmmaker Ronnie Nicole had shot something in South Carolina, and there was like this kind of, you know, traditional movement, and these men did like this. And that's when the lights went out. And they went out for like 90 minutes. It was just like no one knew what to do, but the power had gone out on the whole block where we were.
Maori Holmes:So there was nothing anyone could do about it. And, everyone was just sort of like trying to figure out, you know, what to do with themselves. What we found out later, was that there had been this marker that went into the ground at that same time that was acknowledging the first African people to arrive on the shores of Philadelphia. Wow. And so it just was like in the moment and then even hearing that later, like, it made sense to every so many of us because it felt that that blackout felt spiritual, you know?
Maori Holmes:So that's a big moment to remember.
Rob Lee:Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. That's that's huge. We got it on there. We got on this podcast.
Rob Lee:It was great. So in terms of, like, you know, sort of like the impact or what have you like, what sorts of stories are being told? I'm reading, you know, black, brown, indigenous folks that I think a lot of times, maybe their work isn't short of getting in some of these other festivals that aren't as inclusive and aren't as, like, open in that way. So what what what are some of the the impact that, like like, comes to mind and sort of some of the reach? Like, how broad and how big is the festival, like, gotten over that that time?
Rob Lee:Like, where the submissions coming from, things of that nature?
Maori Holmes:Our submissions come from all over the world. They are, by and large, from the US and from the UK. Those are our biggest places, but they come from all over. I mean, I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I think this year we have, like, 27 countries represented, you know, almost every continent. So, I mean, it is very much like a, meant to be a global festival and we have that, that that is our intention.
Maori Holmes:And, the submissions grow each year, so I feel like the reach of the festival is growing. We became Oscar qualified in 2021 for shorts. In 2020, we were one of the few festivals that the Oscars used in lieu of a screening in person because there weren't any. And so we were one of 20 there were 23 festivals that, for feature docs could be, could qualify you, and we were one of them, which was amazing. We were really happy to be part of that story.
Maori Holmes:And so yeah. I mean, I think that people are acknowledging our, curatorial instincts, for the last several years. Whereas in the beginning, we were often, like, looking to Sundance and taking films from there. It has been clear for the last 4 or 5 years that Sundance looks to us and particularly with short Yeah. Festival are going to Sundance after, which is not always the case for an upstart festival, you know.
Maori Holmes:We still have a lot of ways to go. There are people in the industry who, particularly in the last couple of years, as documentary has gotten more commercial interest. If we're actually dealing with something right now, where a commercial distributor has their eyes on having something premiered at a different festival than ours, and it creates conflict. And so there are people who still don't really, like, give our festival the respect I think it deserves. But, you know, we also have, like, a really lovely, loyal, long term, you know, audience.
Maori Holmes:And that also continues to grow, which feels great and gets younger, which is a good thing because that means it's relevant, you know, to to people. So because old people, we get old, you know, and, like, I'm not going out. I'm tired. So it's, like, it's nice to see that, like, younger people find value in it as well. And that it's speaking to them, you know, the work that's being shown.
Maori Holmes:I mean, we have a real interest in social justice. We have a real interest in work that is pushing the, like, pushing genre and pushing the boundaries of what film can do. And so I think an artist like Noitomo Budomo or Jenin Curu, you know, these are or Daryl Oluke. Like, I think about these folks and, like, what they're attempting to do. We're really invested in that kind of making.
Maori Holmes:And so that's also where the festival sits, you know. It's not just about representation, although that is where it began. But we've really worked to move beyond that because particularly the last decade, honestly, the bigger festivals and the bigger corporations have been, trying to be more inclusive. You know? Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but they are working at it.
Maori Holmes:What they don't get is beyond just being inclusive. You know? It's also about how people tell stories, why they're telling stories, and thinking about how audiences get to them. Right? Like, we're not thinking about these transactions purely on a capital basis, even though obviously we need capital to make the work.
Maori Holmes:But we're really trying to think about it from like an esoteric and, you know, philosophical basis. Like, what is cinema to people?
Rob Lee:Yeah. That's that's that's great. I you know, in the last, like, maybe, maybe 2 years, there's probably like suggestions that I was given. I did an interview with James Spooner from Afro Point. I hadn't had a chance to see the doc.
Rob Lee:Right? And he was like, you should check it out. It was on YouTube. And I was like, okay, cool. I check it out.
Rob Lee:And I was like, I wanna do this. I wanna do my version of this, but for Baltimore, I don't wanna be in it. I'm just gonna ape the whole thing. And I I joked with him when I saw him at, the small press expo. So, yeah, man.
Rob Lee:So you're gonna do, Afro punk 20 years later? He's like, I'll have it. I'll have it, and I'm done. And even in even looking at Swarm, Terrence, I was just like, oh, oh. And, you know, I was referred to go over there by Taeve.
Rob Lee:He's like, you should go check this out. And I ended up enjoying and I was sitting there, you know, listening to I think it was what, ICA. I was sitting there, like, listening to the record plan. I was like, I'm getting a full experience. And I was like, Baltimore?
Rob Lee:Hold up. You know? And I'm doing the whole sort of thing, but these are outside of what I normally would go after. I'm a noob, but that looks at eighties movies like, oh, man. That's that's Robocop again.
Rob Lee:Yes. Let's watch this. But being able to dive into something that is is different and kinda turn on sort of the art switch and the creativity switch, it's like, how did they do that? Why did they choose to shoot it in that way? Look at the color here.
Rob Lee:I'm I'm able to look at it more critically, and I think broadening sort of who's making them who's making the films, how are they making them, and things of that nature. I think that's really important. And I think it leads to sort of that that aforementioned like younger generation seeing that one, my stories matter the way I'm putting out my stories, my criticism, I matter or what have you from this this sort of standpoint. Let's see. I'm just so I got, see, I got I got one more sort of, like, real question.
Rob Lee:Right. And, and then I got what what you you never get. No one ever gets them. None of the guests ever get these rapid fire questions, but you're gonna get the rapid fire questions because everybody gets to rapid fire questions. Rapid fire questions.
Rob Lee:Fun. So, what what would you say, you know, folks can look forward to to this year? What have you? Is there sort of, like, any, like, theme technically, any theme in terms of the stories that are being told that are coming out for for this festival? Obviously, very minimal detail.
Rob Lee:Anyone votes to check it out and everything. But, what can folks look forward to? And what are you looking forward to, I suppose?
Maori Holmes:Well, I mean, I am no longer involved in the all the details of the festival, to be quite honest, which is really lovely. In 2020, we launched Blackstar Projects as I saw in an article today about a canopy, under which the festival sits and many of our programs. So my interaction with the festival, I no longer program the films. I do have a hand in some of the panel development, but I'm spend a lot of my time raising money, and doing things, you know, like curating Swarm. So, I I am looking forward to seeing all the films, to be quite honest.
Maori Holmes:That is something that I'm excited about. But we have a number of world premieres and, you know, of course, like, really beautiful shorts programs and really, you know, interesting panel discussions. In the past couple of years, starting in COVID, we had started, a talk show which I hosted, but we decided to put the brakes on that this year just to be in solidarity with the rider strikes. So we're not having any writing done, but we are opening up a stage, where there'll be, like, excuse me, mini talks with directors, just, you know, to promote their films and for people to get extra time with them beyond the q and a. This year, actually, what's also exciting is the festival is in a brand new venue.
Maori Holmes:So we will be at the Kimmel Center, and we will, be on South Broad Street as opposed to University City where we were. So it's gonna be a completely different experience, physically. So I'm really looking forward to that, working with a new hotel partner, new party venues, etcetera. So all of that, will be really exciting. We've got some great films, in the festival.
Maori Holmes:We have a film called The Space Race, which is a feature documentary by Lisa Cortez. We have, some short docs, you know, short narrative films. Just really, you know, it's really hard, of course, to be like, oh, what are your favorites? Because I haven't seen them. So I can't say, for sure this year, but what I've read about, I'm really interested in.
Rob Lee:That's great. And I am as well. So that's sort of the the wrap on the real questions. And and thank you for indulging me now. All of the goodwill that I've established in the last 35, 40 minutes through the real questions, I want to pass all of that away now with, these rapid fire questions.
Rob Lee:Okay. So here here's the here's the first one. And, you know, don't overthink them because why would you overthink them? Here's the first one. What word do you believe to be the most powerful word in the English language?
Maori Holmes:What word is the most powerful word in the English language? Jeez.
Rob Lee:I know. It's it's it's one of those questions, isn't it?
Maori Holmes:I guess joy. Okay.
Rob Lee:See? I like that. See? Yeah. I got it.
Rob Lee:Do you have a favorite movie with the Philadelphia connection, whether it's film there, whether it features like a prominent Philadelphia in if it's supposed to be in Philadelphia, but you can obviously tell it was not shot in Philadelphia. So in a reason I asked that question, the the the movie the movie series that I did, it's called Shot in Baltimore because I think, like, not enough things were filmed there. And usually people will say, oh, this was in DC. It was, like, that is clearly East Baltimore. That is my house right there.
Maori Holmes:So I'm not from Philly, so I think sometimes the, like, Philadelphian kind of things like that sometimes escape me. But when you said it, the film that I thought about was Baby Mama. I think that's the one with Tina Fey.
Rob Lee:I know that one. Yeah. Yeah.
Maori Holmes:Yeah. But I'll I'll I'll say that one. That's the first one that came to mind.
Rob Lee:That works. What's a a current trend that you don't understand? Like, what it could be social media. It could be film related. It could be, like, anything that you're like, I am founded by
Maori Holmes:this. Super long eyelashes. I don't understand. I'm so confused.
Rob Lee:This is this is why we do the rapid fire questions because no one's gonna be like, so what what do you think about eyebrows? Here here the eyelashes. Here's the thing. Here's the thing about those. So so this is the actually, it's it's I'm gonna say the last one because you mentioned something early, and I'm gonna hold on to that one.
Rob Lee:If you could hang out with any fictional character, who would it be? Who would you choose?
Maori Holmes:Any fictional character? Probably Hello Kitty.
Rob Lee:That's great. Yeah. Okay. This is the last one. You you mentioned fashion is a is a love of yours.
Rob Lee:I gotta ask, what are what are the 3 words that you would use to describe your fashion sense? Like, what are those those words? Some people say bright, some people say bold. What are your three words to describe your fashion sense? So what you look for in good fashion, I suppose?
Maori Holmes:Oh, well, I think my own fashion sense and what I look for in good fashion are 2 different things. Okay. But I would say, I guess, what I look for, is a sense of whimsy. And, I'm also really interested in an appreciation for, like, fabric and, craft. And then also just like actual beauty.
Maori Holmes:I'm really interested in things being beautiful for beauty's sake. I'm I appreciate politics behind beauty. I appreciate anti beauty as a political statement, all of that. But sometimes, just like actual, like, sheer delight and beauty is, like, really, really important.
Rob Lee:That's a it's a good place where we're and I like that. I like that a lot, actually. So in these final moments, 1, I wanna thank you for for coming on and and and hanging out with me for for a little while here. And and 2, I wanna invite and encourage you to share with the listeners anything you wanna share on the final moments, website, social media, all that good stuff. The floor is yours.
Maori Holmes:Sure. Well, you can follow Blackstar, on well, I can't say all platforms anymore. But on the conventional platforms at Blackstar Fest, that is also our website, blackstarfest.org. So please, you know, follow what we're doing. Our journal scene has its own, Instagram handle and Twitter, which is, at scene underscore score journal.
Maori Holmes:And the podcast that I host, Many Lumens, has its own handles on both Instagram and Twitter at many lumens. So
Rob Lee:And there you have it, folks. I wanna again thank Maury Carmel Holmes from Blackstar for coming on to the podcast. And I'm Rob Lee saying that there's art, culture, and community. In and around your neck of the woods, you've just gotta look for it.
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