Black Star Programme

Established soulstress Beyoncé and Oscar®-winning newcomer Jennifer Hudson fight it out for lead vocals in this all-star diva-thon based on the award-winning Broadway musical of the same name. Followed by live music from some of Bristol's most talented R&B singers.

Café & Bar, Watershed

To celebrate the start of Black Star let's get in the Motown mood with this special Dreamgirls after party featuring some fierce female voices from Bristol.

Do you want to see more stories on the big screen about the reality of being young and black? Join us for a celebration of emerging black British talent at this showcase of shorts, panel discussion and networking event.

We invite all the family to ease on down the yellow brick road with this special screening of The Wiz, the beloved Motown musical version (starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson) of Dorothy's journey to the wonderful world of Oz. Followed by a free disco!

Forest Whitaker gives a tour de force performance as jazz visionary Charlie "Bird" Parker, bringing out all the triumphs and tragic dimensions of the saxophonist's life to the screen from the agony of addiction to the ecstacy of music-driven redemption.

Bruce Goldstein presents a unique compilation tribute to the Nicholas Brothers, featuring a collage of rarely seen home movies, photographs and film clips.

Remarkably, John Singleton was only 23 years old when he wrote and directed what is now recognised as a seminal title, a brutally candid portrait of the realities of LA street life starring Cuba Gooding Jr and Ice Cube.

The streets in 1980s Compton were some of the most dangerous in America. When five young men (including Dr. Dre, Easy E and Ice Cube) translated their experiences into rebellious rhymes, they put their anger into the most powerful weapon they had: their music.

Blaxploitation Queen Pam Grier stars as an air hostess who hatches a plan to outwit both the police and her criminal cohorts in Quentin Tarantino's postmodern classic.

A complete joy from start to finish Stormy Weather brilliantly showcases the dazzling, show-stopping numbers of the black, self-taught entertainers, the fabulous Nicholas Brothers.

Jim Jarmusch's surreal and stylish hitman tale stars the imposing Forest Whitaker as Ghost Dog, a self-taught pigeon-loving samurai hitman who lives by a strict code of honour inspired by ancient Japanese traditions, but finds himself marked for death by the mafia.

Join Norman Jay MBE for this special screening of the Sidney Poitier classic, where his novice teacher faces a class of unruly white working class kids who test him to his limits.

Colston Hall

Join us for a Colston Hall tribute to the ultimate sexy MF take over, a purple people party with pre-film delights, a screening of 1984 classic Purple Rain, and an after party with a DJ set from the legendary Norman Jay MBE.

A redneck sheriff (Rod Steiger) and a black Philadelphia homicide detective (Sidney Poitier) reluctantly team up on a small-town murder investigation in Norman Jewison's Oscar®-winning crime drama.

Tina Turner's story is like the song: river deep, mountain high - a tale of ambition, talent, desire; drugs, violence and despair. This unflinching biopic lets you experience the highs and lows of her life, from church choir girl to her meteoric rise to stardom and turbulent marriage to Ike.

Adapted from Alice Walker's celebrated and hard-hitting Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Steven Spielberg's impressive, dignified film was monumental for black stardom, launching the careers of Whoopi Goldberg and a pre-TV-fame Oprah Winfrey.

An absorbing, provocative and wholly original portrait of Jimi Hendrix as fledgling legend, John Ridley's (screenwriter of 12 Years A Slave) directorial debut features Outkast's André Benjamin as the supremely gifted young guitarist in the throes of self discovery.

Richard Pryor is a revelation in a rare dramatic performance as a rabble-rousing union man in Paul Schrader's sharp, insightful look at class, race and male camaraderie in 1970s Detroit.

Café & Bar, Watershed

The Link, Rife Magazine's free networking event for young creative people aged between 16 and 24, is back. And this time, we’re celebrating the BFI Black Star season.

Screenwriter Noel Clarke's sequel to his hit Kidulthood is set six years after that first slice of West London teen turbulence and sees his character Sam attempt to return to normality after serving time for murder.

Trinity Centre

An evening celebrating Black comedy at The Trinity Centre featuring Coming to America, Eddie Murphy's shining moment, and I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, the directorial debut by trailblazer Keenen Ivory Wayans featuring a young Chris Rock.