When planning a heist the foul-mouthed white mobsters in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs choose colours to conceal their real names. They all want to be a Mr Black. The scene is, I think, a brilliantly succinct comment on race and identity.

When I posed the question to a group of friends: 'Tell me the name of a film star you admire…” George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Joaquin Phoenix, Kate Winslet and Michael Fassbender were the responses. None of my group of cinema-savvy friends named a Black actor.

I have sat, laughed and digested cinema and more with these friends, and I know that if prompted they will recount scene after scene of black cinematic performances that have touched their lives and yet, in this spontaneous probing, none of this archive came to their minds.

Their response is a microcosm of a wider amnesia - black actors hold their own at the Box Office and increasingly on the small screen but, just as soon feted, they are quickly forgotten. I cannot speak for my friends - nor for a wider cinematic audience - some of whom will, quite rightly, not see themselves in the above scenario, but I hazard this amnesia is the result of the compartmentalisation of cinema and its canon.

European cinema, world cinema, Hollywood and black cinema. Such categorisations obscure the universal in the particular, confuse cinematic quality with box office efficacy, but more importantly it misses the simple truth that black and white cinema - like Black and White experience - are intimately intertwined.

We are intertwined from tragic colonial encounter, to protracted journey to undo that encounter, and to the hybrid culture that has forged along the way. We are as close as the earth and sky.

The why of our focus on Black Stars with this season is to bring this implicit truth into light and by doing so to celebrate in fullness, those stars, sometimes forgotten, we all hold dear.

Organised around various strands we will deliver a wide-ranging programme of screenings that honour black acting talent.

Success in other fields has often served as the entry point for black stars. Even at the height of societal racism, music - the most pervasive and generally most democratic art form - has been receptive to black artistry.

Music has afforded black performers a level of access and success at worst denied at best more difficult to attain in other art forms. Musicians featured in our season such as Tina Turner, Michael Jackson and Jimi Hendrix have broken through the narrow identifications with race. They have spoken of and for their time and pop stardom has allowed them to move between stage and screen.

Opening our Stars Become Stars strand is the thinly disguised Motown story Dreamgirls (Fri 21 Oct at 20:30) which introduced the world to the acting and singing prowess of Jennifer Hudson and further cemented the iconic status of a certain Beyoncé Knowles.

Staying with the diva theme the screening will continue in the Café/Bar with Soul Sister No.1, a celebration of female voices featuring a DJ set and performances by some of Bristol's finest starlets.

Like Ms Beyoncé Knowles Boyz N The Hood transformed perceptions of Ice Cube from gangster rapper to talented actor. Singleton's seminal urban drama also debuted Cuba Gooding Jnr, one of the most versatile actors of recent generations, who most recently featured in the Emmy Award-winning series The People v O.J. Simpson.

We have laughed, wept, and loved to the music of our black icons so it is no surprise that a risk averse film industry will nonetheless invest in the story of their lives. With this in mind we will be screening What's Love Got to Do with It (Fri 18 Nov at 23:00) featuring Angela Basset as R&B and rock legend Tina Turner.

The universality of human experience has long been accepted in literature. Rubber stamped by critical praise and supported by a voluminous fan base the book adaptation has been a sure bet for film backers. Beloved, The Help, Precious have extracted excellent performances from emergent and established black actors.

Based on a novel by Alice Walker The Color Purple (Sun 20 Nov at 12:00) is our reflection on the book adaptation. Comic actress Whoopi Goldberg forgoes laughter in her embodiment of abused share croppers wife Celia. Her story transcends her specific cultural context: it is the voice of dispossessed women across the globe.

Unlike real cosmic giants, the on screen life of a film star can be brutally short. A celebration of acting greatness can become lost to a generation. The skill of chameleon-like transformation may steal a show and win awards, but can also obscure awareness of an actors oeuvre. Youth obsessed, the industry finds little room for mature female actors. Black stars are even more at risk of the challenges that face an actor's career.

Our Stars Under the Radar strand will hopefully bring some of the most outstanding performances by black actors back into popular consideration.

In The Heat of the Night and To Sir With Love (Sun 13 Nov at 15:00) is a timely reminder of Sidney Poitier’s role in dramatising racial tensions during the 1960s. Dance lovers will be enthralled by our tribute to The Nicolas Brothers. We revisit underestimated Blaxploitation Queen Pam's Grier in Tarantino's Jackie Brown and Charlie Parker biopic Bird (Fri 28 Nov at 23:00) is one of two opportunities to enjoy the brilliance of actor/director Forrest Whitaker. Emphasising his versatility, Whitaker also features in our late night screenings as a warrior assassin in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (Sun 13 Nov at 12:00).

We will be hosting a celebration of black comedy on film at Trinity Centre (details to be announced soon) and comedy is a fitting point on which to draw my brief reflection on Black Star to a close.

Comedy is a visceral reaction: a belly laugh is an unforced immediate response. We hope that Black Star will similarly entertain in a way that is unforced. It is through your pleasure that we make the case for diversifying cinema. But we want you to go beyond diversity, beyond online picket lines - 'Why are the #OscarsSoWhite?'

Put aside your fears of cultural appropriation, immerse yourself in the season. It is time to embrace your inner Black star.