Documentary featuring Japanese Artist and Environmental Activist Mago Nagasaka features Mago Nagasaka
Still A Black Star is Directed by Emmy Award-Winner Kern Konwiser on North America VOD Platforms and DVD on November 7
Los Angeles, CA (Oct. 23, 2023). Freestyle Digital Media, the digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, has acquired North American VOD rights to the documentary Still A Black Star – written and directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Kern Konwiser and starring Japanese artist and environmental activist Mago Nagasaka.
The crowd-funded feature documentary has won the Audience Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival and earned Impact DOC Awards in four different categories (Documentary Feature, Social Change, Asian Film, and Nature/Environment/Wildlife). Still A Black Star will premiere theatrically at Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles on October 16th followed by the release on DVD and U.S. VOD platforms on November 7th.
Still A Black Star captures the rise of one of Japan’s most celebrated artists who aims to change the world by starting in its most forgotten corner. The film follows Mago as he traces the flow of waste & recycling from the world’s wealthiest nations to its final destination, a fiery e-waste graveyard in Ghana, Africa where electronics are burned to recover the precious metals they contain while poisoning the people and devastating the land. Embedding in the settlement known as Agbogbloshie, Mago pursues an audacious dream—to open an art museum in the midst of this notorious slum, which is one of the most toxic places on earth.
Watch The Official Trailer for Still A Black Star
In collaboration with the local residents, Mago creates art out of the world’s discarded devices, turning trash into paintings, murals and sculptures. When the art pieces are sold, the money is used for education and sustainable development in Ghana. Through these activities, Mago has started a free school, a plastics recycling center, and a series of innovative sustainability art projects in Ghana. Mago’s mission is to raise an awareness of global overconsumption through the art.
Still A Black Star was written, produced and directed by Kern Konwiser, and stars Mago Nagasaka. Executive Producers include Kern’s Emmy winning producing partner and brother, Kip Konwiser, alongside Nick Koskoff, Emma Tillinger Koskoff of First Love Films, Mago Nagasaka, Scott Feinstein of 42West and Glenn Rigberg of Inphenate.
“My art expresses a human society wholly out of balance,” said Mago Nagasaka. “My goal is quite simple: to transform this graveyard of dead electronics into a global movement for sustainable living that can help us save the planet from ourselves,” Mago Nagasaka stated.
“We tend not to think about what happens to our old devices and products when we replace them with new ones,” stated director Kern Konwiser. “Still A Black Star reminds us that we all share the same planet and nothing we toss out truly goes away.”
Freestyle Digital Media negotiated the deal to acquire Still A Black Star directly with Executive Producers Scott Feinstein and Glenn Rigberg on behalf of the filmmakers.
About Freestyle Digital Media
The digital distribution unit of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, Freestyle Digital Media, is a premiere multi-platform distributor with direct partnerships across all major cable, digital and streaming platforms. Capitalizing on a robust infrastructure, proven track record and a veteran sales team, Freestyle Digital Media is a true home for independent films.
Recent releases include DEAR ZOE starring Sadie Sink from the hit Netflix series STRANGER THINGS, Jessica Capshaw and Theo Rossi, BEST SUMMER EVER the teen musical featuring a fully integrated cast and crew of people with and without disabilities, produced by Jamie Lee Curtis, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson, THE WEDDING YEAR starring Sarah Hyland and Anna Camp, THE LAST PHOTOGRAPH starring Danny Houston, BERSERK starring Nick Cannon, UNTOGETHER starring Jamie Doran, Jemima Kirke, Ben Mendelsohn, Alice Eve and Billy Crystal.
Other Freestyle titles include the action-comedy BETTER START RUNNING starring Academy Award-winner Jeremy Irons and Maria Bello, THE BACHELORS starring Academy Award-winner J.K. Simmons, Julie Delpy and Odeya Rush, the award-winning documentary HONDROS produced by Jamie Lee Curtis and Jake Gyllenhaal, horror documentary DEMON HOUSE starring Zak Bagans, host of Travel Channel’s highest rated show Ghost Adventures, sci-fi thriller THE RECALL starring Wesley Snipes, MILES starring Molly Shannon and Paul Reiser
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