Astronaut Starbright Documentary

The Story of a young STEM Advocate

Directed by Lana Taylor

All American High School Film Festival

WINNER: Female Rising Star

Official Selection and Award Winner

List of Winners

Austin Film Festival

Official Young Filmmaker Showcase Selection

…and Cinema Ed/HBO Panelists!!

Get Panelist Info

Featured on Assembly by the Malala Fund

A thoughtful piece written by Bianca He.

Click Here to Read it on Assembly Now!

Watch the Film

Awards

Film Synopsis

Taylor Richardson (Astronaut Starbright), is a young girl of color who aspires to be an astronaut when she grows up. She advocates for girls of color interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) by bringing as much black girl representation to them as possible (whether that be through herself, in movies, or in books).

About the Director

Lana Taylor is a fifteen-year-old filmmaker studying Cinematic Arts at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville, Florida. She is a director, cinematographer, editor, screenwriter and playwright. Lana was born in Decatur, Georgia where it became clear to family and friends early on that she had a distinct talent for storytelling and creating things. Upon moving to Florida, she made her way into the local magnet school program for the arts …first attending LaVilla (Middle) School of the Arts as a part of the drama department and now Douglas Anderson (High). Along with filmmaking, Lana enjoys writing and directing stage plays and choreographing dance routines. She is a reader of books and an avid playwright. She first wrote Spoiled Milk and Burnt Cookies, a Christmas play, by hand with copious notes and extreme details. Complete with drawings of costumes and the set design. The play ran last holiday season in Jacksonville under her direction. Lana enjoys writing on a regular basis. She is readily exploring different genres of cinema, enjoying the process of learning how to create different types of films. She is focused on studying and is not set on sticking to one genre.

How & Where the Film was Screened

WonderCon

Super excited that the film was screened at WonderCon (a part of Comic-Con) in Anaheim! The film will was shown Saturday March 30, 2019 in the block scheduled 3:30-5:00pm thanks to the Los Angeles Children’s Film Festival!!!! SO COOL! 

Click Here for Details...

Pan African Film & Arts Festival

Screening Times:

Tue, Feb12, 2019 @ 06:05pm

Thu, Feb14, 2019 @ 01:25pm

Fri, Feb15, 2019 @ 03:40pm

Locations:

CINEMARK 15 BHC

4020 Marlton Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90008

BALDWIN HILLS CRENSHAW PLAZA

3650 Martin Luther King, Jr Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90008

For More info…

Click Here for Showtime Info!

Providence Children's Film Festival

Proud to say that the film was shown in the Youth Filmmaker Showcase at the 10th Annual Providence Children’s Film Festival in… Rhode Island! This is a fantastic festival that features films from veteran and new up-and-coming filmmakers. If you’re in the area this is a wonderful festival to attend (and has tons of local support from business partners).

SHOWTIME:

Sunday, February 24, 2019, 3:00 pm

LOCATION

RISD Auditorium, RISD

The festival ran Feb 15-28, 2019 at various locations in/around downtown Providence, RI. Check out their site for what they currently have showing.

Click Here for more Details

Oregon Documentary Film Festival

Screening Time:

Session 1: Saturday March 23, 2019 | 11:00am – 3:00pm

The fourth annual Oregon Documentary Film Festival screened 90+ films, Tickets were on sale for $14 each (click the link below to go to their event page). Location: 5th Avenue Cinema on the campus of Portland State University. Watch films from 16 different countries (including ours)!!

Woot!

Queens World Film Festival

The Queens World Film Festival featured 11 days of the most exciting Indie films on the festival circuit! So excited to have been a part of this festival! Great group of people. 

Showtime:

3:00 PM on Sunday March 31, 2019

Location:

Museum of the Moving Image (in the Bartos Room)
Address: 36-01 35 Avenue, Astoria, NY 11106

 

Click Here for Details!

Charlotte Black Film Festival

The film will played in Charlotte, NC at this festival!

This was an amazing event, so proud to be a part of it.

Check this event out!

LA International Children's Film Festival

This is a wonderful festival for children in the Los Angeles area, held in December (right around Christmas and New Years!). So proud to have had the film as a selection for 2018.

The film is played FREE TO THE PUBLIC between 12:30pm-2:30pm on Saturday, Dec. 29th 2018, in the Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium @ Santa Monica Public Library. 

Get Event Info

Art Walk Jacksonville

Our film was screened as a part of the November 2018 Art Walk celebration in Jacksonville, Florida on November 7, 2018 at 5:30pm and 6:00pm in the Multipurpose Room at the Jacksonville Main Library (downtown). The event is the first Wednesday of every month in our hometown. So proud to be a part of their amazing event! Check it out!
Event Info

Austin Film Festival

Our film was screened on October 27, 2018 at the Galaxy Highland Theater (Screen 9, 11:00am – 12:30pm ) as a part of the Young Filmmakers Showcase at the Austin Film Festival. We were also on a panel titled “The Path to Inclusivity: Empowering Young Filmmakers” with Richard Bell (Cinema Ed), Hope Farley (Adolescent Content), and Raamla Mohamed (Scandal, HBO) later that day (4:30pm – 5:45pm) in the Assembly Room at the Intercontinental Stephen F. Austin in Austin, TX.
Panel Info

National Film Festival for Talented Youth

This is an amazing festival in Seattle that features films from young filmmakers, so proud to have been selected! The film was in the Lighten Up section on Sunday Oct 28, 2018 at 10:30am in Uptown Cinema 2.

Check it Out

All American High School Film Festival

We saw our film for the first time on the big screen at AMC Times Square on Oct. 6, 2018 as a part of the All American High School Film Festival. Lana won the award for “Female Rising Star” at the Teen Indie Awards ceremony at the Kings Theater in Brooklyn… woot woot!

2018 Winners

JUST KIDDING... this film has run it's course (2018-2019)!

But, stay tuned… for new stuff from both girls, they’re both off to do great things.

Thank you for looking into the film.

Visit Lana's site