Blackstar Sanctuary
Virtual Reality (VR) Headset Experience
Blackstar Sanctuary is a VR film experience that immerses viewers in queer African spiritual and cosmological traditions. Upon donning a VR headset, users are transported to ancient Egypt, where they are welcomed by the Rainbow Serpent, a mythical figure who serves as a guide. Following the Serpent’s path, users explore a vast temple complex adorned with towering sculptures of 16 queer African deities, each embodying a unique facet of divinity, and visit the tomb of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, the earliest recorded same-sex couple in human history, dating back to 2500 BCE. As users navigate the temple’s sacred spaces, they undergo a ritual of transformation and rebirth, watched over by deities and ancestors. Blending VR with queer history and spirituality, Blackstar Sanctuary reclaims and reanimates a long-suppressed lineage of queer African divinity and offers a powerful challenge to heteronormative interpretations of the past.
Development of Blackstar Sanctuary began in 2021 with the creation of glass sculptures depicting queer African deities, formed using life-cast molds of 16 Black queer models. Each sculpture was converted into a 3D model through photogrammetry and integrated into a virtual ancient Egyptian temple built in Unreal Engine 5. This project leverages VR storytelling to revive endangered pre-colonial knowledge systems and establish culturally affirming spaces for Black queer communities.
Blackstar Sanctuary is also both a film and immersive installation experience.
Creative Director: Marques Redd
Art Director: Mikael Owunna
3D Artist: Devin Smith
Sound Design: Cristii & Jabez Walsh
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Screenings
April 2025 Penn State (State College, PA, USA)
April 2025 Penn State (State College, PA, USA)
April 2025 Penn State (State College, PA, USA)
June 2025 Festival of International Virtual and Augmented Reality Stories (FIVARS) (Toronto, Canada)
June 2025 Festival of International Virtual and Augmented Reality Stories (FIVARS) (Toronto, Canada)
July 2025 Festival ECRÃ (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
July 2025 Festival ECRÃ (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
July 2025 Festival ECRÃ (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
July 2025 Festival ECRÃ (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
July 2025 Festival ECRÃ (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
2025
Glendale, CA, USA: Sherman Oaks Film Festival, LOOK Cinemas Glendale, December 4 - 7, 2025 (Nominee: Best Immersive Short AR/VR/MR/360)
São Paulo, Brazil: MixBrazil Festival, CineSesc, November 12-23, 2025
Mexico City, Mexico: International Film Festival with Alternative Media (FICMA), Cineteca Nacional de México, November 12-22, 2025
York, United Kingdom: Aesthetica Short Film Festival, November 5-9, 2025 (in-person), November 5-30, 2025 (virtually)
Zurich, Switzerland: DA Z DIGITAL ARTS ZURICH, Kunsthaus Zürich, November 7, 2025 (DA Z Award: Honorable Mention)
Cine, Colombia: Cali International Film Festival, Cinemateca del Museo La Tertulia, October 21-26, 2025
Bogotá, Colombia: #NarrarElFuturo: Festival de Cine & Nuevos Medios, Cinemateca de Bogotá, September 16-21, 2025
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Festival ECRÃ de Cinema e Arte Experimental, Centro Cultural Justiça Federal, July 3, 2025
Toronto, Canada: FIVARS (Festival of International Virtual and Augmented Reality Stories), OCAD University, June 25-26, 2025 (in-person), June 29 – July 19 (metaverse)
Seattle, WA, USA: Seattle Black Nerd Festival, May 24, 2025
State College, PA, USA: Penn State Conference "Meeting the Moment: Art and the Aesthetics of Innovation," April 14, 2025
Blackstar Sanctuary was made possible with support of The Frank Ratchye Studio for Creative Inquiry, the Carnegie Mellon University Extended Reality Technology Center, and the Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh Grants Program, a partnership of The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments.