Event

FESTIVUS FILM FEST: P-Star Rising w/ music video Memory Lane

A talented young hip-hop performer becomes the vehicle for her father's unfulfilled ambitions in the feature documentary P-STAR RISING. At the dawn of hip-hop's breakthrough into the mainstream in the early 1980s, Jesse Diaz was poised for fame, success, and wealth - but a prison sentence soon quashed his dreams. Though Jesse manages to reclaim his life and regain custody of his two young daughters, lost to the foster care system while he was incarcerated and after their mother succumbed to drug addiction, he struggles to support his family as a single dad. Broke, unemployed, and living in temporary housing, he pins his hopes for the family's fortunes on his youngest daughter, Priscilla AKA P-Star. Recognizing Priscilla's natural musical talent and precocious personality, Jesse sets out to realize his deferred dreams of hip-hop stardom by making the nine year old the next rap phenomenon - "the youngest girl on the scene."

Filmed over four years, P-STAR RISING follows Jesse and his daughters as they navigate the peaks and pitfalls of both the music business and family relationships. As P-Star starts to break through professionally, Jesse struggles to balance his responsibilities as a father to Priscilla and her older sister Solsky with his music industry aspirations. Solsky, increasingly sidelined in the family by Priscillas career, does poorly in school and turns to the church for support. As Priscilla matures, she comes increasingly into conflict with Jesse, and risks losing her childhood to satisfy his demands. From performances on the street corner to appearances on national television, from signing record deals to dealing with feelings of abandonment by Priscilla's crack-addicted mother, Gabriel Noble's chronicle of the Diaz family offers a personal, intimate look at ambition, talent, and the sacrifices family members make for one another.