The trip to Mars can only be understood through Black Americans." Legendary poet Nikki Giovanni's revelation is a launching pad to an inspiring exploration of her life and legacy. Through a collision of memories, moments in American history, live readings of her poetry, and impressions of space, Giovanni urges us to imagine a future where Black women lead, and equity is a reality.

Directors Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson (American Promise, The Changing Same) craft a vision fit for the radical imagination of Nikki Giovanni. Present-day Giovanni reckons with the inevitable passing of time, while an evocative melding of vérité and archival images act as openings into her mindscape, transcending time and place. Brewster and Stephenson's approach is imaginative and dreamlike, akin to the way Giovanni's words are hair-raising in their power to summon unrealized ways of seeing. The Afro-futuristic lens honors Giovanni's complexity and transports us on a journey through Black liberation from the perspective of one of America's most acclaimed and beloved writers, a profound artist and activist. Next stop, Mars.

09/21 -- Port Townsend Film Festival, Washington
0921 -- Trinidad and Tobago International Film Festival
09/30 -- New York Film Festival
10/06 -- Dokuarts Film Festival, Berlin
10/07 -- Dokuarts Film Festival, Alterity Panel, Berlin
10/00 -- Cultures and Community, Milwaukee, WI
10/11 & 15 -- BFI London Film Festival - Nikki Giovanni attending
10/12 -- Seattle Queer FF
10/09 & 12 -- Doctober, Bellingham, WA
10/14 -- Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Arkansas
10/15 -- BFI London Film Festival - Curzon Soho
10/21 -- New Fest, New York
10/21 -- Cine Martinique - Port de France
10/19 -- Morelia Internation Film Festival, Mexico
10/19 -- Out Shine Film Festival, Fort Lauderdale
10/23 -- IDA FALL DOCS, Los Angeles