AfroFuturism

AfroFuturism

The great musician/prophet/teacher Sun Ra taught us "there are many worlds." What at first seems obvious gives way to infinite depths of express and spiritual excursion.

Afrofuturism is a literary and cultural aesthetic that combines elements of science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, Afrocentricity, and magic realism with non-Western cosmologies in order to critique not only the present-day dilemmas of people of color, but also to revise, interrogate, and re-examine the historical events of the past. First coined by Mark Dery in 1993, and explored in the late 1990s through conversations led by scholar Alondra Nelson.

Afrofuturism addresses themes and concerns of the African Diaspora through a technoculture and science fiction lens, encompassing a range of media and artists with a shared interest in envisioning black futures that stem from Afrodiasporic experiences

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AfroFuturism
  • Top of the Heap

    “a genre-twisting tale that couches psychological and political furies in spectacularly bold imaginative flourishes”
    —The New Yorker

    Written, directed by, and starring Shaft actor Christopher St. John, Top of the Heap is a majestic melding of genre thrills, sociological rage, and psychedelic exp...

  • Hasaki Ya Suda (2015) by Cédric Ido

    The year 2100. The global warming has caused massive droughts that have led to conflicts and famines. The first victims of the global warming are the Southern populations, forced to leave their lands to immigrate to the North. A massive exodus that makes chaos out of the known world order. Now, t...

  • First Spaceship On Venus (1960)

    In 1960, the Kenyan medical student Julius Ongewe was asked to take a role in the East German film, “First Spaceship on Venus”. As part of a popular and successful movie, Julius was asked if he would like to continue acting. He refused, saying he would serve his country better as a physician, sin...

  • Assignment-Outer-Space

    “Assignment: Outer Space (Space Men)” is an Italian film production direct by Antonio Margheriti and acquired for US distribution by Samuel Z Arkoff.

    One of the stars of the film was dancer Archie Savage (1914-2003), who played the role of Space Engineer "AL." A role oddly similar to Idris Elb...

  • Sur un Air de Charleston [Charleston Parade] (1927)

    Charleston Parade (1927)
    Sur un air de Charleston (original title)
    17min | Short, Sci-Fi | 19 March 1927 (France)

    Shot in three days a surrealist Jean Renoir, this surreal, erotic silent short shows a native white girl teaching a futuristic African airman the Charleston dance.

  • Sun-Ra-Space-Is-the-Place-1974

  • BASEMENT JAXX - Rock This Road-HD

    Dynamic UK dance duo Basement Jaxx colourful video for their single "Rock This Road." The track comes from their Junto CD and features vocals from London-based indie-reggae singer Shakka.

    In the video, Lord Marqod (the interstellar god of dance, obviously) "approaches a lonely planet to har...