Afrofuturism means many things to many people. At its heart is storytelling, often with a throughline of ancestral knowledge transporting us to new, self-determined futures. In recent years, Afrofuturism has transcended fiction and fantasy entertainment. As technology becomes inextricably entangled with human existence, more people are looking to Afrofuturism as a guide to building real-life pathways to better tomorrows. In this film and panel discussion program, we will explore the ways Afrofuturism can be instrumental in shaping the futures of Black communities, with a particular focus on San Francisco’s legendary Fillmore and Western Addition communities. Our film program balances both narrative and documentary storytelling examining the evolution of cities. In our panel discussion, we’ll examine urgent issues confronting Black communities in the 21st century, including gentrification/displacement, homelessness and environmental racism and explore practical ways that Afrofuturist thought can empower Black communities for the benefit of Black people, who remain disproportionately disenfranchised. We’ll also discuss the pivotal role of artists in bridging the gap between Afrofuturism as entertainment and Afrofuturism as a practice and way of life.
Photo: Black Space, “Afatasi the Artist”, 2020
Panelists
Celia C. Peters (Moderator)
Filmmaker, Curator, Educator
Afatasi the Artist
Creative + Director of Black Space
Derick Brown
Sr. Director, USF’s Leo T. McCarthy Center
Niema Jordan
Journalist and Filmmaker
Films
Black Space
USA | 2020 | 3 mins. | Directed by Afatasi The Artist
In BLACK SPACE, Afatasi The Artist hones her fine art skills, her love of Afrofuturism, to dispel the progressive myth of her hometown of San Francisco, while honoring and highlighting spaces historically held by Black people within the city. Beautifully photographed in San Francisco’s historic Fillmore and Bayview-Hunter’s Point districts, by film maker/cinematographer/photographer extraordinaire, Jean Melesaine, SPACE in this work has many meanings. Afatasi sews traces of the of the city’s black experience together; BLACK SPACE is vital for the future of San Francisco.
Afro Punk Girl
United Kingdom | 2016 | 15 mins. | Directed by Annetta Laufer
AFRO PUNK GIRL is a dystopian sci-fi drama set in a near future Britain, where Christmases are hot, nights are filled with violent muggings and the militia government enforces the “Happiness Agenda” upon it’s hungry citizens. Lil, an afro punk rocker is on her way north to the ‘New World’ in search of food and her lost family. She meets Mr Dandy, an alcoholic rebel with an electronic voice box, who offers access to food in exchange for a lift on her rickshaw.
A Galaxy Sits in The Cracks
USA | 2020 | 18 mins. | Directed by Amber Love
“A Galaxy Sits in the Cracks” is a short experimental documentary engaging with the ways Black communities in Chicago, Detroit, and Durham use Afrofuturism as a tool to inspire young people, organize politically and economically, and reimagine the spaces around them. In a set of short movements ranging from interviews to verité-driven scenes, we spend time in an Afrofuturist youth center in Durham, NC, reimagine a historic university on Chicago’s south side, deconstruct race as a technology at a Wakanda-inspired Afrofuturism convention, and think about Afrofuturism’s political and technological implications for the future of Detroit.
Pumzi
Kenya | 2010 | 22 mins. | Directed by Wanuri Kahiu
Set in a post-apocalyptic world in which water scarcity has extinguished life above ground, the short follows one scientist’s quest to investigate the possibility of germinating seeds beyond the confines of her repressive subterranean Nairobi community.
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