Here’s an update on a feature project we first alerted you to in late 2012, when it successfully completed a Kickstarter campaign, raising over $10,000 for production.

Since then, the filmmakers have been hard at work, traveling the world, and shooting footage for the documentary – one that, as I said in 2012, was definitely worth contributing your dollars to, especially as we frequently lament the lack of diverse media representations of real-life black adult male figures in *favorable* positions that young black boys especially can emulate.

A promo reel of footage that has been shot so far was brought to my attention over the weekend, as well as several on-set still photos – all embedded within this post.

And also, as of today, production is complete, after the filmmakers and their subjects traveled to Tokyo, Japan; Cairns, Australia; Tucson AZ; and Melbourne, FL, and the film is now in post-production; although a “rough cut” has since been done. However, it’s called a “rough cut” for a reason. There is still more to do before it’s ready for public eyes, and your continued help is always appreciated, so you’re encouraged to donate HERE to their cause.

Recapping… 

Titled Black Sun, the feature-length documentary is describes the project as follows:

The movie follows two astrophysicists who study the solar atmosphere during eclipses: Dr. Alphonse Sterling of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center stationed in Japan (a man who had early success in the US, but left his home country to further cultivate his wide-ranging interests); Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi of the Physics & Space Sciences department at the Florida Institute of Technology (a scientist who beat all of the odds: poverty, homelessness, single-parent, poor early education, etc., to get to where he is today). “Black Sun” explores how and why the two men became scientists, their opposing paths and personalities, their struggles as minorities in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) field, and their noteworthy accomplishments today. We begin in Tokyo following Dr. Sterling as he observes the annular eclipse in preparation for when he travels to Cairns, Australia, to observe the total solar eclipse in November.

The rest of the story can be found HERE.

The filmmakers – Jarita C Holbrook, Kelvin Z. Phillips, Carla L. Jackson – have been diligent about keeping their donors updated on their progress, and it was one of those donors who alerted me to the project’s progress since my last post on it. Hence this follow-up.

I’d expect that the film will be finished some time this year, and will make its debut on the film festival circuit during the latter half of the year, or in early 2015.

A website has been set up for the project, so you can keep up to date by visiting it at: www.BlackSunMovie.com; on *like* their Facebook page HERE.

An 8-minute preview of the film, which captures the annular eclipse in Tokyo, as well as one of the film’s stars, NASA scientist Dr. Alphonse Sterling, at work, is embedded below; and underneath, you’ll find several photos:

Black Sun Demo Reel — Japan from FilmKZP Productions on Vimeo.