Timely, considering our recent conversations/debates about black people and/in science fiction cinema.
Here’s a new look at film we’ve been following since 2009.
A work-in-progress at the time that’s still very much a work-in-progress, as the filmmaker heads into the final stretch.
First, for those who weren’t readers of this site before 2011, a recap…
It’s titled Invisible Universe: A History Of Blackness In Speculative Fiction, and it explores the relationship between African Diasporic images and popular fantasy, horror, science fiction literature and film, as well as the alternative perspectives produced by content creators of color.
The documentary features interviews with major writers, scholars, artists and filmmakers and explores comics, television, film and literature by deconstructing stereotyped images of black people in the genres, revealing how black creators have been consciously creating their own universe.
M. Asli Dukan is the writer, producer and director, a New York City resident, and graduate from The City University of New York with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Media and Communication Arts in 1999.
The project, which has been in production since 2003, and continues to be in need of funding to be completed. It’s a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.
Dukan has launched an Indiegogo campaign to help complete the project, with the goal being to raise $20,000 to begin the post-production process, with the objective of completing a rough cut of the feature length documentary by the end of May. This includes costs for: hiring an editor, necessary equipment, media and software for post-production, writing and recording narration with special guest narrator (tba), beginning research for archival material and acquiring legal services.
Watch the video pitch below, and then click HERE (or within the widget below) to contribute to the campaign, which has just 3 days left to reach its goal, having raised over 23% of the total thus far.
It’s a documentary that we should be very interested in seeing whenever it’s done, and if you agree, let’s help it get as close to its goal as possible, with only 3 days left in the campaign, and still so much to raise. It’s an Indiegogo campaign, so, unlike Kickstarter, the filmmaker does get to keep whatever is raised, no matter what.
