A GALAXY SITS IN THE CRACKS (2020, 18min)

Director | Editor

Afrofuturism has grown rapidly in popular culture, but the term has a rich history that extends beyond even the word’s coining in 1993. Its ideas have inspired philosophers and revolutionaries, mobilizing entire communities. At its core, Afrofuturism is an act on the part of Black artists, leaders, and communities to reclaim histories and create futures for themselves outside of current systems of oppression.

“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.

OFFICIAL SELECTION

MILWAUKEE FILM FESTIVAL 2020

INDIE MEMPHIS FILM FESTIVAL 2020

DENTON BLACK FILM FESTIVAL 2021

CHICAGO ONSCREEN 2021

DETROIT SHETOWN FILM FESTIVAL 2021

SF URBAN FILM FESTIVAL 2022

THE TEAM

Amber Love | Director & Editor

Matthew Shimmel | Sound Recordist

SUPPORTED BY

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency