The values, passions and beliefs of poet Nikki Giovanni are celebrated and examined to great effect in Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson’s strikingly immersive documentary which astutely focusses on her opinions and her work rather than taking the more customary chronological route through her life story.
The film highlights both Giovanni’s openness as well as her reluctance to dwell on certain aspects of her past, all the time circling back to her wider celebration of African-American women.
The intriguing title drives from Giovanni’s statements linking Black women to space travel. As she says: “I’m a fan of Black women because in our blood is space travel…because we have come from a known through to an unknown…because that is all space travel is…and in this darkness is Black women.”
Going To Mars…took the Grand Prize in the US Documentary section at Sundance this year and was subsequently linked to events around Giovanni’s 80th birthday in June. The film cleverly weaves new interviews with Giovanni alongside archival footage of her speaking at various events over the years, and includes especially profound excerpts from a conversation with James Baldwin in 1971, where they debate and argue patterns of violence and hopes for the future. Also woven into the film’s structure are heady space sequences and readings of her poetry, some by executive producer Taraji P. Henson.
The film also includes footage of dark events over the years – including the lynching of Emmett Till; the story of Rosa Parks and that of the four Black girls killed in 1963 in the Birmingham church bombing – and often time Giovanni’s responses to incidents. But while she is often open and generous in interview, she refuses to be drawn on certain matters, especially her childhood years.
Footage of her home in Christiansburgh, Virginia, reveals a house packed with books, photographs, memorabilia, and remembrances from her past, though the film rarely delves further, instead using the footage to help define her present life. As she goes on a series of literary events and book signings she often bluntly fends off certain questions. Nor does the film intrude on her 30-year relationship with spouse Virginia Fowler, or the causes of a past estrangement with her son, except to show how she and her son are friendly again and how much she relishes spending time with her granddaughter.
At all times Giovanni is an eloquent and passionate talker, unwilling to yield to the expectations of others and – given the brutal times she has lived through – always determined to focus on love and understanding rather than violence and discord. Her belief in the power of Black women shines through, stressing how, since they survived the “middle passage” – the sea journey undertaken by slave ships from West Africa to the West Indies – nobody therefore can be more qualified to explore the distant corners of the galaxy.
Astutely edited by Terra Long and Lawrence Jackman and enhanced by a beautifully soulful score by Samora Pinderhughes and Chris Pattishall, the film is a rich and enticing delve into the remarkable life and intellect of a woman with an equally strong propensity for emotional engagement.
Dirs/scr: Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster
Production: Confluential Films, Rada Studio
International sales: Cinetic Sales
Producers: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson, Tommy Oliver
Cinematography: Greg HarriottEditors: Terra Long, Lawrence Jackman
Music: Samora Pinderhughes, Chris Pattishall
With: Taraji P. Henson (voice)
