ENCOUNTERS 2024: GOING TO MARS: THE NIKKI GIOVANNI PROJECT

Every year since our founding in 2010, The Bioscope has proudly hosted screenings of The Encounters South African International Documentary Festival. Now over 25 years old as a festival, Encounters returns to The Bioscope once again with screenings from 21 June - 30 July. Tickets are R80. For more information on the festival as a whole, please visit encounters.co.za

SEE THE FULL BIOSCOPE SCHEDULE FOR ENCOUNTERS HERE

GOING TO MARS: THE NIKKI GIOVANNI PROJECT

Joe Brewster & Michèle Stephenson | United States  | 2023 | 102 min

This masterfully produced look at the life of hugely influential African American poet and activist Nikki Giovanni is made instantly engaging by the presence of Giovanni herself. Framed by its protagonist’s famous statement that “the trip to Mars can only be understood through Black Americans”, the film fuses a rich archive of historical footage and interviews with the young Giovanni with contemporary access to the poet and her peers. Exquisitely edited and infused with empathy, Going to Mars is a richly detailed portrait of a life driven by a commitment to duty, truth, and community.