SUN RA: DO THE IMPOSSIBLE
Christine Turner | USA 2025 | 84' | English OV
Poet, explorer of Egyptian antiquity, cosmologist, historian, activist, bandleader, musician ... jazz pioneer Sun Ra was all of these things. In this revealing film biography, Christine Turner takes us on a complex journey through the life and work of a complex man who was either born in Birmingham, Alabama, or sent by Saturn - or both.
With his band The Arkestra, he pushed the boundaries of free jazz, reshaped standards, ventured into electronic music, but could just as easily be inspired to jam to "Over the Rainbow" (the most famous song from the Hollywood musical "The Wizard of Oz"). His musical mission was additionally anchored in the promotion of Afrofuturism: in this zone, he was able to relate interstellar metaphors ("Space is the place") and his own scientific explanations ("Transmolecularization") to the situation of black people in America. Director Turner elegantly balances the memories of still reverent Arkestra band members and dancers with fan commentary by historians and scientists from other disciplines, as well as thoughts from other fellow musicians and Sun Ra himself, plus clips from unforgettable performance footage, sequences from a film produced by Sun Ra himself and beautiful psychedelic animations.
The film gives an idea of the outlines of Sun Ra's total work of art and paints an informative, enriching, at times almost breathtaking portrait of the man as a visionary and musician. (according to Brian Gordon / Tribeca Film Festival NYC)
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