The documentary Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project chronicles the life of the influential poet from the Civil Rights Movement, to the Black Arts Movement, to present-day Black Lives Matter.
Executive produced by Taraji P. Henson, the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Best U.S. Documentary and was an official selection in the Spotlight section of the 61st New York Film Festival. The film was recently nominated for three Cinema Eye Honors Awards including Outstanding Nonfiction Feature, two International Documentary Association Awards, including Best Feature Documentary, and a Film Independent Spirit Awards nomination for Best Documentary.
Release Date
Directed by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson (“American Promise,” “Stateless”), Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project debuts Monday, January 8 (9:00-10:42 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.
Synopsis
Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project travels through time and space to reveal the enduring influence of Nikki Giovanni, one of America’s greatest living poets and social commentators. Giovanni reckons with the inevitable passing of time through intimate vérité, striking archival footage, and visually innovative treatments of her poetry, revealing the lasting impact of Giovanni’s work on American culture.
Reviews
Grading the film a B- in their review, Indiewire wrote, ““Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project,” an uptempo documentary that matches the poet’s idiosyncratic personality, sees her promoting a new collection of poetry entitled “A Good Cry: What We Learn from Tears and Laughter.” In it, the writer draws upon the raw emotions of her upbringing — a violent father, a loving mother, and a supportive grandmother — and the recent deaths of loved ones and cherished colleagues for a vulnerability that differs from the cool, relentlessly revolutionary image (bedecked in a luminous afro and colorful dashikis) that she cultivated throughout the ’60s and ’70s.”
Official Trailer
Watch the official trailer for Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project.