{{Redirect|Afronaut|the participants of the real space program|Edward Makuka Nkoloso}} {{Infobox film | name = Afronauts | director = Nuotama Bodomo | producer = Isabella Wing-Davey | writer = Nuotama Bodomo | starring = Diandra Forrest as Matha <br /> Yolonda Ross as Auntie Sunday <br /> Hoji Fortuna as Nkoloso | music = Brian McOmber | cinematography = Joshua James Richards | editing = Sara Shaw | released = {{Film date|2014}} | runtime = 14 min. | country = United States | language = English | italic_title = }}
'''''Afronauts''''' is a 2014 science fiction short film about Zambian outcasts preparing to beat America in the space race to the Moon. Written and directed by Ghanaian filmmaker Nuotama Bodomo, ''Afronauts'' is her pre-thesis film for NYU's Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Film Program.{{cn|date=June 2024}}
== Plot == Set in the 1960s, 17-year-old Matha is chosen to be Zambia's first person to land on the Moon. Through a series of space training experiments led by schoolteacher Nksoloso's space program, the group of Zambian exiles plan to beat the U.S. to the Moon. Matha deals with the expectations and responsibility placed upon her while her aunt fears Matha is being used as a disposable sacrifice.
== Background == The Afrofuturist film is a work of speculative fiction. It challenges the "Western gaze"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theawl.com/2016/01/the-afronauts/|title=The Afronauts|website=The Awl|language=en|access-date=2020-03-29}}</ref> and imagines Africans traveling to space with themes of technology being used as a tool to challenge colonialism and gain independence. It is inspired by the true story of school teacher and activist Edward Mukuka Nkoloso training 17-year-old Matha Mwamba and two cats by rolling them down hills in oil drums to become astronauts.<ref name=":1"/><ref name="okayafrica.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.okayafrica.com/african-film-director-frances-bodomo-afronauts-zambia-space-race/|title=Frances Bodomo's 'Afronauts': What Became of the Zambian Space Program?|date=2013-03-14|website=OkayAfrica|language=en|access-date=2020-03-26}}</ref><ref name="francescocortese.it">{{Cite web|url=http://www.goodshortfilms.it/en/articles/afronauts-il-programma-spaziale-dello-zambia|title=Afronauts – Zambia's Space Program {{!}} Good Short Films|last=francescocortese.it|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-26}}</ref> Nkoloso wrote an Op-Ed “''We’re Going to Mars! With a Spacegirl, Two Cats and a Missionary”'' and requested a £7M grant from UNESCO.<ref name="okayafrica.com"/><ref name="francescocortese.it"/>
Bodomo first discovered the afronauts on Tumblr in a YouTube video of a 1964 newsreel of the Zambian space program.<ref name=":1"/><ref name="Moon people">{{Cite web|url=https://africasacountry.com/2019/09/moon-people|title=Moon people|website=africasacountry.com|date=26 September 2017 |language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-29}}</ref> The black and white film aesthetic of ''Afronauts'' replicates 1960s black and white photos and videos of Africa and questions the validity and reality of ethnography and newsreels of the time, as well as creating a sense of "otherworldliness."<ref name=":1"/>
== Production ==
* Written and directed by Nuotama Bodomo * Produced by Isabella Wing-Davey * Co-Produced by Sydney Buchan * Executive Produced by Ken Birdwell, Eric Cotten, Keyvan Dastmalchi, Felecia Hunter, Akosua Adoma Owusu, Felicia Pasculli, Matthew Shields * Associate Produced by Claudio Bottaccini, Terri Simone Francis, AnnaRose King, Lucas Zaiden * Cinematography by Joshua James Richards * Production Design by Celi Lamenca * Costume Design by Sarita Fellows * Film Editing by Sara Shaw * Sound Design by Scott Hirsch * Music by Brian McOmber
The short film was shot in Brooklyn and New Jersey.<ref name=":1"/>
A feature film of the same title and story is currently in the works.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.vernac.media/|title=VERNAC000_AFRONAUTS (2014)_DIGITAL RELEASE|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-03-19}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://hyperallergic.com/515006/afronauts-nuotama-frances-bodomo-interview/|title=Parsing the Real and Unreal Stories of the Zambian Space Academy|date=2019-09-04|website=Hyperallergic|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-24}}</ref> It will be written and directed by Nuotama Bodomo and produced by Vincho Nchogu and Ryan Zacarias.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nuotamabodomo.info/afronauts-movie|title=Nuotama Bodomo|website=nuotamabodomo.info|access-date=2020-03-20}}</ref> The film is supported by Sundance Institute, Cinereach, Tribeca Film institute, IFP, Film independent, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nuotamabodomo.info/afronauts-movie|title=Afronauts|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-03-19}}</ref> In 2014, Bodomo kicked off development for the feature as a part of a workshop with the Durban International Film Festival.<ref>{{cite web |last=Macaulay |first=Scott |title=25 New Faces of 2014: Frances Bodomo |url=https://filmmakermagazine.com/people/frances-bodomo/ |website=Filmmaker Magazine |date=2014 |accessdate=2020-03-31}}</ref>
== Exhibition == ''Afronauts'' first premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and its international premiere was at the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival.<ref name=":1"/> Other exhibitions include "Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art, 1905–2016" at the Whitney Museum of American Art,<ref>{{cite web |title=Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art, 1905–2016|url=https://whitney.org/Exhibitions/Dreamlands?section=5&subsection=1#exhibition-artworks|website=Whitney Museum of American Art|accessdate=2020-03-30}}</ref> "Dimensions of Citizenship, Future Imperfect: The Uncanny in Science Fiction" at the Venice Biennale Architecture (US Pavilion),<ref>{{cite web|title=Frances Bodomo: Dimensions of Citizenship|url=http://dimensionsofcitizenship.org/participants/frances-bodomo/ |website=Dimensions of Citizenship |date=19 March 2018 |publisher=Venice Biennale|accessdate=2020-03-30}}</ref> "Future imperfect: The Uncanny in Science Fiction" at the Museum of Modern Art,<ref>{{cite web |title=Afronauts. 2014. Written and directed by Frances Bodomo Les saignantes (The Bloodettes). 2005. Written and directed by Jean-Pierre Bekolo |url=https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/3285|website=MoMA|accessdate=2020-03-30}}</ref> "Into the Unknown: A Journey Through Science Fiction" at Barbican Centre,<ref>{{cite web |title=Into the Unknown: A Journey through Science Fiction |url=https://www.barbican.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Into%20the%20Unknown%20release%20APRIL%202017.pdf |website=Barbican Centre |accessdate=2020-03-30}}</ref> "African Futures" at Goethe-Institut Johannesburg,<ref>{{cite web |title=Bios Johannesburg |url=http://africanfutures.tumblr.com/bio/johannesburg |website=African Futures |publisher=Goethe-Institut |accessdate=2020-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160223085216/http://africanfutures.tumblr.com/bio/johannesburg |archive-date=2016-02-23}}</ref> "Making Africa" at Vitra Design Museum.<ref>{{cite web |title=Featured workFrances Bodomo: Afronauts |url=http://makingafrica.net/2015/04/featured-workfrances-bodomo-afronauts/ |website=Making Africa |publisher=Vitra Design Museum |accessdate=2020-03-30}}</ref>
For the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hyperallergic.com/515006/afronauts-nuotama-frances-bodomo-interview/|title=Parsing the Real and Unreal Stories of the Zambian Space Academy|date=2019-09-04|website=Hyperallergic|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-29}}</ref><ref name="Moon people"/> ''Afronauts'' made its online debut in 2019 on numerous sites including [https://www.vernac.media/ Vernac Media], [http://nobudge.com/main/afronauts?fbclid=IwAR2ChvAHCeyDh584yhU1GSyo7WxqZsfYKo-dGJiQpuEEn0P-PehEZiNIbJc NoBudge], and [https://fourthree.boilerroom.tv/film/afronauts Boiler Room's 4:3].
== See also ==
* List of Afrofuturist films * Black Women Filmmakers * Ghanaian Filmmakers
== References == <!--- See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes on how to create references using <ref></ref> tags, these references will then appear here automatically --> {{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* [https://nuotamabodomo.info/afronauts Official webpage on the director's website] * {{imdbtitle|3334028}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Afronauts}} Category:2014 short films Category:Afrofuturist films Category:American science fiction short films Category:Drama films based on actual events Category:Films about astronauts Category:Films set in the 1960s Category:Films set in Zambia