Space is the Place

One-time screening:
Thursday, February 23, 6pm | $15

CCA continues its music + film series, Amplified, with a one-time screening of the pioneering, Afrofuturist vision, Space is the Place (USA, 1974). Sun Ra, the prolific and influential avant-jazz artist, presents sharp social commentary through a kaleidoscopic, sci-fi venture melding out-of-this-world stylings and live concerts—centered around the accompanying concept album of the same name, performed by Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Solar Arkestra. The film was loosely based on and inspired by a lecture series by Ra, “The Black Man in the Cosmos,” taught at UC Berkley in 1971. Since its debut, Space is the Place has undergone many academic interpretations and serves as a cornerstone in the conversation of Afrofuturism in art.

“For [Sun Ra], outer space wasn’t just a gimmick or a convenient source of song titles. It was a zone where racism was inoperative, where Blacks could make their own destinies.”

– Jon Pareles, The New York Times