Sun Ra: Do The Impossible Community Film Screening

The Billie Holiday Theatre in Partnership with the Office of Council Member Chi Osse and Field Meridians Presents a FREE community screening of Firelight Films’ Sun Ra: Do the ImpossibleDirected by Christine TurnerWith a special conversation with Ahmed Abdullah, former Arkestra member to follow.

Doors at 6 PM. Film at 6:30 PM.

SYNOPSIS:
Poet, philosopher, Egyptologist, bandleader. Jazz visionary Sun Ra was all of these – and more. With his ever-evolving band, the Sun Ra Arkestra, he produced more than 200 albums, stretching the boundaries of free-form jazz while weaving ancient Egypt, interstellar metaphors, and scientific musings into a singular musical and spiritual vision of Afrofuturism that continues to reverberate across generations. Director Christine Turner takes us on an illuminating journey through the life of this multi-faceted artist, gracefully balancing recollections from the Arkestra’s still-devout band members and dancers with insightful interviews from music scholars, and unforgettable film and performance footage of Sun Ra himself. The result is a portrait – informative, inspiring, and mind-bending – of a man whose audacious vision, otherworldly imagination, and uncompromising artistry helped shape not only the sound of jazz, but the cultural landscape of the 20th century and beyond.