“I say, the trip to Mars can only be understood through Black Americans /… When we go to Mars… / It’s Middle Passage.” Poet and activist Nikki Giovanni – witty, no-nonsense, brilliant – resists the conventional in life and art, more than ever at age 80. Promoting a poetry collection while fighting breast cancer and reconciling with her son, Giovanni also resists the straightforward documentary probe: “I remember what is important and I make up the rest.”

Filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson (AMERICAN PROMISE) craft a rich, inventive portrait imbued with Giovanni’s poetry (voiced by Taraji P. Henson), intercut with hilariously spiky speaking gig highlights (re: her mastectomy + new hearing aid, “I took a tit off and added an ear”) and archival clips, including Giovanni’s legendary 1971 conversation with James Baldwin.

GOING TO MARS premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Grand Jury Prize, U.S. Documentary. The film will also screen in the Spotlight section of the upcoming 61st New York Film Festival.