Blafrokan Curateda narrative feature film in development
inspired by the true story of the zambia space academy
In 1964—just before zambian independence—a disgraced school-teacher (Mukuka Nkoloso) takes his students to a remote area to set up an unofficial space program. Their astronaut is 17-year-old Matha Mwamba, who has albinism has been chosen for blast off because she is the program’s revered “daughter of the moon”? or is she just a glorified human sacrifice?
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Blafrokan Reflections:
- “Other” Often a means separating, dividing, detaching value from that which is standardized or constructed as normal. Does being Albino and Female categorize this Afronaut into the “other”? Is she now expendable for trial and error, a botched space flight ignited by the ambitions of men?
- Martha Mwamba is pale as the moon is white, shining light, hope and possibilities onto the darkness, or conditions of a people. What are the consequences when fail to see the light in those deemed “other”? How might this “daughter of the moon” served a self determined purpose that benefits all?
- African ambitions. What is the vision for African people? Is it space flight or another type of flight beyond the reaches of colonial imposition? Do Africans envision a freedom beyond the tentacles of foreign religions and foreign governance structures? What is the destination African people seek as they build a new reality to journey home?
- What do you think the filmmaker was trying to convey and what did you take from the film?
Writer and Director: Nuotama Bodomo
Producers: vincho nchogu and Ryan Zacarias
