This free talk will take place on Sunday, Oct. 1 at 1:00pm in the EBM Amphitheater.

In NYFF61 Spotlight selection Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Story, directed by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, the acclaimed poet and activist Nikki Giovanni—a driving force in the early years of the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s, and a leading figure of the American literary landscape over the last half-century—acts as our guide and narrator through an intimate, disarmingly frank account of her life. The film details the evolution of Giovanni’s Afrofuturist-feminist philosophical outlook and celebrates her political audacity, poetic eloquence, and poignant relationship with her family. Join us for a lively, career-spanning discussion with Giovanni about her writing practice, her creative and political trajectories, and the experience of transmuting her life story into cinema. Moderated by author Edwidge Danticat.

Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project is a Spotlight selection of this year’s New York Film Festival. Click here to learn more about the film.

NYFF Talks are presented by:

Free tickets for NYFF61 Talks will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis beginning one hour prior to each event at the corresponding box office. Tickets are limited to one per person, subject to availability. For those unable to attend, video from these events will be available online on Film at Lincoln Center’s YouTube channel at a later date.