'Destination: Planet Negro!' to premiere in New York City

LAWRENCE – The 2013 satire “Destination: Planet Negro!” from Kevin Willmott, writer, director and film & media studies professor, will have its New York City premiere at the Socially Relevant Film Festival March 16-22. Willmott will attend the festival and participate in a Q&A session following the premiere.

“Destination: Planet Negro!” will also be released theatrically and on DVD later this year by Candy Factory Films.

A smart satire that sports a wicked streak of goofball humor, “Destination: Planet Negro!” has the feel of low-budget, 1950s sci-fi, as leaders including W.E.B. Du Bois and George Washington Carver kick off a secret plot to solve the “Negro Problem” by way of a rocket ship to Mars. Carrying a crew of three, the spacecraft vaults into a time warp and lands its brave scientists in a present-day Midwestern metropolis. This comedy takes on the look of a reality show as the astonished adventurers discover unbelievable developments like the election of a black president and young men with drooping pants. 

SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York focuses on socially relevant film content, dealing with human interest stories that raise awareness to social problems and offer positive solutions through the powerful medium of cinema. Socially Relevant believes that through raised awareness, expanded knowledge about diverse cultures and the human condition as a whole, it is possible to create a better world free of violence, hate and crime.

The Department of Film & Media Studies is one of four departments in the School of the Arts. As part of the KU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the School of the Arts offers fresh possibilities for collaboration between the arts and the humanities, sciences, social sciences, international and interdisciplinary studies.