NUOTAMA FRANCES BODOMO
USA 2014 I OV with engl. subs I 14 min

SUN 19 NOV
14:30 SINEMA TRANSTOPIA

Based on true events, Ghanaian filmmaker Nuotama Frances Bodomo takes a look into a past future.
In 1964 – shortly before Zambia’s independence – a disgraced teacher (Mukuka Nkoloso) takes his pupils to a remote area to start an unofficial space programme. Their astronaut is 17-year-old Matha Mwamba, who has albinism. Was Matha chosen for the launch because she is the revered “Daughter of the Moon”? As the countdown to the launch of the Bantu-7 rocket begins, Matha must decide whether she will give her life to uphold the myths of her family.

The short feature, in black and white, refers to the Zambia National Academy of Science, Space Research and Philosophy, founded in 1960 by primary school teacher Edward Makuka Nkoloso with the aim of sending the first humans to the moon before the US and the Soviet Union.

NUOTAMA FRANCES BODOMO is a Ghanaian filmmaker living in New York City. Her award-winning short films BONESHAKER (2013), AFRONAUTS (2014) and EVERYBODY DIES! (2016) have screened at festivals including Sundance, the Berlinale, Telluride, Rotterdam, SXSW and New Directors/New Films. Bodomo was a writer and director on the first season of RANDOM ACTS OF FLYNESS on HBO. She is currently developing the feature film version of AFRONAUTS.