Movie The Magic City - Birmingham According to Sun Ra

Was Herman Poole Blount, aka Sun Ra, an alien? Definitely, he was a jazz visionary, pioneer of afro-futurism and a proponent of many eccentric theories. Before he set sail for wider horizons, he had been shaped by his hometown of Birmingham, an industrial centre in the state of Alabama, deeply marked by the history of slavery and racial segregation. The documentary traces the musician’s early footsteps, and through the creative use of archival material, this extraordinary, yet little-documented, figure comes to life, much like the eponymous magic city, whose present-day residents played an active part in the making of the film.

directed by

Guillaume Maupin

A Brussels-based musician and filmmaker, born in Royan, France in 1979. Fascinated by popular and traditional music, folk, jazz, but also classical music from everywhere. He has been captivated by the works of Sun Ra for almost three decades. Since 2002, he has been an active member of Cinéma Nova, and european alternative cinema scenes . In 2014, he co-directed the musical road movie Water Music, which toured internationally from small festivals to DIY venues, Kino Climates network, villages fêtes but also London, Berlin, Nairobi, Los Angeles, etc.

Pablo Guarise

He was born on the outskirts of Paris. His peripheral origins gave him a taste for the byways, the margins and the stranges paths. He moved to Belgium and studied in INSAS. He lives and works in Brussels. He directed the fantastico-documentary shorts "A Room in Poland", "The Disappearance of Tom R." and "The Tunes". "The Magic City - Birmingham according to Sun Ra", co-directed with Guillaume Maupin, is his first long feature film.

cinematography

Alexi Van Hennecker

script

Guillaume Maupin, Pablo Guarise

music

Kawai+Okamura

editing

Justin Mckenzie Peers

production

Beata Saboova, Vincent Metzinger (Naoko Films)

Photo

Trailer