Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project

Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project is breathtaking visual masterpiece, blending her poetry, vintage film, and current day footage to tell the life and journey of a master poet. On one level, it's visually captivating, impossible to look away. At its core, it's a powerful composition of Giovanni and poetry across the decades. Though some poetry and vignettes are 50+ years old, the words and power are undeniably timeless, speaking across generations, races, and spaces. I didn't want this documentary to end and it will undoubtedly spark new explorers, including myself, into Nikki Giovanni's writings.

An inspirational look at poet Nikki Giovanni who has lived a life and has a great ability to connect with her poetry over many years. It is fascinating to hear her being interviewed by James Baldwin. Beautiful voiceovers of Nikki reciting her poems with accompanying images. Poignant and yet very real and unapologetic in her thoughts and opinions : "travels through time and space to reveal the enduring influence of Nikki Giovanni, one of America's greatest living artists and social commentators. Giovanni reckons with the inevitable passing of time in intimate vérité and revealing archival footage." Rotten Tomatoes.

Celebrating the life of a towering figure can be a challenge to get right, and that's precisely where this profile of poet, advocate and educator Nikki Giovanni comes up short. Writer-directors Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson earnestly but regrettably struggle to capture the nature and character of this African-American icon of literature and activism, whose 60+-year career has borne witness to the wide-ranging history of the nation's social and cultural movements during that time. Giovanni's take on these subjects has nearly always been radical and unreserved, with criticisms and commentary unapologetically leveled against the initiatives of both the right and the left when she felt the need to express them, frequently making her a lightning rod for attention from opponents on both ends of the spectrum. At the same time, though, she has always made her views known with an eloquently poetic touch, making it difficult for naysayers to find fault with her incisive, spot-on observations. By all rights, this is a life that would seem to provide the makings for an intriguing biography, but, unfortunately, that outcome doesn't materialize as effectively as it might have. The problem rests with the organization of the material included in the film, which at times seems quite scattered, particularly in the unfocused opening half. To its credit, this offering develops a greater sense of lucidity the further one gets into the narrative, but it's too bad that it doesn't live up to this potential throughout. Had it done so, this would have been one of the better documentaries of 2023, but, as it stands now, "Going to Mars" leaves audiences with a somewhat frayed portrayal of its subject, at least at the outset. Reading her works, in the end, may ultimately offer viewers a clearer and more complete picture of its principal, someone whose outspoken outlooks truly deserve to be better known at such a critical time in our nation's history.

I'm still thinking about Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project weeks after having seen it. The film itself is a poem about poetry, time, space and speaking truth. It effortlessly travels through different phases of Giovanni's life, creating a rich, full portrait that doesn't shy away from controversy. I now get why Giovanni says black women are the ideal explorers to send to Mars, in a way that I didn't understand by reading her words. Keep a look out for this film, hopefully coming to a theater near you! The visuals, music and readings all transport you to Giovanni's world. It's an exhilarating place to be.