A kaleidoscopic journey into the life and legacy of Sun Ra, the cosmic jazz pioneer whose radical vision reshaped the universe of sound.
Christine Turner | USA | 2025 | Unclassified (15+)
Poet, Egyptologist, cosmologist, historian, activist, musician and jazz pioneer — Sun Ra was all of these. In this illuminating documentary, director Christine Turner takes us on a wild journey through the life of a complex man who was either born in Birmingham, Alabama or, as he famously claimed, was sent from Saturn. With his band, the Arkestra, he expanded the boundaries of free-form jazz and preached his radical philosophy of Afrofuturism — a blend of science fiction, mythology, philosophy and Black liberation.
Turner masterfully balances recollections from the Arkestra’s devoted band members, comments from big-fan historians, scholars and fellow musicians, and the musings of Sun Ra himself. Featuring unforgettable performance footage, Sun Ra: Do the Impossible is a mind-blowing portrait of a man who was as much a visionary as he was a musician.
Sun Ra: Do the Impossible is part of MIJF’s Jazz on Film series, taking place at ACMI, Fed Square and Palace Penny Lane Cinema.
