Conversations from the Sundance Institute Labs | Sequential Sankofa with John Jennings
About this Event Recording
Go behind the scenes to learn from Sundance Institute Advisors in our Conversations from the Labs series. This collection of videos will deepen your understanding of all the creative disciplines that are supported through our Labs including Feature Film Directing and Writing, TV Writing, Emerging Media, Documentary, Producing, Film Music, and Theater.
In this video, author, designer, and graphic novelist John Jennings shares his insight into black comix, afrofuturism, and digital design fictions. He recounts the rich history of black comic superheroes and discusses the changing role of comics in popular culture since the 1940s. He explores the recurring theme of dyniachronosomatic travel in comics and the idea of shadow books in the historical canon. And, he focuses on the idea of rewriting the future, the role of legacy characters in today's world and giving voice to Black characters and truths.
Other conversations in the series include those with editor Dylan Tichenor, actor/director Ed Harris, writer/director Karyn Kusama, writer/director/producer Kasi Lemmons, cinematographer Stephen Goldblatt, and others.
Event RecordingTeam
John Jennings
Panelist
John Jennings is a Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of California at Riverside. Jennings is co-editor of the Eisner Award-winning collection THE BLACKER THE INK: CONSTRUCTION OF THE BLACK IDENTITY IN COMICS AND SEQUENTIAL ART. Jennings is also a 2016 Nasir Jones Hip Hop Studies Fellow with the Hutchins Center at Harvard University. Jennings' current projects include the horror anthology BOX OF BONES, the coffee table book Black Comix Returns (with Damian Duffy), and the Eisner-winning, Bram Stoker Award-winning, New York Times best-selling graphic novel adaptation of Octavia Butler's classic dark fantasy novel KINDRED. Duffy and Jennings recently released their graphic novelization of Octavia Bulter's prescient dystopian novel PARABLE OF THE SOWER (Abrams ComicArts). Jennings is also founder and curator of the ABRAMS Megascope line of graphic novels.