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Lost & Found at the Movies:
New Suns

John Nein

Featuring Ashley Clark, Wanuri Kahiu, Vi Ha

April 16, 2021

“There is nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns.” Octavia E. Butler

Fifteen years after her death, Octavia E. Butler’s visionary writing is seeing a resurgence of appreciation, including a number of planned film and television adaptations. Butler helped to pioneer the genre of Black speculative fiction to re-imagine the past, present, and future in new ways. We’ll consider Butler’s influence along with other storytellers that continue to expand the landscape of Black speculative fiction and historiography, Afrofuturism, Africanfuturism, and other science fiction and fantasy through film.

From Sun Ra to Cyndi Mayweather to Black Panther, we’ll explore Afrofuturism on film with Ashley Clark, curatorial director at Criterion Collection. And with Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu (Rafiki, Pumzi) we’ll journey into the “Afrobubblegum” movement, futurism in African art, and Octavia Butler’s Wild Seed. And we’ll look at Octavia Butler’s special connection to local libraries in a piece with the Los Angeles Public Library’s Vi Ha, librarian and manager of the namesake Octavia Lab, a community space for innovation.

Lost & Found at the Movies is generously supported by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Stacy-Lieberman_headshot_President-and-CEO_LFLA

Stacy Lieberman

As President and CEO of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles (LFLA), Stacy Lieberman is an innovative and inclusive leader whose career dwells at the intersection of arts and culture, lifelong learning, storytelling, and equitable access. Stacy guides the Foundation’s philanthropic and public-facing priorities to serve the Los Angeles Public Library, embracing the notion that libraries are beacons of democracy where everyone is welcome. She works intentionally with community leaders, donors, and internal and external strategic partners to raise awareness and resources for the Library and its life-changing initiatives.

With more than 20 years of experience as a senior executive, Stacy has left an indelible mark on iconic L.A. arts, non-profit, and educational institutions such as The Broad, the Autry Museum of the American West, and the Skirball Cultural Center. Building on an early career in book publishing, she has dedicated her professional life to sharing stories and broadening the reach of public institutions to welcome visitors and students of all ages and backgrounds to experience educational, arts, and cultural opportunities.