When his 2019 short film adaption of Static Shock went viral, St. Louis filmmaker and creative visionary David Kirkman went straight from Ferguson to California. Netflix flew him and his friends to San Francisco to showcase the film. That year, the world saw the vision Kirkman spent years putting together. Now, he’s back with his new film Underneath showcasing the power of Afrofuturism in travel.
“I want to be able to control that narrative, ultimately,” Kirkman tells Travel Noire. “That’s what the whole Afro-futurist and sci-fi backdrop is really about. It’s really about controlling the narratives that we’re putting out into the world.”
Kirkman’s film begins in the 1800s with a Black, enslaved person in the US who stumbles upon a spacecraft. To his surprise, another Black man emerges from the ship, kicking off an intergalactic saga. Through a series of twists and turns, Kirkman shines a light on the importance of the legacy that extends beyond the world and into the stars.
“It’s about transporting the viewer into spaces that we’ve never really seen ourselves on screen before,” he said.
Kirkman transports viewers through different destinations and timelines in the film. His team traveled extensively across the US to shoot scenes. Now, the movie is premiering in major cities and festivals proving how powerful the culture is when it travels outside its own backyard.
Otherworldly Travels
Kirkman’s vision for Underneath included creating outer space, otherworldly, and international destinations for his characters to live. However, the film didn’t have a huge budget. He and his team were crafty in finding domestic destinations that didn’t appear to be in the United States.
Garden of the Gods in Illinois’ Shawnee State Park became the backdrop for scenes in Brazil. To create an outer space arena, Kirkman headed to Colorado to shoot across its thousands of acres of sand dunes. The creator didn’t want any limitations on creating the perfect visual landscape for the Underneath world to come alive.
“I think what people can really expect is that I came into this film wanting to not have any limits on my imagination,” he said. “From there, I think that’s very well showcased with a nice, dope story.”
Kirkman spent months researching destinations to film Underneath. He found himself pushing the boundaries of what was possible as an independent filmmaker and was able to introduce the cast and crew to new destinations around the world. Many of the places they shot are tourist-friendly and Kirkman encourages travelers to visit them on their own to experience the destinations for themselves.
“A lot of these spaces are tourist spots,” he said. “So people can go there for free, visit them, and just be transported to these incredible worlds right here in the US.”
Responsibility, Truth, & Legacy
Known for merging science fiction and politics, Kirkman has mastered revealing the truth through his cinematic creations. Underneath raises questions about Black legacy, responsibility, and hidden truths just underneath the surface. The characters come together to paint a picture of what was and what’s to come for Black people and technology.
“Film is the most powerful medium to change minds, plant seeds, and mold cultures,” Kirkman shares. “We just have to be intentional about some of that stuff.”
Currently, the film is on tour throughout the country in cities such as St. Louis, Kansas City, and Lansing, Michigan, with more dates to come. It’s received a slew of support from organizations like Washington University, the Black Speculative Arts Movement, the Missouri Film Commission, and the Kranzberg Arts Foundation. Kirkman is now seeking distribution opportunities to release his Afro-futurism masterpiece to the masses.
Kirkman hopes Underneath inspires viewers to travel beyond what they know and into the unknown. He believes in the power of Black faces on and off screen and wants the world to experience what happens when Black stories and science fiction collide.
“We’re here on the planet too,” he said. “We exist here too, so we can tell those stories.”