Last February, having just inherited the title of Black Lens programmer at Milwaukee Film, Ty Williams absolutely nailed his selections for a series showing off the range of Black stories that have come to the big screen over the years.

Now, he’s putting that UW-Milwaukee film degree to good use once again. This time, however, he pulled in his picks around a particular theme. “Afrofuturism: Fates Beyond Fiction” includes six works — two short films and four full-length features — that jump from comic books to sci-fi horror to just plain weird.

As you’ll hear Williams explain in this episode, what unifies his selections are how they “focus on the concept of dreaming a better future or a different world than the one we live in now.” That comes across in a bunch of different ways during the series, including the bad-assery of Wesley Snipes in Blade, the code-switching absurdity of Sorry to Bother You, and the messianic star turn by music legend and generally far-out dude Sun Ra in Space Is the Place.

You’ll get to hear Williams and our trusty co-hosts talk about how he put together the full lineup, as well as how generally awesome the theater staff are at the Oriental and Downer theaters, and whether the third movie in a trilogy is ever the best one.

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