WS Chronicle

Staff Report

The Winston-Salem Chronicle

Winston-Salem, N.C. — A free public screening of Black Panther will lead off a two-part film series exploring Afrofuturism at Wake Forest University next weekend, offering students and community members a chance to engage with the influential cultural movement through cinema, conversation and celebration.

On Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at 2 p.m. at Brendle Recital Hall on the Wake Forest campus, organizers will present the Black Panther (2018) screening at no cost to attendees with an RSVP. The event is part of Afrofuturism: From Sun Ra to Wakanda, a collaborative series from a/perture cinema and Wake Forest’s Wake the Arts initiative that pairs landmark films with panel discussions reflecting on the genre’s evolution and cultural resonance. 

Following the film, a panel discussion about the themes and significance of Afrofuturism will bring together faculty from across the university, including scholars in media studies, music, theater and African American studies. A reception is planned afterward. Cosplay — especially favorite superhero costumes — is welcome, provided participants are culturally respectful in their choices. 

Afrofuturism broadly refers to a cultural and artistic movement that combines elements of science fiction, speculative imagination and African diasporic identity to explore Black experiences and futures through creative expression. It has roots in the work of visionary artists ranging from jazz musician Sun Ra in the 1970s to contemporary film and literature that center Black perspectives in futuristic or alternate realities. 

This first event sets the stage for the second film in the series: the 1974 science fiction feature Space Is the Place, which will be shown Thursday, Feb. 12, 6 p.m. at a/perture cinema for a ticketed audience. That screening will also include a panel conversation with Wake Forest faculty across disciplines. 

The series is co-sponsored by Wake Forest’s departments of music, African American studies, women’s, gender and sexuality studies, and theatre and dance, in partnership with a/perture cinema. 

By pairing an accessible, free Black Panther experience with scholarly discussion, organizers hope to invite broader community participation in conversations about how Afrofuturism has shaped and reflected Black creativity, identity and imagined futures — from past pioneers to the present day.

https://aperturecinema.com/purchase/906766/