Join us for an in-depth discussion of other worlds, monsters, metaphors, music, memory, folklore, race, place, spirituality and magic, and speculative futures in the context of the movie Sinners, and beyond. We will explore questions, such as, how do alternative visions of storytelling help us address pressing concerns of our time? What are the monsters of modernity? What kind of future can we see through revisionist and speculative takes on the past? How are music and arts connected to identity and culture? What is the past and evolving role of religion and spirituality in different communities? What are death/life affirming visions of race relations and multiculturalism? And what is the value of entertainment, the role of media, and critics in shaping personal and community dialogues? 

The recent film Sinners by Ryan Coogler will guide the framework and serve as a generative reference point for this discussion. However, it is not mandatory to have seen the movie to participate. We chose this movie that many have seen (and loved) because we were excited about the potential and the intersection of relevant themes and present-day anxieties, as well as in acknowledgement that we all consume an enormous amount of media without many spaces to “digest” and process critically all of this information. In that vein, we hope you will bring any relevant media and text into the conversation: books, songs, citiscapes, Tiktoks and reels, overheard conversations, dreams, and of course your imagination!  

This is the first event hosted by the Imagining New Cities and New Worlds Group, a newly formed collaboration to invite discussions and dialogues on re-visioning, imagining, and dreaming new futures and new worlds. The last 30 minutes of this meeting will be dedicated to brainstorming and discussing collaboration and invitations to continue working together as a group. 

We will serve dinner. This event has limited space of about 30 people. If you RSVP and are unable to make it, please let us know so that we can open up space for someone else. 

Co-produced by The Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility and the Tishman Environment and Design Center