The Brother from Another Planet

Director: John Sayles
Screenwriters: John Sayles

Institute History

Description

Pursued by bounty hunters from outer space, a black extra-terrestrial—the Brother—guides his spaceship to a crash landing in New York Harbor and pulls himself t shore at, fittingly enough, Ellis Island. After stowing away on a barge headed up the Hudson River, The Brother finds himself among the multitudes on 125th Street in Harlem, where his bizarre and often hilarious adventures begin. Aided by a social worker, he gets a job in a video arcade in Times Square, mostly because he can repair broken video games with the touch of his hand. He finds a place to stay in a boarding house, and has to elude the pursuit of a couple of extra-terrestrial bounty hunters, one of the played by director/screenwriter John Sayles.

Although the film is about an alien being from outer space, its tone and many of its themes are decidedly human. From the director of The Return of the Secaucus Seven, Lianna and Baby, It’s You, this is one space walk that you‘ll never forget.

Screening Details

Sundance Film Festival Awards

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