ASTRA: Designing Belonging Beyond Earth
6/10 sections recovered · name · leaderboard description · match catalog cover · match catalog tags · match catalog funding · leaderboard submissions · match catalog
4 fund applications (1 curated · 1 funded) · 1 season
Reimagining Culture, Identity, and Belonging in Space
AIFilmMoonNASASpace ai-technologyculture-identityopen-infrastructurefilm-storytelling
Project details match catalog
About
In 2030, NASA plans to return to the Moon for the third time. This visionary AI short film and multimedia installation asks – what infrastructure and design would enable Black culture, beauty, and identity to thrive amongst the stars?
Impact
By visualizing culturally-informed space infrastructure, we create provocations that aerospace engineers and designers can actually use. The artwork asks: what happens when space travel evolves beyond efficiency to prioritize culture and belonging?
Progress
I developed a custom LoRA algorithm trained on three datasets: open-source NASA imagery (ISS missions, spacewalks, Artemis programs), historical Black hair documentation and freedom maps, and Afrofuturist visual archives, script, and expert team.
Team
In 2024, my 3D animated short film funded by Artizen -- Afro Algorithms -- made history by being sent to space on NASA's first Moon Mission since 1972. Ever since, I have been fascinating with reimagining the culture of space travel for all.
Funding
| Sales | Venus | S+V | Match | S+V+M | Venus extras | Prize | V2+M+P | V2/S | (V2+M)/S | (V2+M+P)/S | Raised | Available | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 6 | $308 | $0 | $308 | $1,307 | $1,615 | $0 | $10 | $1,317 | 0.0x | 4.2x | 4.3x | $0 | — |
| Total | $308 | $0 | $308 | $1,307 | $1,615 | $0 | $10 | $1,317 | — | — | — | $0 | — |
Fund applications
| Season | Fund | Status | Applied |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 7 | AI Filmmaking Fund for Generative Storytellers | curated | 2026-07-09 |
| Season 6 | Film Fund for Independent Voices | submitted | 2026-01-20 |
| Season 6 | Capitol Film Fund for African Storytellers | funded | 2026-01-20 |
| Season 6 | Pressman Film Fund for New Frontiers | submitted | 2026-01-20 |
Season totals as displayed on the platform's public accounting — not a statement of amounts paid out. V2 = Venus sales + Venus extras. The original page also broke each season down by fund drive and showed an Available (unclaimed) balance; that level of detail survives only on the preserved snapshots.
Leaderboard page (offline): https://artizen.fyi/projects/afro-astra
Wayback: leaderboard page ↗ · Wayback: platform page ↗
Not recovered: creator, links, drives, snapshot. Sources: "snapshot" = verbatim Internet Archive page · "platform metadata" = archived artizen.fund page metadata · "leaderboard" = the artizen.fyi public accounting tables · "match catalog" = the platform's public fund-matching catalog (captured 2026-10-15, generated 2026-09-07) · "community catalog" = a June 2026 platform scrape preserved in a community repo.
Top siblings
Projects that applied to the same funds.
| Project | Shared funds | Raised | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | FREERIDERS Cinematic journey into the global movement of women riders breaking down borders to recla… | AI Filmmaking Fund for Generative Storytellers, Capitol Film Fund for African Storytellers, Film Fund for Independent Voices +1 | $12,909 |
| 2. | ISEDA (BEGINNING) A new, immersive approach for in-demand African folklore cinema celebrating Yoruba herita… | AI Filmmaking Fund for Generative Storytellers, Capitol Film Fund for African Storytellers, Film Fund for Independent Voices +1 | $3,553 |
| 3. | Labour Union of Higherdimensional Shapeshifters Collaborative transmedia experience (interactive movie) inviting Artizen community to rea… | AI Filmmaking Fund for Generative Storytellers, Capitol Film Fund for African Storytellers, Film Fund for Independent Voices +1 | $360 |
| 4. | FutureZoo What if the most powerful force in conservation isn’t protection, but connection? | AI Filmmaking Fund for Generative Storytellers, Capitol Film Fund for African Storytellers, Pressman Film Fund for New Frontiers | $215,046 |
| 5. | Videomapping from Guatemala to Africa Expanding anticolonialist narratives around the global south | AI Filmmaking Fund for Generative Storytellers, Capitol Film Fund for African Storytellers, Pressman Film Fund for New Frontiers | $2,530 |
| 6. | The International Artists Project Documentary First Documentary to Tell the Stories of Music Artists Born in Every Country on Earth | AI Filmmaking Fund for Generative Storytellers, Capitol Film Fund for African Storytellers, Pressman Film Fund for New Frontiers | $563 |
| 7. | Akuya I am an upcoming artist and this is my first track of the year, i need help for the produ… | AI Filmmaking Fund for Generative Storytellers, Capitol Film Fund for African Storytellers, Pressman Film Fund for New Frontiers | $234 |
| 8. | Capitol Film Fest The biggest and fastest growing indie film, music and art festival in Abuja, Nigeria host… | AI Filmmaking Fund for Generative Storytellers, Capitol Film Fund for African Storytellers, Pressman Film Fund for New Frontiers | $210 |
Other funds of top siblings
WildSeed Creators Fund Freedom of Art Fund MultiMax Fund for Immersive Interaction Stories Without Borders Fund Creative Wellness Fund for Community Healing Emergent Creativity Fund for Conscious Collaboration Expanding Horizons Fund Fund of Infinite Yes