A student at DePaul University (a religious-at-least-in-name school) is making a movie about black atheists. Black Beyond Belief aims to examine the experiences of an oft-overlooked population: the 0.5% of African-Americans who identify as non-religious.

Sean Austin, the student behind the plan, received a grant from the DePaul Cinema Program for the project. In his words:

I didn’t expect to win the money. I honestly didn’t think a bunch of old white Catholic professors would give a young black student a grant to make a movie about atheism. Fortunately, I was wrong.

The trailer is already completed, and it looks spectacular.

Besides examining the experiences of black non-believers, Sean wants to explore the role of the church in African-American communities, as well as philosophy, social justice, and politics. His filming crew is made up of Celeste (a Christian) and Ryan (who is non-religious). They anticipate a first screening in January, after which it will be available online.



