Following a trying studio experience on Baby It's You, John Sayles triumphantly returned to independent productions with the African-American science fiction allegory The Brother From Another Planet.

Sayles regular Joe Morton (Lone Star) stars as an escaped mute black slave who winds up in Harlem. Though the locals are initially wary of the alien's inability to speak, they are soon won over by his technical wizardry and adopt him as one of their own. However, can they protect him from the pursuing white bounty hunters, convincingly protrayed by Sayles and David Starthairn (L.A. Confidential, Good Night and GOod Luck)?

Making the most of its limited budget, The Brother From Another Planet is a frequently droll mediation on race, social mores and the value of community. Deftly performed and executed with Sayles' trademark gift for understatement, the film was a sizeable box-office success and was nominated for a Sundance Grand Jury Prize.

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