John Sayles financed most of this movie himself. According to Wikipedia, "Sayles describes this movie as being about the immigrant experience of assimilation. He spent part of his MacArthur Fellows 'genius' grant on the film, which cost $350,000 to produce".
The entrance and exit scenes of the Men in Black's first appearance in the bar were filmed entirely in reverse with the camera upside down, according to director John Sayles' commentary on the restored print. The two men started on the bar stools, then backed out of the room for the entrance; while the exit was filmed with the two outside the bar and backing into it, including David Strathairn replacing the cookies in the cookie bowl.
The film grossed over ten times its production cost in its first weekend of full release.
Some posters featured a long blurb that read, "Welcome to a world of exotic beauty . . . of danger and suspense . . . of wonders beyond the imagination . . . Welcome to Harlem. Brother".
The alien visitor character played by Joe Morton has no personal name and is billed in the credits only as "The Brother".
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Top Gap
By what name was The Brother from Another Planet (1984) officially released in India in English?
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