TIME HUNTER
TIME HUNTER
Daniel Chein
Daniel Chein
TIME HUNTER is a sci-fi documentary following Mushiva, a Namibian rapper and technologist immigrating to Berlin, and his cyberpunk alter-ego, the Time Hunter—a bionic spy dispatched by Black Africans to topple their colonial oppressors. Born in a war camp to freedom fighters, Mushiva processed childhood trauma through sci-fi, comics, and video games by imagining himself as different personas. From his vivid imagination, the Time Hunter emerges: a secret agent who infiltrates the imperial core to decolonize tech, incite revolution through hip-hop, and recover lost time stolen from his community.
The Time Hunter’s mission is mirrored in Mushiva’s real-world research as a creative technologist, investigating Germany’s genocide in Namibia and uncovering colonial continuities between past, present, and speculative futures. Guided by Ancestor A.I., a spiritual wayfinding system, Mushiva and the Time Hunter navigate the maze of the diaspora, struggling to protect their identity and complete their mission before time runs out. As the boundary between dreams and reality collapses, they discover that social change hinges on the mutual support of others, letting go of survival mechanisms once they have lost their utility, and placing trust in a world they are determined to transform.
Documentary Film, Film/Moving Image
2026
About Daniel Chein
Carpinteria, CA
Daniel Chein (錢顥) is an independent filmmaker based between Carpinteria and Taipei. Merging ethnographic inquiry, co-creation methodologies, and direct cinema, he is drawn to stories that reveal subtle social dynamics and expressions of diasporic longing in the performative. Daniel is supported by the Princess Grace Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and Field of Vision, to name a few, and his films have screened at dozens of festivals worldwide including the Ann Arbor Festival, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and Champs-Elysées Film Festival. His short film About A Home premiered at the 2021 Slamdance Film Festival and is distributed by Argo. His previous film Basha Man premiered at CAAMFest where it won the Student Film Award. Featured in Filmmaker Magazine ’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” Daniel is a 2023 Sundance Fellow and a 2024 Berlinale Talent. He holds a BA in Anthropology and an MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University, and has taught courses in cinematography, editing, and documentary filmmaking.
Daniel Chein (錢顥) is an independent filmmaker based between Carpinteria and Taipei. Merging ethnographic inquiry, co-creation methodologies, and direct cinema, he is drawn to stories that reveal subtle social dynamics and expressions of diasporic longing in the performative. Daniel is supported by the Princess Grace Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and Field of Vision, to name a few, and his films have screened at dozens of festivals worldwide including the Ann Arbor Festival, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and Champs-Elysées Film Festival. His short film About A Home premiered at the 2021 Slamdance Film Festival and is distributed by Argo. His previous film Basha Man premiered at CAAMFest where it won the Student Film Award. Featured in Filmmaker Magazine ’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” Daniel is a 2023 Sundance Fellow and a 2024 Berlinale Talent. He holds a BA in Anthropology and an MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University, and has taught courses in cinematography, editing, and documentary filmmaking.