Neptune Frost
Directed by Saul Williams
Multi-hyphenate, multidisciplinary artist Saul Williams brings his unique dynamism to this Afrofuturist vision, a sci-fi punk musical that’s a visually wondrous amalgamation of themes, ideas, and songs that Williams has explored in his work, notably his 2016 album MartyrLoserKing.
Co-directed with the Rwandan-born artist and cinematographer Anisia Uzeyman, the film takes place in the hilltops of Burundi, where a group of escaped coltan miners form an anti-colonialist computer hacker collective. From their camp in an otherworldly e-waste dump, they attempt a takeover of the authoritarian regime exploiting the region’s natural resources – and its people. When an intersex runaway and an escaped coltan miner find each other through cosmic forces, their connection sparks glitches within the greater divine circuitry. Set between states of being – past and present, dream and waking life, colonized and free, male and female, memory and prescience – Neptune Frost is an invigorating and empowering direct download to the cerebral cortex and a call to reclaim technology for progressive political ends.
In Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Swahili, French, and English with English Subtitles
Runtime: 105 minutes
Directed by: Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman
Written and Composed By: Saul Williams
Executive Produced by: Lin-Manuel Miranda and Stephen Hendel
Starring: Cheryl Isheja, Bertrand Ninteretse “Kaya Free,” Eliane Umuhire, Dorcy Rugamba, Rebecca Mucyo, Trésor Niyongabo, Eric Ngangare “1Key,” Natacha Muziramakenga, Elvis Ngabo “Bobo,”with the special participation of Cécile Kayirebwa
