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Film

Neptune Frost

2 June 2024

In the Playhouse

Film

Rwanda, USA | 2021 | Kinyarwanda, English, Swahili and French with English subtitles | Sci-Fi

Multi-hyphenate, multidisciplinary artist Saul Williams brings his unique dynamism to this Afrofuturist visionary film. Neptune Frost is a sci-fi punk musical that’s a visually wondrous amalgamation of  Williams’ work, notably his 2016 album MartyrLoserKing.

Receiving world acclaim following it's World Premiere at Cannes Film Festival

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.

Presented by Sydney Opera House

Cast and credits

Director Saul Williams, Anisia Uzeyman
Producer Ezra Miller, Stephen Hendel, Saul Williams
Starring Elvis Ngabo, Cheryl Isheja, Kaya Free

Trailer

Watch the trailer

Other information

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