Neptune Frost
Description
Replete with mind-altering visual and sonic imagery, this Afrofuturist mélange of music, poetry, and resistance is hypnotic and visionary. Set in Rwanda, the film depicts a genderqueer community of hackers and techno poets. Though plot is secondary to style and rhythm, there is a young man named Matalusa who mines coltan, an essential ingredient of cell phones. He meets Neptune, a messianic figure able to change genders. Other characters offer bits of wisdom or a simple invitation to put on headphones and join their dance. As one of them observes, “The war forced us into other dimensions,” and Neptune Frost brings a few of those dimensions to vivid life, carving out a bold new vision for Black cinema as it does so.
Rwandan artist Anisia Uzeyman is a playwright, stage director, actor, and filmmaker. Her credits as an actor include roles in Alain Gomis’s Tey (2012) and Guetty Felin’s Ayiti Mon Amour (2016), for which she also served as an associate producer. She has directed music videos for Sons of an Illustrious Father, Mehdi Cayenne, and her partner and Neptune Frost co-director Saul Williams. She shot her first feature, Dreamstates (2016), on an iPhone.
A native of New York state, Saul Williams is an acclaimed slam poet, rap artist, and actor. He has a BA in philosophy and acting from Morehouse College and an MFA in acting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He received a Film Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Debut Performance for his role in Slam (1998). Among his acting credits are parts in King of the Korner (2000), K-PAX (2001), Tey (2012), Dreamstates (2016), and Akilla’s Escape (2020), for which he also composed the score. Neptune Frost is his directing debut.
Trailer
Film Details
Language Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Swahili, French, English
Year 2021
Premiere California
Runtime 105
Country Rwanda, USA
Director Anisia Uzeyman, Saul Williams
Executive Producer Stephen Hendel, Ekaterina Baker, Juliette Pryor, Walter Pryor, Lin-Manuel Miranda
Producer Ezra Miller, Stephen Hendel, Dave Guenette, Maria Judice
Writer Saul Williams
Editor Anisha Acharya
Cinematographer Anisia Uzeyman
Music Saul Williams
Cast Cheryl Isheja, Elvis Ngabo "Bobo," Bertrand Ninteretse "Kaya Free," Eliane Umuhire
Print Source Kino Lorberclemence@kinolorber.com https://www.kinolorber.com/film/neptune-frost
Closed Captions Closed captions are not available for this screening.
Audio Description Audio description is not available for this screening.
American Sign Language (ASL) Interpretation American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation is not currently scheduled for this event. For more information about ASL interpretation at our events, e-mail ADA@SFFilm.org.