Screening of Neptune Frost

Neptune Frost 
(Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman, 2021, 105 min, U.S./Rwanda, DCP)

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. Co-directed with the Rwandan-born artist and cinematographer Anisia Uzeyman.

In the hilltops of Burundi 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.

“Critic’s Pick! Mind-bending.” – The New York Times

"It’s a war cry that’s simultaneously a galvanizing call to action, a message of hope and a reminder that a different world is possible." – Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times

— Preceded by the short film, ALHAMDU | MUSLIM FUTURISM (MIPSTERZ, 2021, 5 min, USA)
An ethnographic montage of a speculative Muslim future where Muslim joy is a form of resistance, a form of liberation. The sheer act of imagining a utopian existence is an act of self-preservation and survival. 

Sponsor: Forum for Scholars and Publics,

Co-Sponsors: Duke Cinematic Arts, Department of African and African American Studies, Duke Arts, Duke Islamic Studies Center

Related event - Wed Sept 7, 7:00pm:
Come out to NorthStar Church of the Arts for a listening session of Saul Williams' albums, "MartyrLoserKing" and "Encrypted & Vulnerable", guided by Dasan Ahanu. We'll listen and break down the lyrics and music and Williams' vision for this Afrofuturist project.