The revolutionary vision of “Neptune Frost” – a politically charged Afrofuturist musical odyssey where Neptune, an intersex runaway, becomes part of an insurgent collective – plays like a social justice dream. For its intrepid filmmakers, hip-hop artist Saul Williams and Rwandan playwright Anisia Uzeyman, the journey to bring their alternative world into reality took nearly a decade and required a band of like-minded artisans capable of translating the narrative’s activist roots into cinematic wonder. “Neptune Frost” isn’t merely a film. It’s an aesthetic statement of intent.
That declaration draws from more than your usual science fiction fare. The Arab spring, African Diaspora movements, centuries of music, and the present blossoming of the continent’s art all influence “Neptue Frost,” a film that fights against exploitation, colonialism, and anti-gay laws.
Following the death of their aunt, Neptune (Elvis “Bobo” Ngabo/Cheryl Isheja) flees from their Rwandan village, crossing bodies of...
That declaration draws from more than your usual science fiction fare. The Arab spring, African Diaspora movements, centuries of music, and the present blossoming of the continent’s art all influence “Neptue Frost,” a film that fights against exploitation, colonialism, and anti-gay laws.
Following the death of their aunt, Neptune (Elvis “Bobo” Ngabo/Cheryl Isheja) flees from their Rwandan village, crossing bodies of...
- 11/11/2022
- by Robert Daniels
- Indiewire
One of the first songs we hear in Neptune Frost, Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman’s perceptive and unusual take on a musical, is a work song. It’s during an early scene set among a group of miners who are busy harvesting the raw materials that will make the technologies of other people from other countries possible. Soon, one of those miners dies — rather, he is killed using the butt of an overseer’s gun. That’s when the mourning starts, particularly from the dead man’s brother Matalusa...
- 6/15/2022
- by K. Austin Collins
- Rollingstone.com
This review of “Neptune Frost” was first published on Jun 2, 2022, before it opened in New York City.
Behold one of the most extraordinarily original cinema experiences of the year: Pulsing with a revolutionary heart, “Neptune Frost,” from co-directors Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman (credited on screen as Swan), indicts the advent of technological advancements that thrive on ignoring the people whose suffering and displacement make those advancements possible.
Grounded on ancestral wisdom while innovative in its imagery, this Afrofuturistic musical flips off neocolonialism, manifested as labor exploitation and the extraction of resources to supply the world with digital communication; miners of coltan, a metal used in the creation of modern technology, are expendable for the capitalist powers of the world.
In this temporally undefined future, Burundi, an East African nation, exists under the rule of the Authority, a tyrannical government that suppresses student protests and manipulates the media to maintain...
Behold one of the most extraordinarily original cinema experiences of the year: Pulsing with a revolutionary heart, “Neptune Frost,” from co-directors Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman (credited on screen as Swan), indicts the advent of technological advancements that thrive on ignoring the people whose suffering and displacement make those advancements possible.
Grounded on ancestral wisdom while innovative in its imagery, this Afrofuturistic musical flips off neocolonialism, manifested as labor exploitation and the extraction of resources to supply the world with digital communication; miners of coltan, a metal used in the creation of modern technology, are expendable for the capitalist powers of the world.
In this temporally undefined future, Burundi, an East African nation, exists under the rule of the Authority, a tyrannical government that suppresses student protests and manipulates the media to maintain...
- 6/9/2022
- by Carlos Aguilar
- The Wrap
If the noblest aim of the artist is to become a vessel for divine connection to creative source, then Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman are truly touched. The sheer amount of hypnotic imagery and music on display in “Neptune Frost,” the film chapter in the multifaceted project “MartyrLoserKing” which includes three albums and a graphic novel, is
In this fantastical Afrofuturist universe, characters with names like Memory and Psychology traipse amongst whimsical sculptural sets, draped in art-piece costumes and makeup so eye-popping it makes the looks on “Euphoria” seem conventional. The music is alive and thrumming, tapped into a twin spirit of joy and protest. While these elements never fully cohere to form a discernible narrative in “Neptune Frost,” there is fun to be had in surrendering to the fluidity of its ingenuity.
Filmed in the hills of Burundi, the dreamlike tale loosely follows a group of gentle hackers building...
In this fantastical Afrofuturist universe, characters with names like Memory and Psychology traipse amongst whimsical sculptural sets, draped in art-piece costumes and makeup so eye-popping it makes the looks on “Euphoria” seem conventional. The music is alive and thrumming, tapped into a twin spirit of joy and protest. While these elements never fully cohere to form a discernible narrative in “Neptune Frost,” there is fun to be had in surrendering to the fluidity of its ingenuity.
Filmed in the hills of Burundi, the dreamlike tale loosely follows a group of gentle hackers building...
- 10/2/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
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