Neptune Frost

Neptune Frost is a genre-defying, Afro-futurist, sci-fi punk musical created and composed by Saul Williams and co-directed with Rwandan actor Anisia Uzeyman. An electrifying connection between intersex runaway Neptune and coltan miner Matalusa creates a virtual offspring with the potential to ignite a revolution against the authoritarian regime. Made with an entirely Rwandan and Burundian cast and crew, Neptune Frost presents an intoxicatingly original way to explore the role of technology as both oppressor and liberator. Followed by a panel discussion on African cinema and cinephilia.

Saul and I worked side by side on the creation of this project from the beginning. We developed the cinematic language together and he insisted that I would be the DP of Neptune Frost, so I went into deep and long studies and camera tests for two years. I think the freshness of my take and the freedom that goes with it were the key factors. He knew I would dare to push for the so-called impossible. Also, my connection to Rwanda, to music and my feminine gaze are part of the reason it was me… The camera movements were almost choreographed to amplify the ensemble feeling, the dances and the musicality of that universe.

Co-director and Cinematographer Anisia Uzeyman, from an interview with Filmmaker Magazine