Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? , the film and its story popularized the now- classic cyberpunk conflict about the boundary between human consciousness and artificial intelligence. Working with an innovative art department, director Ridley Scott embraced a look that merged old and new technology; industrial designer, illustrator, and “visual futurist” Syd Mead developed much of the film’s groundbreaking aesthetic. DIRECTED BY: Ridley Scott. WRITTEN BY: Hampton Fancher, David Peoples. WITH: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos. 1982/2007. 117 min. USA/UK. Color. Scope. English. Rated R. 4K DCP.
eXistenZ Sat, Jan 4 | 7:30pm | DGT In person: David Cronenberg
eXistenZ follows virtual reality video game designer Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh), whose new project is sabotaged by activists. Before becoming a filmmaker, director David Cronenberg studied organic chemistry and cell biology, and this resonates in his approach to themes, props, and makeup: players interact with a fleshy controller that connects to their bodies via umbilical-like power cords. Cronenberg’s fifteenth feature considers cyberpunk concepts like biohacking, wearable technologies, body modification, and transhumanism not through mechanical devices but via common organic material, setting the film in dialogue with similar Y2K-era works of cyberpunk cinema like The Matrix (1999). DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: David Cronenberg. WITH: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Ian Holm, Willem Dafoe. 1999. 97 min. UK/France/Canada. Color. English. Rated R. DCP.
Escape from New York in 4K Sat, Jan 18 | 7:30pm | DGT Set in a grim, not-too-distant future where
Manhattan Island has been walled off and converted to a massive prison to deal with a major increase in crime across the United States, John Carpenter’s Escape from New York deals with issues of social unrest, government surveillance, and political corruption. Kurt Russell plays Snake Plissken, a former bank robber and classic antihero who is promised a pardon if he rescues the President of the United States from Manhattan. An early example of cyberpunk cinema, the film developed a dedicated following and influenced later screenwriters and authors including William Gibson ( Neuromancer ). DIRECTED BY: John Carpenter. WRITTEN BY: John Carpenter, Nick Castle. WITH: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence. 1981. 99 min. USA. Color. Scope. English.
Rated R. 4K DCP.
GHOST IN THE SHELL
Ghost in the Shell Fri, Jan 10 | 7:30pm | TMT
This animated adaptation of Shirow Masamune’s manga dives into the networked urban landscape of New Port City, Japan. In the year 2029, technological advancements have allowed humans to optimize their bodies, or “shells,” with physical augmentations. Major Motoko Kusanagi, a full-body synthetic female cyborg, is tasked with tracing the Puppet Master, a cybercriminal mastermind suspected of a nefarious hacking job. Extraordinary photorealistic cityscapes realized through cel animation and computer- generated images are enhanced by an enthralling score by Kawai Kenji to shape the story’s dystopia into a gritty realism. Its prescient symbols and themes resonate in later films by James Cameron ( The Terminator ) and the Wachowskis ( The Matrix ). DIRECTED BY: Oshii Mamoru. WRITTEN BY: Ito Kazunori. WITH: Tanaka Atsuko, Otsuka Akio, Kayumi Iemasa, Yamadera Koichi. 1995. 83 min. Japan/UK. Color. Japanese. DCP.
NEPTUNE FROST
The Last Angel of History with Neptune Frost Thu, Jan 23 | 7:30pm | TMT The Last Angel of History John Akomfrah directed this docufictional essay on the history of Black influences in music and culture that argues the drum was the “first Afrofuturistic technology.” His fellow Black Audio Film Collective member Edward George wrote the script and stars as a time-travelling “Data Thief.” Interviews with Parliament Funkadelic’s George Clinton, trip-hop musician DJ Spooky, and science fiction author Octavia Butler are intermixed with evocations of composer Sun Ra and lo-fi video art in this cutting-edge exploration of late-20th century Black aesthetics. DIRECTED BY: John Akomfrah. WRITTEN BY: Edward George. WITH: Edward George. 1996. 45 min. UK/Germany. Color. English. Not rated. Digital.
Blade Runner: The Final Cut in 4K Fri, Jan 17 | 7:30pm | DGT
Ex-cop Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) hunts down fugitive human-like androids called “replicants” in a dystopian, twenty-first century Los Angeles, one where neon saturates the crowded landscape and traffic woes are quelled by endless skyways for flying vehicles. Based on
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