Neptune Frost This aesthetically daring science-fiction musical— written and co-directed by artist and musician Saul Williams—opens in the coltan mines of Burundi, East Africa, where laborers extract this precious resource for use in mobile phones, smartwatches, and laptops. Recognizing they’ve been exploited as drastically as their land has been, the laborers form an underground band of anti-colonialist hackers and set up camp in an e-waste dump of obsolescent technologies. A futuristic fable with a powerful punk ethos, this genre-defying work reminds us of the political power we have at our fingertips and our collective responsibility to hold power to account. DIRECTED BY: Saul Williams, Anisia Uzeyman. WRITTEN BY: Saul Williams. WITH: Cheryl Isheja, Elvis Ngabo, Kaya Free, Eliane Umuhire. 2021. 105 min. USA/Rwanda/ France/Canada/UK. Color. Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Swahili, French, English. Not rated. DCP.
social commentary, and the struggles of a human- robot hybrid questioning its past give the story its emotional and philosophical core. The film was nominated for Sound and Film Editing and received a Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing at the Academy Awards. DIRECTED BY: Paul Verhoeven. WRITTEN BY: Edward Neumeier, Michael Miner. WITH: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O’Herlihy, Ronny Cox. 1987. 103 min. USA. Color. English. Rated R. 4K DCP.
Night Raiders Fri, Jan 31 | 7:30pm | TMT
Set in the year 2044, Night Raiders follows Niska (Elle-Májiá Tailfeathers), a Cree woman who joins a resistance group to fight against the totalitarian regime that kidnapped her daughter, Waseese (Brooklyn Letexier-Hart). Director Danis Goulet, who was heavily influenced by Children of Men ’s near-future aesthetic and The Matrix ’s ideas about colonialism, worked closely with cinematographer Daniel Grant to visualize her Indigenous background as a distinct cinematic language. The film’s drones, inspired by mosquitos and military technology, were a collaboration between Goulet, production designer Zazu Myers, and modelers Laird FX; one is currently on view in the museum’s Cyberpunk exhibition, alongside concept art by Goran Delic. DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: Danis Goulet. WITH: Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Brooklyn Letexier-Hart, Alex Tarrant, Amanda Plummer. 2021. 101 min. Canada/New Zealand. Color. English, Cree. Not rated. DCP. World on a Wire ( Welt am Draht ) in 35mm Sat, Feb 1 | 6pm | TMT First conceived for West German television as a two-part miniseries by the extraordinarily prolific filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, World on a Wire leans into the paranoia inherent to a divided country in the rapidly evolving 1970s. Based on Daniel F. Galouye’s American science fiction novel Simulacron-3 (1964), Fassbinder’s tongue-in-cheek adaptation addresses the ethical concerns of simulated reality and the dangers of unchecked technological sentience. A delightfully labyrinthine tale that predates our current fascination with artificial intelligence and machine learning, World on a Wire brings into focus the blurry line between good and evil. DIRECTED BY: Rainer Werner Fassbinder. WRITTEN BY: Fritz Müller-Scherz, Rainer Werner Fassbinder. WITH: Klaus Löwitsch, Barbara Valentin, Mascha Rabben, Karl-Heinz Vosgerau. 1973. 212 min. West Germany. Color. German, English. Not rated. 35mm.
THE TERMINATOR
The Terminator in Dolby Vision Fri, Jan 24 | 7:30pm | DGT
Cyborg hitman T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is sent from the future to kill civilian Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), whose unborn child will one day avert the destruction of mankind by the artificial intelligence technology Skynet. Evoking a post- apocalyptic future in which evil autonomous networks seek world domination, James Cameron’s The Terminator was massively influential in establishing cyberpunk aesthetics and themes of the decade, especially in its anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian spirit. The film’s androids were designed by special effects and makeup artist Stan Winston, whose later work with prosthetics, puppets, and animatronics on Terminator 2: Judgment Day would earn him Academy Awards for both Makeup and Visual Effects. DIRECTED BY: James Cameron. WRITTEN BY: James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd. WITH: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton, Paul Winfield. 1984. 107 min. UK/USA. Color. English. Rated R. 4K DCP.
Akira in 4K Sun, Feb 2 | 2pm | DGT
RoboCop in 4K Sat, Jan 25 | 7:30pm | DGT
Based on the Japanese manga Akira , which ran from 1982 to 1990, this animated feature helped popularize anime and manga in the United States. The story is set in a future rife with political corruption, anti- government protests, gang violence, and acts of terrorism. Atmosphere and style take front seat as the film follows teens in a motorcycle gang trying to evade government agencies after one of their friends
Paul Verhoeven’s sci-fi action film took the excessive, muscle-bound physique of the 1980s American action star and fused it with the burgeoning technology of the day. RoboCop depicts a future in which major corporations control the police and most aspects of daily life. While jaw-dropping practical effects and gore punctuate the action, the screenplay is full of
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