develops dangerously powerful telekinetic abilities. Adapted for the screen and directed by the manga’s creator, Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira is often referred to as one of the earliest examples of the Japanese cyberpunk subgenre. DIRECTED BY: Katsuhiro Otomo. WRITTEN BY: Katsuhiro Otomo, Izo Hashimoto. WITH: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, Tessho Genda. 1988. 124 min. Japan. Color. Japanese. Rated R. 4K DCP.
TETSUO: THE IRON MAN
Tetsuo: The Iron Man Sat, Feb 9 | 2pm | TMT
Dubbed “a cyberpunk Eraserhead ” in Michael J. Weldon’s 1983 book The Psychotronic Video Guide , this defining Japanese cyberpunk film melds Cronenbergian body horror and Lynchian surrealism for a manic, man-versus-machine Tilt- a-Whirl. In a tech-age update to Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis , an office worker wakes up to find he’s becoming a machine, a reality that sends him on a tear of ultraviolence. Unavailable theatrically for over thirty years, this new digital restoration showcases the no-holds-barred cinematography of filmmaker Shinya Tsukamoto and star Kei Fujiwara; it’s an in-your-face excess of underground ethics and DIY spirit. DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: Shinya Tsukamoto. WITH: Tomorowo Taguchi, Kei Fujiwara, Nobu Kanaoka, Shinya Tsukamoto. 1989. 67 min. Japan. B&W, Color. Japanese. Not rated. DCP.
SLEEP DEALER
Sleep Dealer in 35mm Mon, Feb 3 | 7:30pm | TMT In person: Alex Rivera In Sleep Dealer , director Alex Rivera imagines a future in which workers and their labor are separated by technology. His film follows a Mexican “node” factory worker named Memo Cruz (Luis Fernando Peña) in a militarized Tijuana. Using headwear that muzzles his mouth and wires connected to ports in his arms, Memo controls robots across the US border in a dystopian vision of migrant labor. Rivera and production designer Miguel Ángel Álvarez created props crafted with store-bought materials to represent high-tech devices. The film’s future world maintains a realistic lo-fi aesthetic, suggesting this dystopian future is imaginable from the present. DIRECTED BY: Alex Rivera. WRITTEN BY: Alex Rivera, David Riker. WITH: Luis Fernando Peña, Leonor Varela, Jacob Vargas, Metztli Adamina. 2008. 88 min. Mexico/USA. Color. Spanish, English. Rated PG-13. 35mm. Collection print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
The Matrix in Dolby Vision Sat, Feb 15 | 7:30pm | DGT
This film by writer-directors The Wachowskis, inspired by (and named for) the virtual world in William Gibson’s 1984 novel Neuromancer , envisions a dystopian future where humans are trapped in a virtual reality simulation while AI machines harvest their bodies for energy. Cyberpunk themes blend with stylistic elements from anime and Hong Kong action cinema as computer hacker Neo and a group of rebels fight against the machines to free humankind. A critical and box-office hit, the film won Oscars for Film Editing, Sound, Sound Effects Editing, and Visual Effects. It also spawned numerous sequels, comics, video games, and a series of acclaimed animated shorts. DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: The Wachowskis. WITH: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving. 1999. 137 min. USA. Color. Scope. English. Rated R. 4K DCP.
Ex Machina Sat, Feb 8 | 2pm | TMT
Cyborg Ava (Alicia Vikander) is programmed to beat the Turing test, a method of distinguishing artificial intelligence from human intelligence. Director Alex Garland, working with the art department and special and visual effects teams, presents Ava as nearly human in her movements and expressions, even though her circuitry is exposed. A chilling exploration of female agency and the concepts of consciousness, purpose, and destiny, Ex Machina emerges as a story deeply concerned with power vis-à-vis humanity and its creations. The machines may be winning, but who created the machines? Ava’s deceivingly realistic silicone face and chrome skull can be found in the museum’s Cyberpunk exhibition. DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: Alex Garland. WITH: Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Sonoya Mizuno, Oscar Isaac. 2014. 108 min. UK/USA. Color. Scope. English. Rated R. DCP.
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