Black Panther 2 is imminent, but in many ways the extraordinary Neptune Frost is the real Afrofuturist deal: a transgressive socialist Wakanda with an exoskeleton of punk geopolitics bolted on. As well as a denunciation of the western techno-centric order, it’s a musical lesson in conscious collaboration between the developed and developing world that Hollywood could learn from – instead of just piggybacking on African aesthetics. Filmed in Rwanda but set in Burundi, the story was developed by US musician Saul Williams – drawing on material from his recent albums – and his Rwandan wife Anisia Uzeyman; they share the directorial credit.
A near-future alt.Burundi gets its own Ziggy Stardust: Neptune (Elvis Ngabo), a gaunt outcast who likes wearing high heels and wanders the countryside in search of “fourth dimensional libations”. Shepherded by a priestess praying to the “Motherboard”, he transitions to become an elegant, red-gowned woman (Cheryl Isheja), who then hooks up with fugitive coltan miner Matalusa (Bertrand Ninteretse, AKA Burundian rapper Kaya Free), head of the hackers’ village collective of Digitaria. Their band of revolutionaries is facing off against the Authority, an oppressive regime who enforce the mineral and bodily exploitation of the locals.
