"Neptune Frost" / "Stolt og høylytt"

In the modern African cult film Neptune Frost, the 23-year-old hacker Neptune turns his back on the Burundian community in which he grew up, a community dependent on the mining of raw materials for the global technology industry. Together with his companions, he drifts between parallel realities, carving out his own space in the world of digital technology.

The film is a visually captivating abstract journey with strong political messages about both global power and gender. Following its release for general audiences in the USA in summer 2022, Neil Kulkarni, a music journalist for WIRE magazine, described it as “(…) a film I’m still reeling from, because like any masterpiece, it’s less about the answers it gives than the questions it raises.”

A renowned poet and rapper in New York with a long career in the independent hip-hop scene, Saul Williams has given several concerts in Oslo. His co-director Anisia Uzeyman was born and raised in Rwanda. This is her fifth film.

Stolt og høylytt

As a supporting film to Neptune Frost, we present Stolt og høylytt (Proud and Loud), a series of five short film portraits. The series was commissioned by the organisation for queer Muslims, Salam, in collaboration with Mental Helse Ungdom.

The series introduces you to:

Keyse, 42, non-binary: “When I was growing up in Somalia, there were no queers. Certainly none that I know of.”

Mabell, 30, gender non-conforming, queer: “It’s been a bit difficult growing up as someone who needs a lot of labels. It’s almost a bit ironic. I’m not really that fond of labels because people have been sticking them on me all my life.”

Maruwa, 30, Eritrean / Norwegian, Muslim, queer: “Being black and queer, it gives me pride in myself, and pride in what I’ve managed to achieve.”

Stephen, 28, queer: “Just being queer is so unique, and being black is so unique, it brings so much culture into society.”

Sam, 22, trans man: “A human is a human. I’m human.”

Curator and writer Lara Okafor will introduce the film. This screening is part of the film series MY VOICE YOU CAN’T HEAR / DEN STEMMEN DU VIL IKKE HØRE, a collaboration between the National Museum and Transcultural Arts Production (TrAP), in connection with Queer Culture Year.