Photos taken by Zendrah Bonnick, assistant news editor, January 22, image of title screen for film Neptune Frost, text in photos reads Neptune Frost.
Image IMG_4398, courtesy of IMDB, https://m.imdb.com/title/tt11873472/, designed by Xan Black for use in film Neptune Frost by Kino Lorber, 2022
Zendrah Bonnick Assistant News Editor
On the night of Jan. 22, Manhattan University (MU) students and faculty gathered on the first floor of the O’Malley Library for a screening of the 2022 film, Neptune Frost, directed by Anisia Uzeyman and Saul Williams. The event was hosted by multiple clubs, consisting of the Black Student Union (BSU), the Rainbow Jaspers, the Pride Center and the MU Film Society.
The film Neptune Frost follows its protagonist Neptune, an intersex person and escaped coltan miner. Coltan is a mineral ore used in technology like cellphones and computers. Neptune is portrayed by actors Cheryl Isheja and Elvis Ngabo. The film explores various themes such as gender, marginalization, anti-colonialism and revolution through punk music in an Afrofuturist setting. The most prevalent theme in the film, however, is the continued colonial exploitation of African countries for minerals. The movie is set in Burundi.
Sienna Gallus, a junior psychology major and women and gender studies student at MU, discussed how she pitched the film while working as a student worker for the Pride Center.
“I pitched this as a film we can do with BSU, because I saw [Neptune Frost] in high school,” Gallus said.
She discussed having previously seen the film, what elements of the story stood out to her, and led her to suggest Neptune Frost.
“The gender binary is deconstructed by [the film],” Gallus said. “There is a different representation of how people can show up, without gender defining that. And it’s an aesthetic you have never seen. I feel like the Afrofuturist punk aesthetic is not super mainstream.”
Ashley Karlosky, a junior communication major and president of the Rainbow Jaspers, gave a statement on what she hopes those in attendance of the event gained from the experience.
“Our overall goal is exposure and understanding, and this movie was just another step into a beautiful direction that we hope to continue,” Karlosky said.
Rocco Marinaccio, Ph.D., and director of the Pride Center, spoke with The Quadrangle about this event, commenting on how the collaboration between clubs came to be.
“We’ve had conversations with BSU about collaborating on an event, and so we thought this would be a perfect film for that event,” Marinaccio said. “Since we were doing a film, we invited the Film Society as well.”
Later, Vivian Nartey, a senior communication major and co-president of the BSU, discussed the club’s reaction to the invitation to collaborate, as both clubs have been awaiting an opportunity to partner.
“We received an email from the Pride Center, a while ago, just kind of talking about a collab, and wanting to do some sort of film screening, and we were definitely on board,” Nartey said.
Marinaccio went on to describe upcoming plans for the BSU, Pride Center and Rainbow Jaspers to collaborate again.
“We will be doing another collaboration with the BSU, the Department of English and World Languages in Literature, later on in the semester,” Marinaccio said.
“There is an exhibit at the New York Historical Museum, and it’s on the gay Harlem Renaissance. So, we think that’s a great event for all of us to collaborate on,” Marinaccio elaborated.
Nartey also shared plans for upcoming film events for the BSU.
“I think we’re going to do another film screening for Black History Month,” Nartey said.
Karlosky went on to describe what she hopes attendees will take away from films and collaborative events like these.
“I think now more than anything we need to forget about labels that separate us, even more when it comes to being a minority,” Karlosky said. “I think right now it’s just a time when there is so much oppression, and so many unjust things happening to so many communities … We hope to collaborate more in the future, and this was just a step in that direction. Our overall goal is acceptance, because we’re all up against the same thing, and I think that’s what really matters to us. That’s why we do these initiatives.”