Night Raiders | Cyberpunk: Envisioning Possible Futures Through Cinema
Join the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures for a film series featuring cyberpunk films like The Matrix, Ex Machina, Blade Runner and more! These films accompany the museum’s PST ART: Art & Science Collide exhibition Cyberpunk: Envisioning Possible Futures Through Cinema. Cyberpunk, a subgenre of science fiction, first appeared in the early 1980s and uniquely captured the anxieties of that decade. Featuring near-future scenarios set in worlds that resemble our own, cyberpunk stories juxtapose technological advances with social upheaval, ecological crisis, and urban decay.
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.
