Akira | 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.
Based on the Japanese manga Akira, which ran from 1982 to 1990, this animated feature helped popularize anime and manga in the United States. The story is set in a future rife with political corruption, anti-government protests, gang violence, and acts of terrorism. Atmosphere and style take front seat as the film follows teens in a motorcycle gang trying to evade government agencies after one of their friends 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.
