Philip K Dick Science Fiction Film Festival Announces 2024 Lineup

The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its eleventh annual season. The festival will be held from Thursday, April 4 through Sunday, April 7, across Manhattan and Queens. Passes are available here.

“Philip K. Dick’s themes explore our humanity and relational stance with technology,” says founder and director Daniel Abella. “He taught us to embrace our inherent qualities and capacity to make the world a better place. Whether it’s UFOs, the rapid growth of AI and genetic engineering, or everyday factors such as pain, sadness, and grief, our festival serves as a medium for his work.”

Noted for his roles in Full Metal Jacket (1987) and Netflix’s Stranger Things (2016-22), Matthew Modine will appear at the screening of I Am What You Imagine, on Thursday, April 4. In addition, Arnold Chun, who starred in the Amazon adaptation of PKD’s novel The Man in the High Castle (2015-19), will attend the presentation of Purgy’s on Saturday, April 6.

As life continues to be as unpredictable as ever, the festival remains committed to offering important lessons through entertainment. “Science fiction is a mindset,” said Abella. “The boundaries between the genre and real life are quickly evaporating, and while PKD bemoaned how sci-fi was regarded as ‘pulp fiction,’ he would be very proud to know that his works are part of the literary canon, and serve as a preview into our very near future.”

The festival film schedule follows the jump.

[Based on a press release.]

Continue reading

2022 Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival Award Winners

The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival has announced the award winners for its tenth anniversary season. The event was held from December 15-18 at venues in Manhattan and Queens. 

BEST PHILIP K. DICK FEATURE

Capsules (2022)

  • Director: Luke Momo
  • Run Time/Country: 70 min, USA
  • Synopsis: After experimenting with mysterious substances, four chem students find themselves addicted in the worst way possible: they’ll die unless they take more.

BEST SUPERNATURAL FEATURE

Impuratus (2022)

  • Director: Michael Yurinko
  • Run Time/Country: 134 min, USA
  • Synopsis: Circa 1930: A police detective is summoned to a remote mental hospital to witness a death-bed confession from a mysterious Civil War soldier that will have him question the validity of the supernatural.

BEST DOCUMENTARY

A Tear in the Sky (2021)

  • Director: Caroline Cory
  • Run Time/Country: 90 min, USA
  • Synopsis: An unprecedented journey into the UFO / UAP phenomenon. A team of military personnel, scientists and special guest William Shatner will attempt to re-capture, in real time, the US Navy “TicTac” UFOs, using state-of-the-art, military-grade equipment and technology. What they find instead are thought-provoking clues into the true nature of the UFO phenomenon and the very fabric of our spacetime reality.

BEST SCI-FI HORROR

Site 13 (2021)

  • Director: Nathan Faudree
  • Run Time/Country: 87 min, USA
  • Synopsis: When Dr. Nathan Marsh awakens from a catatonic state in a mental institution, he must relive his last expedition by watching tapes from the site visit, only to discover he’s unleashed an unstoppable horror.

BEST SCI-FI SHORT

Faith (2022)

  • Director: Carol Butron
  • Run Time/Country: 19 min, Spain
  • Synopsis: When just a small child, Teresa has to face the disappearance of her best friend, Lucas. After many years and without having forgotten him, Teresa begins to have a hunch that Lucas is alive, but in another dimension.

BEST PHILIP K. DICK SHORT

Red Gaia (2022)

  • Director: Udesh Chetty
  • Run Time/Country: 13 min, South Africa
  • Synopsis: Alone on the dying red planet, among the ruins of human civilization, one last android desperately guards the last essences of life. In her pursuit for meaning, she finds her own soul hanging in the balance. Red Gaia is a tone-poem meditation on life, death and rebirth, destruction and creation and the cycles of existence, drawing inspiration from the Bhagavad Gita, Dante’s Purgatorio, the Kabballah, the Tibetan Bardol Thodol.

BEST SINGULARITY SCI-FI SHORT

Motherload (2022)

  • Director: Sebastien Landry
  • Run Time/Country: 9 min, Canada
  • Synopsis: An alien, borrowing the body of a human mother-to-be, is confronted by fear and uncertainty as its offspring grows inside her.

BEST SUPERNATURAL SHORT

Blue Fire (2021)

  • Director: Nick Ronan
  • Run Time/Country: 20 min, USA
  • Synopsis: Deep in the snowy Blue Mountains, two damaged lives come crashing back together when they discover something in the forest not of this world.

BEST ISOLATION IN SCI-FI SHORT

Night (2022)

  • Director: Frank Sun
  • Run Time/Country: 20 min, USA
  • Synopsis: A man arrives to a friend’s apartment and hears sounds from outside his window…but is it real? 

BEST CULTURE IN SCI-FI SHORT

Mirror Man (2021)

  • Director: Ginew Benton
  • Run Time/Country: 5 min, USA
  • Synopsis: A Native police officer, who is doubting her traditional faith, is called to a possible burglary but is met by a supernatural entity that leads her to a buried secret.

BEST ANIMATION

Afro-Algorithms (2022)

  • Director: Anatola Araba
  • Run Time/Country: 15 min, USA
  • Synopsis: In a distant future, an artificial intelligence named Aero is inaugurated as the world’s first AI leader. However, she soon finds that important world views are missing from her databank, including the stories of the historically marginalized and oppressed.

BEST WEB SERIES

Neoshin Episode 01: Cold Blood (2022)

  • Director: Sebastian Selg, Ramon Schauer
  • Run Time/Country: 5 min, Germany
  • Synopsis: After the invention of CRYONIC REALITY (CR) by EDEN Association, world leaders chose to discontinue the counting of time in 2073 and proclaimed the final year 2073X. CR is a virtual world of utopia that people can access to escape the bleak reality. When influencer AYUKO heads to a concert of her favourite band NEOSHIN in CR, she has no idea that a virtual virus will change her life forever.

BEST TRAILER

Chaska (2022 Trailer)

  • Director: Liz Guarracino
  • Run Time/Country: 2 min, USA01
  • Synopsis: How would you feel if you found out the U.S. Government created ancestry .com to catch a single being?

BEST VIRTUAL REALITY

Fortune Teller (2022)

  • Director: Brian Abraham
  • Run Time/Country: 5 min, USA
  • Synopsis: A fortune teller who’s down on her luck mistakenly summons the ghost of her ex-husband, revealing secrets that spell her doom. VR180 narrative horror/thriller short film. 

BEST SCI-FI SCREENPLAY

Black Cross

Writer: Korea Black, Gianna Rose

BEST SCI-FI PROTOTYPING SCREENPLAY

Emergent

Writer: Alan Mah Baxter

BEST SCI-FI GRAPHIC NOVEL

Moriarty

Writer/Artist: Daniel Corey

BEST SCI-FI SUPERNATURAL SCREENPLAY

Sacred Sun

Writer: Michael Louis Gould

BEST SCI-FI SHORT FORMAT SCREENPLAY

Sven

Writer: Jesse Dorian

HONORABLE MENTION:

Bunker: The Last Fleet

Writer: Rowan Pullen, Stephen Potter

About The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival:

“The core of my writing is not art but truth.” – Philip K. Dick

The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival, which launched in 2012 as New York City’s first and only festival of its kind, celebrates its 10th anniversary season. The festival honors the enduring legacy of novelist Philip K. Dick, whose enormously effective works composed of fictional universes, virtual realities, technological uprising, dystopian worlds and human mutation served as a significant observation of the current state of society. Organized by individuals and filmmakers who understand the difficulties and challenges of presenting unique narratives in a corporate environment, the festival embraces original concepts and alternative approaches to storytelling in the form of independent science fiction, horror, supernatural, fantasy and metaphysical films. Since 2013, the festival has held additional gatherings in France, Germany, Poland, Rotterdam, and Los Angeles. The event was included as one of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World by MovieMaker Magazine in 2022.

[Based on a press release.]

Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival Announces 2022 Lineup

The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its tenth annual season. The festival will be held from Thursday, December 15 through Sunday, December 18, across Manhattan and Queens. Passes are available here.

Events include film and documentary screenings, virtual reality demonstrations, and post-film discussions. As a platform for exploring the evolution of science and technology, the festival showcases a variety of themes associated with independent storytelling. 

“Think of this as the coming attractions of tomorrow’s world, with each film exploring the intersection of technology and culture, all set within the framework of Philip K. Dick’s vision,” said the festival’s founder and director Daniel Abella. “Science fiction opens the doors of imagination and the ‘what if’s’ of life. Through the power of technology, the boundaries of real life and the genre we love continue to be blurred. While science fiction is a respectable form of literary and cinematic fiction, we must also comprehend its message and brace for what’s to come.”

The festival film schedule follows the jump.

[Based on a press release.]

Continue reading

2021 Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival Award Winners

The 2021 Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival has announced the award winners for its ninth annual. The event was held in-person September 17-18 in Manhattan and virtually on September 19.

BEST PHILIP K. DICK FEATURE

  • Lunamancer (2021) — WORLD PREMIERE
  • Director: Noah Mucci
  • Run Time/Country: 70 min, USA
  • Synopsis: A scientist battles an otherworldly Lunamancer for the soul of his sister, armed only with his faith and a crowbar. Starring Nicki Clyne (Battlestar Galactica).

BEST SUPERNATURAL FEATURE

  • The Unhealer (2020)
  • Director: Martin Guigui
  • Run Time/Country: 92 min, USA
  • Synopsis: A botched faith healing on a bullied teenager bestows Native American powers that “reflect” any attempted physical harm back on his aggressor. When his lifelong tormentors pull a prank that kills someone he loves, he uses his powers for revenge and goes on a bloody rampage to settle the score. Starring Lance Henriksen (Aliens) and Natasha Henstridge (Species).

BEST DOCUMENTARY

  • Origin of the Species (2020)
  • Director: Abigail Child
  • Run Time/Country: 92 min, USA
  • Synopsis: An experimental feature documentary that explores current realities of android development with a focus on human/machine relations, gender & the ethical implications of this research. The film records cutting edge laboratories in Japan & the USA where scientists attempt to make robots move, speak & look human. These scientists & their discoveries are contextualized with cinematic & pop culture references, to underline the mythic, comic & uncanny aspects of our aspirations.

BEST PHILIP K. DICK SHORT

  • Pa Pa (2019)
  • Director: Douglas Petrie
  • Run Time/Country: 14 min, USA
  • Synopsis: A lonely mechanic builds a mechanical boy – and becomes an unlikely father to his own creation. Directed by the executive producer of HBO’s The Nevers and starring Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption).

BEST DIVERSITY IN SCI-FI SHORT

  • The Last Starship (2020)
  • Director: Eric Haywood
  • Run Time/Country: 18 min, USA
  • Synopsis: After most of the human race has evacuated earth and relocated to a new world across the galaxy, a group of survivors forms a desperate plan to escape our planet and join the rest of humanity…but the plan comes with a significant risk. Directed by the co-executive producer of NBC’s Manifest and starring Grace Byers (Empire), Jack Coleman (Heroes), and Loretta Devine (Family Reunion).

BEST SCI-FI SHORT

  • The Immortal (2020)
  • Director: Carl Firth
  • Run Time/Country: 20 min, Australia
  • Synopsis: A man who fears death discovers the secret of immortality, but learns that eventually, everything dies – everything except him.

BEST ESCHATON, SINGULARITY AND BEYOND SHORT

  • diff (2019)
  • Director: Keitaro Fujimori
  • Run Time/Country: 27 min, Japan
  • Synopsis: Astronaut Anna awakes on Earth alone after an accident on the surface of the moon. As she undergoes rehabilitation with her attending physician and trainer, she slowly remembers. Yet the differences between her present self and her recollected memories trouble her. Anna eventually learns the truth about her accident.

BEST SUPERNATURAL SHORT

  • Koreatown Ghost Story (2021)
  • Director: Minsun Park, Teddy Tenenbaum
  • Run Time/Country: 15 min, USA
  • Synopsis: In this supernatural horror tale based on a Korean ritual, a woman entertains a macabre marriage offer that would let her pursue her dreams, for better or for much much worse. Starring Grammy and Emmy-nominated standup comedian Margaret Cho, and Lyrica Okano (Marvel’s Runaways).

BEST ISOLATION IN SCI-FI SHORT

  • Routine (2020)
  • Director: Russ Emanuel
  • Run Time/Country: 4 min, USA
  • Synopsis: A film about Cassie and her life during a pandemic, one of quarantine, routines, monotony, consistency, day in, day out – that is, until she runs out of coffee.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

  • The Dark Odyssey (2020)
  • Director: Michael Lavine
  • Run Time/Country: 9 min, USA
  • Synopsis: A brave captain and his faithful mate transport a captive warrior, who holds The Inventory of The Mind, across the interstellar line. When their ship is forced to navigate an asteroid field, their mission is jeopardized.

BEST WEB SERIES

  • Super Science Friends (2020)
  • Director: Brett Jubinville
  • Run Time/Country: 24 min, Canada
  • Synopsis: A group of super powered scientists are sent through time by Winston Churchill to fight nazis.

BEST TRAILER

  • Come On, Harleen (2020)
  • Director: Christopher Leong
  • Run Time/Country: 2 min, USA
  • Synopsis: As grad student, Harleen Quinzel researches a newly deceased Joker for her thesis, she soon uncovers the commonality she shares with Gotham’s most-feared; spiraling back into the darkness of her own private and tortured past.

BEST VIRTUAL REALITY

  • GEIMU: A Live-Action VR Film
  • Director: Dorian Goto Stone
  • Country: Japan
  • Synopsis: Emi, a gamer, and her friend Hiroshi illegally hack together her gaming console and her AI device (like a Google Home or Amazon Alexa) and then enter the virtual reality RPG (role-playing-game) game world that the AI creates, set in medieval Japan. As they progress in the game, it becomes increasingly glitchy and weird and it becomes evident that Emi and her friend’s lives may be in danger from a deviant AI.

BEST PHILIP K. DICK SCREENPLAY

  • Future-Human: A Documentary
  • Writer: Noel David Taylor
  • Country: USA

BEST SCI-FI PROTOTYPING SCREENPLAY

  • The Hammer Falls
  • Writer: Travis Heermann
  • Country: USA

BEST SCI-FI SCREENPLAY

  • JoinWith.Me
  • Writer: Mike Meier

BEST SUPERNATURAL SCREENPLAY

  • Lizard People
  • Writer: Christopher J. Hall
  • Country: USA

BEST SHORT SCREENPLAY

  • Ads Attraction
  • Writer: Brenden Hubbard, Damon Russell
  • Country: USA

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL

  • Monitor
  • Writer: Damian Wampler
  • Country: USA

The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival launched in 2012 as New York City’s first and only festival of its kind. The festival honors the enduring legacy of novelist Philip K. Dick, whose enormously effective works composed of fictional universes, virtual realities, technological uprising, dystopian worlds and human mutation served as a significant observation of the current state of society. Organized by individuals and filmmakers who understand the difficulties and challenges of presenting unique narratives in a corporate environment, the festival embraces original concepts and alternative approaches to storytelling in the form of independent science fiction, horror, supernatural, fantasy and metaphysical films. Since 2013, the festival has held additional gatherings in France, Germany, Poland, Rotterdam, and Los Angeles.

[Based on a press release.]

Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival Announces 2021 Lineup

The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its ninth annual season. It will be a hybrid event. With theaters safely opened for screenings, the live portion of the festival will run exclusively at the Producers Club Theaters in Midtown Manhattan  on Friday, September 17th and Saturday, September 18th. The festival will stream virtually on Sunday, September 19th. Passes are available here.

Events include film screenings featuring 120 official selections, post-film discussions, virtual reality, and screenplay and graphic novel competitions. As a platform for exploring the evolution of science and technology, the festival showcases a variety of themes associated with independent storytelling.

“There is nothing like the thrill of a live festival,” said Daniel Abella, the founder and director of the event. “Our city has always been a beacon of life with a high concentration on art and film, and we are excited to once again be here in-person. We believe the festival will offer a ray of hope for those seeking inspiration out of the darkness we’ve all been through, because there is no better way to achieve that than viewing the extraordinary work of filmmakers who explore science fiction through the prism of their cultures and beliefs. This festival is a testament to their contributions and to the support of our wonderful audience.”

This year’s lineup consists of 6 features, 95 shorts, 16 screenplay and graphic novel entries, 3 virtual reality demonstrations, and spans 21 countries.

The opening night film will be the World Premiere of Noah Mucci’s Lunamancer about a scientist, armed with only his faith and a crowbar, who enters battle with an otherworldly entity for the soul of his sister. Other highlights on September 17th include the short film DAWN directed by Nona Catusanu, Katherine Castro, and Liza Gipsova about a woman living in the waning days of a post-apocalyptic world, and Samuel Krebs’ The Whooper Returns, a feature film that blends horror with costume performance art when estranged siblings must defend their haunted childhood home from a sinister band of cosplayers.

Alongside a slate of interactive VR, The Last Starship from renowned producer Eric Haywood about a group of survivors who must relocate to a new world, and Between Waves from Virginia Abramovich about a woman who searches for her missing lover through parallel dimensions, will both bow on September 18th.

Then, Martin Guigui’s The Unhealer will serve as the closing night presentation. The feature follows a bullied teen who exacts revenge against his tormentors by using his powers to reverse any attempted physical harm onto his aggressors.

Titles on September 19th include Franz, an animated short from Tom Geibel-Lane about the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, Carlo Ballauri’s The Recycling Man which depicts a boy immobilized in a wheelchair who spies on his neighbors from across a courtyard, and No One’s Listening, a timely film directed by Juan Carlos Castaneda about two dark-skinned immigrants whose execution by a gang of white countrymen is intervened by a ghostly deaf woman with supernatural powers. The experimental documentary Origin of the Species by Abigail Child will explore the realities of android development, while Naeri Do’s TRANS about a girl who conducts an electrical baptism to become a transhuman, will close out the virtual event.

Citing PKD’s foresight of world events, many official selections reflect the ongoing circumstances of COVID-19. “There is no doubt that we entered the PKD universe with the pandemic,” said Abella. “A number of films have either anticipated the pandemic or show its consequences. What makes our festival so unique is that we’ve always looked for films that served as warnings, which is exactly what much of PKD’s work is about. As opposed to other sci-fi writers whose stories usually take place in the far future, PKD focused on the near future. He embraced vigilance and critical thinking and offered us ways to resolve our dilemmas.”

The September 18th screening of PROJECT-19 directed by Randy Scott Slavin, is among several films that drew inspiration from the global crisis. That film about a six-year-old engineering genius made use of its confined surroundings as it was filmed at the height of quarantine with the participation of the director’s family. On September 19th, the festival will present Lockdown: The Doctor Who Fans’ Survival Guide directed by Roger Christopher Stevens and hosted by Sophie Aldred, which shows the uniquely personal videos of fans of the popular BBC series and how they coped during the many months of isolation. Then, a character in Russ Emanuel’s Routine shakes up her monotonous lifestyle during quarantine when she runs out of coffee and will do anything to get her hands on another cup, while Sara Caldwell and Walter Gorey’s Glitch explores the chilling ramifications of a single mother’s new assignment while working from home.

For the second year in a row, the festival will hold its science fiction, supernatural, and sci-fi prototyping screenplay competition. “We are looking at scripts that focus on the nuts and bolts of creating an entire sci-fi world,” said Abella, who wants to show festival-goers the precision and accuracy necessary to the craft of screenwriting. “Rather than just prioritizing high concept premises, each of these screenplays deal with originality, characterization, and psychological dimensions on a more granular scale. It is important to note that when telling a good story, the smallest of details truly do matter.” In addition, the festival will introduce a graphic novel category and allow fans to experience even more exceptional narrative styles. “Graphic novels are at the intersection of multiple skills because they include storytelling, illustration, and design,” he said. “As a great starting point to show one’s work, we hope that this medium encourages more writers to become involved in the filmmaking process.”

As life continues to be as unpredictable as ever, the festival remains committed to showcasing various forms of media that emphasize the importance of sci-fi and its lessons for humanity. “Our most challenging moments can be our most fertile as well,” said Abella. “We have come face-to-face with the most basic human conditions and through our shared experiences, the time has come to grow and rebuild our community to be as strong as it has ever been.”

The festival film schedule follows the jump.

[Based on a press release.]

Continue reading

2020 Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival Winners

The 2020 Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival has announced the award winners for its 8th annual event which featured a lineup of screenings, premieres, panels, virtual reality demonstrations, and the launch of a new screenplay competition held in honor of acclaimed novelist Philip K. Dick. The festival was held from March 4-8, 2020 at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, NY and recognized nine films and three screenplays for their outstanding filmmaking and storytelling.

“The festival presented an impressive selection of films that opened doors to the possibilities of imagination,” said founder and director Daniel Abella. “With a focus on the impact of technology and our evolving humanity, much attention was paid to the ideas of Philip K. Dick including what it means to be human and the future of our universe.”

Award winners of The 2020 Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival:

BEST PHILIP K. DICK FEATURE

  • Majic (2019)
  • Director: Erin Berry
  • Run Time/Country: 82 min, USA
  • Synopsis: In Washington, DC on the eve of the 2008 presidential election, Bernwood, an anti-conspiracy video blogger meets with an old man claiming to have worked for the legendary Majestic-12 (aka “Majic”), a secret U.S. spy agency created after the UFO incident at Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. So begins her trip down the rabbit hole looking for answers as reality as she knows it, or knew it, begins to unravel.

BEST DRAMATIC FEATURE

  • Imperial Blue (2019)
  • Director: Dan Moss
  • Run Time/Country: 93 min, UK/Uganda
  • Synopsis: Hugo Winter, a roguish American drug smuggler is on a quest for a mysterious African drug called Bulu which gives the user the powers of prophecy. In Uganda, he meets two sisters who can help him find the source of Bulu, but they have competing agendas. Kisakye, a devout Christian, wants to sell the drug to save her village, whereas Angela, a criminal hustler, is only interested in getting rich quick. As Hugo follows them deeper into the jungle, he begins to doubt whether his prophetic visions are leading him to death or glory.

BEST DOCUMENTARY

  • A Brief History of Time Travel (2018)
  • Director: Gisella Bustillos
  • Run Time/Country: 68 min, USA
  • Synopsis: There’s one thing that Star Trek and Doctor Who fandoms have in common: time travel. This documentary takes you on a journey through the evolution of time travel from its origins and influence in science fiction to the exciting possibilities technology could yet uncover. Featuring interviews with Dr. Ronald Mallet (How To Build a Time Machine), Bill Nye (Bill Nye the Science Guy), Ted Chiang (writer of Story of Your Life), and Wanda Gregory (Director of Digital Technology and Culture at the University of Washington).

BEST PHILIP K. DICK SHORT

  • Beyond the Door (2018)
  • Director: Hekla Egilsdottir
  • Run Time/Country: 13 min, Iceland
  • Synopsis: A stagnant young couple named Noi and Irma are dealing with Irma’s depression. Noi buys Irma a cuckoo clock, reminiscent of the one her mother used to have when she was a child, in an attempt to cheer her. Irma’s monotonous, stay-at-home life takes a sudden turn with the introduction of her newfound friend, the cuckoo. Based on a short story by Philip K. Dick.

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT

  • Wide Awake in Bridgewater (2018)
  • Director: Erik Lee
  • Run Time/Country: 15 min, USA
  • Synopsis: In 1968, 18-year-old Michael Gates and Monica Dupré are enjoying an afternoon in the countryside when she disappears. Fifty-one years later, elderly Michael starts receiving phone messages from her, and he discovers what happened on that fateful day.

BEST HORROR SHORT

  • Love Bite (2019)
  • Director: Charles de Lauzirika
  • Run Time/Country: 15 min, USA
  • Synopsis: Taking refuge in an abandoned cargo truck during the Zombie Apocalypse, a dysfunctional couple and their dog find their lives on the line when they make a deadly bet over how the undead virus spreads. Is a simple love bite now a death sentence? And how far will someone go to be proven right? Directed by the producer of Blade Runner: The Final Cut (2007).

BEST WEB SERIES

  • SIL and the Devil Seeds of Arodor (2019)
  • Director: Keith Barnfather
  • Run Time/Country: 15 min, UK
  • Synopsis: A web series based on concepts from the BBC series Doctor Who. SIL is worried, very worried, which doesn’t keep his reptilian skin in the best condition. Confined in a cold detention cell on the moon, awaiting a deportation hearing for trial on drugs offences on Earth, he faces a death sentence if the application is successful and he is found guilty.

BEST ANIMATION

  • Eli (2019)
  • Director: Nathaniel Milton
  • Run Time/Country: 15 min, USA
  • Synopsis: A 15-year-old musician believes he has an extraterrestrial implant in his ear. This is a true story based on the filmmaker’s experiences within the realms of High Strangeness, Magical Thinking and Manic Delusion.

BEST TRAILER

  • Outer West (2019)
  • Director: Jake Leister
  • Run Time/Country: 2 min, USA
  • Synopsis: West Coast pace prompts a travel nurse to accept a job in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Looking for the capital city’s postcard artistry and ease, he is instead greeted by another, entirely unexpected world…Outer West.

BEST SCI-FI SCREENPLAY

  • Egghead
  • Writer: Andrew Pelosi
  • Synopsis: A desperate halfwit attempts to cheat on an exam in a future where IQ testing determines who lives and who gets turned into chalk.

BEST SCI-FI PROTOTYPING SCREENPLAY

  • Rain
  • Writer: Andronica Marquis
  • Synopsis: A young Earth City girl, Rain, a Red by birth, marked, starving and desperate, seizes an opportunity to escape to Meccanda, a planet rumored to hold a cure, that she might save her young brother, Walker, the last of her family, who struggles against the symptoms of The Touched. The price of starship passage? Her virginity to the ship?s captain.

BEST SUPERNATURAL SCREENPLAY

  • House in Haunted Woods
  • Writer: Drew Henriksen
  • Synopsis: A young couple buys an abandoned house as an investment with plans to live by their agoraphobic uncle. After the purchase, the house seems to improve on its own. As people begin to disappear in the woods surrounding it, the ghosts make their presence known.

The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival launched in 2012 as New York City’s first and only festival of its kind. The festival honors the enduring legacy of novelist Philip K. Dick. Organized by individuals and filmmakers who understand the difficulties and challenges of presenting unique narratives in a corporate environment, the festival embraces original concepts and alternative approaches to storytelling in the form of independent science fiction, horror, supernatural, fantasy and metaphysical films. Since 2013, the festival has held additional gatherings in France, Germany, Poland, Rotterdam, Los Angeles, and in 2020, will debut in London.

[Based on a press release.]

Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival Announces 2020 Lineup

The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival has unveiled the full lineup for its eighth annual season. Held at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, NY, the festival runs from March 4-8, 2020. Events include film screenings and premieres, panel discussions, virtual reality demonstrations, and the launch of a new screenplay competition aimed at enhancing the filmmaking experience for audiences. As a platform for critical thinkers who explore the benefits and obstacles of science and technology, the festival showcases a variety of themes associated with independent storytelling.

The festival maintains its annual presence in New York, this time screened exclusively in the borough of Queens. “There is a strong cultural scene and appreciation for science fiction here,” said Daniel Abella, the founder and director of the event. “Everyone has been impacted by the advantages and disadvantages of this new world we live in and that knowledge strengthens the overall experience of the festival.”

Festivities begin March 4 with U.S. Premiere of the feature film Imperial Blue directed by Dan Moss and produced by David Cecil and Semulema Daniel Katenda. The film, which follows a drug smuggler on the quest to locate a sacred African herb that gives the power of prophecy, will be followed by a discussion with filmmakers.

A short film block runs on March 5 with the presentation of A Poem in Bamboo directed by Xufei Wu and Chan Yao Chang, an atmospheric study of a beautiful mansion plagued by strange noises. The program continues with titles such as Jesca Prudencio’s American Quartet, a revealing look at a small town bitterly divided when a young Muslim-American woman puts herself at risk when she shares her private, digitized memories with strangers in an attempt to triumph over hate, and Tim Hall’s Memory Unit about the mysterious hospitalization of an Alzheimer’s patient.

On Friday, March 6th, science fiction and horror shorts take center stage with Izzy Ezagui’s Good Head about a man immobilized in a strange room, and Jason Rogan’s Stalag III-C about a U.S. paratrooper in WWII who leads a daring escape from a Nazi POW camp and encounters even more evil beyond prison walls. Then, Chris Levitus greets viewers with a man bleeding from a hole in his chest in The Wound and Warren DiFranco Hsu brings forth a dystopian world in Obsolete Model, where the past must be changed to save the future.

The lineup on Saturday, March 7th features director Gisella Bustios, renowned scientist Dr. Ronald Mallet, and lecturer WandaGregoryon hand for the screening of A Brief History of Time Travel. The documentary takes viewers on a journey through the origins of time travel and its influence on the science fiction genre with commentary from distinguished members of the science community. The day continues with a block of shorts influenced by the work Philip K. Dick including Hekla Egilsdottir’s Beyond the Doorabout the influence of a peculiar cuckoo clock and the U.S. Premiere of After Ray directed by Natasha Halevi about a modified human struggling with memory loss. Also screening is the poignant Wide Awake in Bridgewater directed by Erik Lee and produced by Mark Lynch about a man who rediscovers the love of his life fifty years after her disappearance.

International sci-fi shorts starts the final day of the festival on Sunday, March 8th with the NYC Premiere of Eva – A Crispr Story directed by Puneet Bharill about a group of researchers confronting the unknown upon the implementation of a new technology. Further shorts include Christopher Armstrong’s Memory Man about a future society where psychic abilities are outlawed and Charles De Lauzirika’s Love Bite that shows the ramifications of a couple’s deadly bet during a zombie apocalypse. The night continues with two feature film presentations beginning with Anya directed by Jacob Akira Okada and Carylanna Taylor about a newlywed couple’s journey to parenthood that catapults them into a genetics mystery that threatens the future of humanity. Erin Berry’s Majic, which follows the discovery of a secret U.S. spy agency founded after the 1947 UFO incident in Roswell, is the festival’s closing night film. Filmmakers and guests of both features will be available for panels.

Expanding its outlook to incorporate the many stages of the filmmaking process into festival events, a screenplay competition has been introduced. “The screenplay is the beating heart of a film,” said Abella, who developed the category to help audiences value films beyond their visual aspects onscreen. “Our plan is to emphasize the importance and necessity of good storytelling.” The category semifinalists for Best Sci-Fi, Best Sci-Fi Prototyping, and Best Supernatural screenplays were chosen based on story, characterization, originality, readability, and attention to detail. “For sci-fi prototyping, the emphasis is on the design and architecting of an entire future world from scratch. Attention to detail and the impact of its surroundings is paramount,” said Abella. “For the sci-fi and supernatural categories, our focus is more on the characters themselves and how their inner world is affected by science, technology, nature, and politics.” Winners will be announced on Sunday, March 8th.

The festival will also continue its popular virtual reality demonstrations on March 7-8. Guests will experience Davey Jose’s Living with Spinal Cord Injury from the perspective of future patients restored to health by “the cure.” The Inner World of Miss Qdirected by David Wesemann will help users locate the whereabouts of a woman’s missing ghost and body.

As the festival remains committed to presenting innovative and thought-provoking independent films, Abella hopes audiences recognize the relevance of Philip K. Dick’s work. “PKD had his finger on the pulse of today’s society and our future,” he said. “His work resonates so well because he explored themes of artificial intelligence, the surveillance state, and the genetic modification of humans. He established himself as an icon of science fiction, which is truly the science of tomorrow.”

The festival film schedule follows the jump.

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2019 Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival Winners

The 2019 Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival has announced the award winners for its seventh annual event. The festival was held as a bi-coastal gathering in New York and California with 11 films recognized for their distinctive filmmaking styles and quality storytelling.

“Holding the festival on both coasts contributed to a sense of connection to Philip K. Dick,” said founder and director Daniel Abella. “It was a fitting honor to hold the event in communities respected for their cultural influence.” Following two dates in Queens and Manhattan, the festival traveled to Los Angeles, the city and year of the 1982 film Blade Runner based on Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and Santa Ana which served as the writer’s final residence. “These are cities that resonate well with PKD’s work,” said Abella. “Through well-attended screenings, we raised awareness of his life and created memorable experiences for all.”

Noting Philip K. Dick’s ability to connect with readers through political, technological and social themes, the festival highlighted the critical narratives of its official selections. “In a world with disinformation, surveillance and paranoia, PKD showed us that science fiction is the science of tomorrow,” said Abella.

Congratulations to the award winners of The 2019 Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival:

BEST PHILIP K. DICK FEATURE
Volition (2018) — World Premiere
Director: Tony Dean Smith
Run Time/Country: 101 min, Canada
Synopsis: Blending genres, this mind-bending sci-fi thriller about a man afflicted with clairvoyance who tries to change his fate when a series of events leads to a vision of his own imminent murder. But as he sets out to avoid his certain death, he comes to see that his pre-sentient condition is not quite what it seems. Starring Adrian Glynn McMorran (Arrow), Magda Apanowicz (The Green Inferno) and Aleks Paunovic (Van Helsing).

BEST SCIENCE FICTION FEATURETTE
Destroyer of Worlds
(2018)
Director: Samual Dawes
Run Time/Country: 44 min, UK
Synopsis: A precocious teenager must reluctantly leave his life in 1954 behind when his father makes the most devastating discovery to date: Leap Theory.

BEST HORROR FEATURE
The Dark Red
(2018)
Director: Dan Bush
Run Time/Country: 101 min, USA
Synopsis: A young woman is committed to a psychiatric hospital and claims her newborn was stolen by a dark cult.

BEST PHILIP K. DICK SHORT ADAPTATION
Beyond the Door
(2018)
Director: Em Johnson
Run Time/Country: 20 min, USA
Synopsis: A mother brings home a cuckoo clock to decorate the baby’s room, unbeknownst that the cuckoo clock has the ability to love and hate just like humans. The cuckoo clock tests the couple’s love by mimicking the presence of their deceased son.

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT
I Am the Doorway
(2018)
Director: Simon Pearce
Run Time/Country: 20 min, UK
Synopsis: After a journey to investigate desolate Pluto, an astronaut returns home a shattered man. He sees eyes forcing their way through the skin of his hands, eyes that distort his friends and the landscape itself into monstrous visions. Believing himself the doorway to alien invasion and gruesome murder, he must take desperate action. Based on the short story by Stephen King.

BEST ESCHATON, SINGULARITY AND BEYOND SHORT
Mise En Abyme
(2018)
Director: Edoardo Smerilli
Run Time/Country: 11 min, Italy
Synopsis: An eccentric and aristocratic gentleman devotes most of his time to a bizarre activity. Obsessed by beauty, he wanders everyday in the wood nearby the city, hunting the most rare butterflies. Once captured, he frames them and put in a massive and disturbing collection. He will soon realize to be himself part of a bigger collection.

BEST PERSON OF COLOR SCI-FI SHORT
Sereget
(2018)
Director: Dempsey Tillman
Run Time/Country: 13 min, USA
Synopsis: An emotionally detached husband (with a child on the way) gets a rude awakening when aliens invade his home and target his family.

BEST HORROR SHORT
Post Mortem Mary
(2017)
Director: Joshua Long
Run Time/Country: 10 min, Australia
Synopsis: A girl and her mother run a post mortem photography business in 1840’s Australia.

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Nobody Dies in Longyearbyen
(2017)
Director: David Freid
Run Time/Country: 9 min, Norway
Synopsis: Permafrost in a northern island of Norway is affecting Global Seed Vault, infectious diseases like anthrax, influenza and global warming.

BEST ANIMATION
Uncle Griot
(2018)
Director: Paul Charisse
Run Time/Country: 6 min, UK
Synopsis: A young girl takes her uncle for a walk.

BEST TRAILER
Tatu
(2018)
Director: Garcerón Alejo
Run Time/Country: 2 min, Argentina
Synopsis: Monster robots in a car junkyard battle it out.

BEST WEB SERIES
Subverse
(2018)
Director: Joseph White
Run Time/Country: 10 min, USA
Synopsis: In an alternate reality where everyone spends all their time indoors staring at computer screens, a man agrees to go on a date in the ‘outside’ world but it doesn’t go well. Filled with self-loathing, he returns home and plunges headfirst into a drunken, hallucinogenic trip through the dark net.

The 2019 Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival was held at Museum of the Moving Image (36-01 35th Ave, Astoria, NY 11106) on March 7th; Producers Club (358 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036)on March 9th; Echo Park Film Center (1200 N Alvarado St, Los Angeles, CA 90026) on March 14th; Ebell Club (625 French St, Santa Ana, CA 92701) on March 15th and March 17th; Orange County Museum of Art (1661 W Sunflower Ave, Santa Ana, CA 92704) on March 16th. The full schedule is available here.

2019 Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival Goes Bi-Coastal

The annual Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival for the first time since its inception will hold a bi-coastal gathering with films, premieres and panels in New York City, Los Angeles and Santa Ana, CA. Independent filmmakers will have a platform to tackle a variety of themes that empower the narratives of Philip K. Dick, whose work continues to serve as a profound mark on the literary and entertainment worlds.

The festival will open in New York City on Thursday, March 7th and Saturday, March 9th. “We have developed a strong following here,” said Daniel Abella, the founder and director of the festival. “Our fans have become loyal supporters of our films and platform so we acknowledge their support by bringing back great sci-fi year after year.” Features include Saku Sakamoto’s ARAGNE: Sign of Vermillion about a young woman’s discovery of a mysterious class of insects and the U.S. premiere of Taking Tiger Mountain Revisited, the remastered version of Kent Smith and Tom Huckabee’s post-apocalyptic 1983 film starring Bill Paxton. Then, a lone survivor searches for answers after the human race vanishes in the World Premiere of John Norby’s Assimilation.

The West Coast edition of the festival will run in partnership with Media Arts Santa Ana (MASA), a non-profit organization that supports its community’s cultural empowerment through special resources and initiatives. Dick, the festival’s namesake, was a resident of the city in his final years and wrote several of his last major works there. It will help create discussion about how Santa Ana and Orange County influenced Philip K. Dick’s vision and celebrate one of Santa Ana’s most treasured and influential artists.

Festivities begin on Thursday, March 14th in Los Angeles. “Blade Runner is set in L.A. in 2019,” said Abella when referring to the 1982 adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? “There is no better honor than by holding the festival in the very city and year depicted in one of the greatest sci-fi films of all time.” Screening titles include Matthew Evan Balz’s Corvus, which follows a woman’s perilous efforts to build a machine capable of hypnosis and the depiction of extant technology in Emily Dean’s Andromeda about an android’s awakening of human emotions. Closing the night is Josh Gibson’s atmospheric Pig Film about a woman’s work on a hog farm during the impending end of the world.

The festival then opens in Santa Ana, CA from Friday, March 15th through Sunday, March 17th. Essential films include Unzipping, the cinematic directorial debut of actress and writer Lisa Edelstein about the poignant unfastening of a marriage and Star Trek veteran Walter Koenig’s confrontation with fate in Michael Baker’s Who is Martin Danzig? Holding its World Premiere is Tony Dean Smith’s mind-bending thriller Volition about a clairvoyant man’s quest to avoid his own murder and the U.S. and L.A. Premiere of Sarah K. Reimers’ Bitten about a dog’s rabid night of risk and adventure. Dive Odyssey kicks off a lineup of feverish documentaries as Janne Kasperi Suhonen takes viewers on an absorbing aquatic journey and Colin Ramsay and James Uren decipher what makes “good” artificial intelligence in the dawn of ethics and technology in Good in the Machine.

Observing the 90th anniversary of Philip K. Dick’s birth and the 50th anniversary of Blade Runner’s origin novel, the two organizations joined forces for the Philip K. Dick Multicultural Dystopian/Sci Fi Short Film Challenge, a short film competition that invited participants to develop projects that analyze contemporary life in view of themes associated with Philip K. Dick.

The festival’s expansion has also furthered its commitment to feature a more inclusive brand of filmmaking with 31 percent of the official selections directed or co-directed by women and minority filmmakers. Many films are seen from the perspectives of racially and gender diverse characters. “There is a new freshness entering the genre,” said Abella, who curated an equality-driven showcase of films from the emerging talent strengthening the industry. “Science fiction is based on exploring the ‘other’ and no one is more qualified than those groups who have been marginalized to tell their story using the tools of sci-fi.”

The PKD Film Festival schedule follows the jump.

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Fifth Annual PKD European SF Film Festival

The 5th Annual Philip K. Dick European Science Fiction Film Festival, which celebrates the talent of independent filmmakers and honors Philip K. Dick’s worldwide legacy, convenes at venues in Germany in late October and France in early November.

The festival will be held October 25-26 at L’Hybride and Inoui in Lille, France and November 1-2 at Film Club 813 e.V. in Cologne, Germany.

“Europe has a long tradition of integral and psychological science fiction,” said Daniel Abella, the founder and director of the festival. “Both Lille and Cologne have a rich cultural life and are popular areas for learning and appreciating this genre.” The event will also commemorate its namesake by attributing his work as a reflection of modern society. “Philip K. Dick foresaw the aspects of technology to free and liberate us,” said Abella. “If you look around at the technological advancements of our world, many of his stories have come to pass and the festival recognizes his vision. He understood that the fluid nature of reality and the lure of transhumanism is becoming a real phenomenon.”

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2018:

L’Hybride (18 Rue Gosselet 59000, Lille, France)

Short Films + Q&A: Reality Is An Illusion
7:00pm – 9:00pm

It’s A Clear Day

It’s a Clear Day (2017)
Director: María Vázquez
Run Time/Country: 14 min, Spain
Synopsis: A woman is planning on giving a lecture on the famous science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. Everything seems like her everyday routine, except for a little excitement because of the event. But as time passes she will discover nothing is what it seems.

Gab (2018)
Director: Gazanfer Biricik
Run Time/Country: 10 min, France
Synopsis: A journalist who was charged by her diary to write an article about a victim killed in an attack organizes an interview with the sister of the deceased in a pub.

The Photographer (2017)
Director: Bertrand Normand
Run Time/Country: 12 min, France
Synopsis: A woman photographs statues of antique gods in the gardens of the Versailles palace. Through her camera, she perceives the presence of a male statue who has come to life and is lurking around her.

The Pipers (2013)
Director: Ammar Quteineh
Run Time/Country: 15 min, France
Synopsis: An army psychiatrist is puzzled by a case of a French soldier who returns from the war in Afghanistan and claims that he’s a plant. Based on Philip K. Dick’s short story Piper in the Woods.

Tous les jours (2017)
Director: Philippe Orreindy
Run Time/Country: 14 min, France
Synopsis: A company director is under the perverse psychological influence of her superior. But is it real or is it an hallucination caused by her anguish?

The Summoned (2017)
Director: Mathias Couquet
Run Time/Country: 29 min, France
Synopsis: Paris, 1920. Four veterans of the Great War painfully try to recover from this dreadful experience. But for them, the horror is only beginning. For in the midst of their dreams, a dark and sinister entity has arisen.

Post-Film Q&A:
The screening will be followed by an in-depth discussion with directors.

Short Films + Q&A: Invisible Realms
9:00pm – 11:00pm

The Bay (2017)
Director: Joris Laquittant
Run Time/Country: 23 min, France
Synopsis: Every year during the summer solstice, the Bay transforms into desert sands and the tides stop. This year, when a hunter is charged with battling the forces of nature, nothing goes as planned.

Mimesis (2017)
Director: Patrick Lee
Run Time/Country: 4 min, USA
Synopsis: Nothing is what it seems in the cycling of the natural world.

Le Flottement (2017)
Director: Philippe Gariepy
Run Time/Country: 15 min, Canada
Synopsis: A woman suffering from dementia disappears from her rest home. During the search, her daughter discovers mysterious clues.

A Forest (2017)
Director: Thomas Geffrier
Run Time/Country: 15 min, France
Synopsis: A young woman meets a couple at a private party and leaving with them, she finds herself trapped in some sort of twilight zone from which she cannot escape.

The Devil’s Remix (2017)
Director: Hugues Sanchez
Run Time/Country: 44 min, France
Synopsis: A surrealist remix of Les Diaboliques (1955) directed by Henri Georges Clouzot.

Post-Film Q&A:
The screening will be followed by an in-depth discussion with directors and the first Audience Award.
Inoui (6 rue de l’Egalité, 59155 Fâches-Thumesnil, Lille, France)

Virtual Reality Experience

7:00pm – 11:00pm

Eclipse (2018)
Director: Aymeric Favre
Run Time/Country: 40 min, France
Synopsis: An immersive “hyper-reality” experience and a glimpse into tomorrow’s cinema. Contrary to most VR experiences dedicated to entertainment, this exhibition is a four-player interactive science fiction short film enhanced by physical effects, full body awareness and a total freedom of movements.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2018:

L’Hybride (18 Rue Gosselet 59000, Lille, France)

Short Films + Q&A: The Eschaton Approaches
7:00pm – 9:00pm

Those Who Can Die (2017)
Director: Charlotte Cayeux
Run Time/Country: 18 min, France
Synopsis: A 15-year-old girl enters a strict boarding school. Around her pupils are playing and attending classes with faded eyes and the violence of the supervisors is visible through their obsequious look. One day she meets a classmate and understands their true destiny.

SOMA (2018)
Director: Christel Morvan
Run Time/Country: 9 min, Belgium
Synopsis: A tribute to Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ showing the challenges and risks of living in a world of artificial pleasure.

Cyborgs. Should We Be Better Than We Are? (2017)
Director: Victoria Sutton
Run Time/Country: 23 min, USA
Synopsis: Restoring human senses and capabilities is almost universally accepted, yet enhancing human capabilities beyond human norms is highly controversial. This short documentary explores this question and what it means to be human.

Fraktaal (2017)
Director: Julius Horsthuis
Run Time/Country: 4 min, Netherlands
Synopsis: A world within worlds.

December 17 (2016)
Director: Yuji Hariu
Run Time/Country: 15 min, Japan
Synopsis: In the near future, a family comes face to face with a dangerous secret about their sons.

Metta Via (2017)
Director: Warren Flanagan
Run Time/Country: 10 min, Canada
Synopsis: Set in the future, a young woman wakes up in a mysterious temple-like room and must figure out her purpose.

Post-Film Q&A:
The screening will be followed by an in-depth discussion with directors.

Short Films + Q&A: The Darkness Returns
9:00pm – 11:00pm

Shelter (2017)
Director: Daniel Andrew Wunderer
Run Time/Country: 10 min, Austria
Synopsis: A wanderer in the wasteland seeks shelter in an abandoned trailer, where he discovers he corpse of a boy with strange wounds.

MayDay (2016)
Director: Sébastien Vani?ek
Run Time/Country: 13 min, France
Synopsis: A man subject to violent hallucinations must overcome the imminence of death during his extradition flight towards United States.

I Came from the Future (2018)
Director: Dave Lojek
Run Time/Country: 4 min, Germany
Synopsis: A man writes his suicide note but finds there are more questions than answers.

Rabbid Jacob (2017)
Director: Donovan Alonso-Garcia
Run Time/Country: 22 min, France/Belgium
Synopsis: Two meteorites have hit Brussels. There is little time left for Jacob to restore order and moral in the depths of a city in complete loss.

Leftovers & Leftlovers (2017)
Director: Raitis Abele
Run Time/Country: 15 min, Latvia
Synopsis: After years of madness, a man seeks out his past and confronts his feminine and masculine alter egos.

Sound From the Deep (2017)
Director: Antti Laakso, Joonas Allonen
Run Time/Country: 29 min, Finland
Synopsis: An international research group is searching natural resources from the Arctic Ocean. They pick up a strange underwater sound from far north, and start to follow it to the uncharted waters. Inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

Post-Film Q&A:
The screening will be followed by an in-depth discussion with directors and the second Audience Award.

Inoui (6 rue de l’Egalité, 59155 Fâches-Thumesnil, Lille, France)

Virtual Reality Experience
7:00pm – 11:00pm

Eclipse (2018)
Director: Aymeric Favre
Run Time/Country: 40 min, France
Synopsis: An immersive “hyper-reality” experience and a glimpse into tomorrow’s cinema. Contrary to most VR experiences dedicated to entertainment, this exhibition is a four-player interactive science fiction short film enhanced by physical effects, full body awareness and a total freedom of movements.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2018:

Film Club 813 e.V. (Hahnenstraße 6 50667, Cologne, Germany)

Short Films + Q&A: War and Paranoia
7:30pm – 9:30pm

Shelter

Shelter (2017)
Director: Daniel Andrew Wunderer
Run Time/Country: 10 min, Austria
Synopsis: A wanderer in the wasteland seeks shelter in an abandoned trailer, where he discovers he corpse of a boy with strange wounds.

The Super Recogniser (2017)
Director: Jennifer Sheridan
Run Time/Country: 11 min, UK
Synopsis: A normal guy has the very special talent of 90% facial recollection. He never forgets a face and you better hope he doesn’t knows yours. Starring Jacob Anderson (Game of Thrones) and Ritu Arya (Humans).

Sound From the Deep (2017)
Director: Antti Laakso, Joonas Allonen
Run Time/Country: 29 min, Finland
Synopsis: An international research group is searching natural resources from the Arctic Ocean. They pick up a strange underwater sound from far north, and start to follow it to the uncharted waters. Inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

Hunters and Gatherers (2018)
Director: Andreas Ramm
Run Time/Country: 15 min, Germany
Synopsis: The year is 2044. A violent conflict permeates throughout the country. Various zones are ridden by chaos and terror. To put down riots, a regime sends troops but does not shy away from biological warfare.

Nazi VR (2017)
Director: David Freid
Run Time/Country: 17 min, Germany
Synopsis: The High Tech Prosecution of a WWII Nazi Guard with virtual reality.

Post-Film Q&A:
The screening will be followed by an in-depth discussion with directors.

Short Films + Q&A: Reality Is An Illusion
9:30pm – 11:00pm

It’s a Clear Day (2017)
Director: María Vázquez
Run Time/Country: 14 min, Spain
Synopsis: A woman is planning on giving a lecture on the famous science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. Everything seems like her everyday routine, except for a little excitement because of the event. But as time passes she will discover nothing is what it seems.

The Pipers (2013)
Director: Ammar Quteineh
Run Time/Country: 15 min, France
Synopsis: An army psychiatrist is puzzled by a case of a French soldier who returns from the war in Afghanistan and claims that he’s a plant. Based on Philip K. Dick’s short story Piper in the Woods.

Instant Realities (2017)
Director: Andreas Z. Simon
Run Time/Country: 10 min, Germany
Synopsis: A businessman feels followed by fitting puzzle pieces on the street. Reality seems to fade away and a greater mystery begins.

Gallery of Lost Trades (2018)
Director: Will Kubica
Run Time/Country: 8 min, Germany
Synopsis: The year is 2068. A gallery owner leads a journalist through “The Gallery of Lost Trades”. By means of impressive paintings it depicts the historical downfall of whole fields of trades and professions.

Alchemy (2017)
Director: Brandon Polanco
Run Time/Country: 14 min, USA
Synopsis: A failed everyman begins working through pages and pages of questions. As time begins to elongate, the man finds himself tormented and more and more isolated. He battles the unknown ultimately transcending into a heightened reality, discovering a new life existing between multiple worlds, both familiar and otherworldly.

Mental Health (2018)
Director: Michael Carolan
Run Time/Country: 15 min, Ireland
Synopsis: A young worker is sent to be mentally assessed after expressing disillusionment with his job, leading to a sinister revelation about his very existence.

First Day Kosmos (2018)
Director: Thomas Kuhling
Run Time/Country: 18 min, Germany
Synopsis: Under the vast expanse of a cosmic sky, a psychiatric guardian is on his way to his farmhouse in a secluded region where he is surprised by the unannounced visit of his old friend who escaped from a psychiatric ward.

Post-Film Q&A:
The screening will be followed by an in-depth discussion with directors.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2018:

Film Club 813 e.V. (Hahnenstraße 6 50667, Cologne, Germany)

Short Films + Q&A: Human All To Human
7:30pm – 9:30pm

December 17 (2016)
Director: Yuji Hariu
Run Time/Country: 15 min, Japan
Synopsis: In the near future, a family comes face to face with a dangerous secret about their sons.

SOMA (2018)
Director: Christel Morvan
Run Time/Country: 9 min, Belgium
Synopsis: A tribute to Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ showing the challenges and risks of living in a world of artificial pleasure.

Cyborgs. Should We Be Better Than We Are? (2017)
Director: Victoria Sutton
Run Time/Country: 23 min, USA
Synopsis: Restoring human senses and capabilities is almost universally accepted, yet enhancing human capabilities beyond human norms is highly controversial. This short documentary explores this question and what it means to be human.

The Very Near Future (2017)
Director: Sebastian Egert
Run Time/Country: 5 min, Germany
Synopsis: In the very near future, a man tries to order a pizza online.

The Ash: Safe Haven (2017)
Director: Marty Stalker
Run Time/Country: 17 min, UK
Synopsis: A deadly volcanic ash cloud. A 12-year-old boy besieged by the bloodthirsty infected. When the ash falls, terror rises.

Brainbloodvolume (2016)
Director: John Carter
Run Time/Country: 17 min, Germany
Synopsis: Inspired by the bizarre actual life events of Dutch librarian and medical student Hugo Bart Huges, this stylistic interpretation of the essential moments at which Huges followed through with an operation he theorized would lead to a permanent state of higher consciousness – through the ancient mind-altering practice of “trepanation.”

Post-Film Q&A:
The screening will be followed by an in-depth discussion with directors.

Short Films + Q&A: The Alchemical Wedding
9:30pm – 11:30pm

APEX (2018)
Director: Stuart T. Birchall
Run Time/Country: 4 min, UK
Synopsis: Emergence of a hybrid human-alien consciousness from the void.

Metta Via (2017)
Director: Warren Flanagan
Run Time/Country: 10 min, Canada
Synopsis: Set in the future, a young woman wakes up in a mysterious temple-like room and must figure out her purpose.

Genesis (2018)
Director: Michael Tekle
Run Time/Country: 9 min, Germany
Synopsis: The CEO of a biotech corporation suffers from an incurable disease. With the help of a doctor, he creates an android with autonomously growing A.I. uploads of his entire memory. However, his search for eternal life might end faster than he thinks.

The Replacement (2018)
Director: Sean Miller
Run Time/Country: 16 min, USA
Synopsis: On election night, a janitor feels cheated out of a life he might have lived when his own clone becomes the president. He goes on a bender to seek justice, encountering new forms of prejudice, dismissal, and classicism. In a society where the morality around cloning is dividing the masses, physically looking like the newly elected president has its own dangers.

Ghostcode (2017)
Director: Patrick Defasten
Run Time/Country: 9 min, Germany
Synopsis: Advancements in sonic warfare lead to a net-born artificial intelligence.

Voyager (2017)
Director: Kjersti Helen Rasmussen
Run Time/Country: 8 min, Norway
Synopsis: A shooting star falls down over the arctic island of Svalbard. The Global Seed Vault gets an unexpected visit. Hunger knows no boundaries.

Pura Energia (2018)
Director: Francisco Garcia Mateos
Run Time/Country: 15 min, Spain
Synopsis: They thought it was a distant future. They thought they knew disaster. But only a few of us were aware of what surely would happen.

Pure White (2018)
Director: Sven Windszus
Run Time/Country: 3 min, Germany
Synopsis: The protagonist is an anatomy model who awakens in a seemingly perfect world. The fact that she must live as a “damaged” being in such an ideal environment amplifies her pain. She converses with her creator in an attempt to find answers.

I Came from the Future (2018)
Director: Dave Lojek
Run Time/Country: 4 min, Germany
Synopsis: A man writes his suicide note but finds there are more questions than answers.

Back and Forward INC. (2014)
Director: Martin Demmer
Run Time/Country: 13 min, Germany
Synopsis: Switching between visual metaphors and a near future possible way of living created by the company Back and Forward INC., a program is launched for the modern society that nobody has to fear the effect of the burnout syndrome any longer.

Attack Of The Cyber Octopuses (2017)
Director: Nicola Piovesan
Run Time/Country: 20 min, Estonia/Italy
Synopsis: Neo-Berlin, 2079. A dark city held by mega corporations where the only way to enjoy life is by connecting into cyberspace. Here, a team of detectives are investigating a new menace: an army of cyber octopuses that are terrorizing the government.