SciFi World

Today the SCI-FI-LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 2018 celebrates coming-of-age with its 18^th annual programme which will run from the 1^st to the 7^th May 2018 at the Stratford Picturehouse Cinema. Seven days of amazing film, live music, immersive experiences and more. It will showcase a fantastic lineup with 6 world film premieres, 13 UK film premieres, 11 world short premieres and 13 UK short premieres. It will host 23 features, 52 shorts and 5 VR shorts alongside its regular classic cult events such as the 48 HOUR FILM CHALLENGE and SCI-FIDO, the world’s only cosplay for dogs!  We also celebrate Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein with an all-dayer on May 7^th.

Opening this year’s festival on the 1^st May is the World Premiere of CHIMERA, which stars Henry Ian Cusick  (Lost, The 100).  

A brilliant but disturbed scientist’s children are in cryogenic suspension, while he races to cure their deadly disease by decoding the DNA of the immortal Turritopsis jellyfish.  To progress he needs lots of stem cells.  A manipulative millionaire can help but she has her own agenda.

Inspired by the director’s real life as his loved ones struggled with genetic disease, CHIMERA asks the existential question “do you want to live forever?“

The gala evening also has a pre-screening introduction by Dr Charlotte Mykura (microbiologist and geneticist) who will try to separate the science from the fiction, and highlight the themes, the exaggerations, and the sometimes stranger-than-fiction realities of nature.”

Other films include:
BLOGGERS
(2017, Spain, 75, Dir: Angel M. Chivite, Alberto Estévez )
The year is 2078 and the Earth’s energy sources are exhausted. Nuclear and renewables can’t cope with demand. 

Meanwhile, a new power source, ‘Coltan’ has been discovered on Mercury and mining has started, run by a multinational conglomerate.  Helena is the Captain of a ship returning from the mines, it should be routine but things on-board are not what they seem. 

This Spanish film swims in the memories of many a great ‘space’ movie. At times gory and chilling, the modesty of the budget is impossible to detect, and the set design is really cool.

We love a good space slasher and this is a very solid example..

CENSOR
(2017, Russia, 133, Dir: Konstantin Shelepov )
Virtual reality, so real it’s indistinguishable from real life. Zombies, Nazis, Knights in armour - the game has it all. 

After some real-world violent crimes are linked to gamers, the Ministry of Internal Affairs creates a new department, “C”, whose agents are censors. They must play the games and try to exceed the permitted level of violence.  But two of them become rivals and the lines between the real and game worlds blur. 

This dark cyberpunk story is as much about the fear that computers will do our thinking for us as the dangers posed by the people who develop and control them.

Censor’s director says, “As we develop this tech, should censorship become more important?  Sci-fi is not about tomorrow. It is about today”

Censor makes Hardcore Henry look like a Disney film and slams its message down your throat!

You Ready Player One?.

CLOSER THAN WE THINK
(2017, United States, 85, Dir: Brett Ryan Bonowicz )
Predicting the future is very difficult.  We might be able to forecast how a trend will develop, but individual products?  Much harder.   This is why the work of Arthur Radebaugh is so amazing.

Closer Than We Think is about the mid–20th-century comic strip and its creator, Arthur Radebaugh.

The film provides important insight into what made the comic a foundation for other popular science fiction endeavors. More importantly, it shows how the strip directly encouraged nascent engineers and scientists to actualize the future described therein. 

The film also contains interviews with the legendary Syd Mead (TRON, BLADE RUNNER). 

A must-see for everyone, but certainly for those into futurism, tech, design, advertising or a nostalgic view of the future..

CYGNUS
(2017, Mexico, 87, Dir: Hugo Félix Mercado )
Fabián, is an astronomer on a quest to discover the nature of an unknown object near the Cygnus constellation 30,000 light years from Earth. 

One night, a strange signal gives him hope that he might be close to solving the mystery of Cygnus. His colleagues say he is wasting his time, but he thinks the signal is targeted at Earth rather than a random discovery.

His superior’s attitude changes and Fabián becomes fearful that they will steal his discovery.  He becomes more paranoid and strange things begin to take place in the observatory.  Did he really find something or was the signal waiting to be found?

Amazing landscapes and great performances make this a solid sci-fi tale..

DEFECTIVE
(2017, Canada, 111, Dir: Reese Eveneshen )
A new corporation, the S.E.A. have been set up to trial a new type of police in North America. Uniformed, anonymous Preservers of Peace investigate, judge, and sentence people for even the smallest of crimes.

Rhett, a disillusioned, middle-aged man, witnesses first-hand this newest law-enforcement mandate, which decrees citizens as “defective.” The punishment? Instant public execution at the hands of ruthless enforcers. Rhett, has a run-in with the Preservers and has to flee across state borders to escape them.

But, after a surprise visit from Jean, his estranged sister, Rhett reluctantly now has his sister in tow, with the state in close pursuit.  Dredd?, Robocop? How long before we see this kind of ‘protection’ on our streets?.

DIVISION 19
(2017, United Kingdom, 93, Dir: suzie halewood )
Reality television has done it all hasn’t it?  Our news is impartial, right? Goverment works for us?

In 2039 rather than selecting people for ‘reality freak shows’ we now use prisons as the latest opiate for the masses.  Viewers get to choose what the prisoners eat, what they wear, the entertainment they can access – even who they must fight. 

So successful has this been that the TV company now wants to extend beyond the prison walls and broadcast the surrounding town’s population.  Who will stop them?

If the Truman Show could be any darker, then DIVISION 19 takes the extra step and questions who we are and why, for centuries, we have loved watching the misfortune and gladiatorial behaviour of others.  

Written and directed by Suzie Halewood and a smash hit at Boston SciFi Film Festival we are delighted to have the London Premiere of this cautionary tale..

HIDDEN RESERVES
(2016, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, 96, Dir: Valentin Hitz )
The corporation sells ‘death insurance’. Those who don’t have it are forced to remain alive (in body only) as repositories of other people’s consciousnesses until any ‘life debt’ they had is repaid.

Vincent, a top insurance salesmen, firmly on the way up the corporate ladder, is secure in his work, sleeping with his boss, and able to afford an extravagent lifestyle, a life that many Wall Street brokers would envy.

One day he meets Lisa, part of an activist group that wants an end to the storage facilites and the release of the human data machines.

After Vincent fails to secure a rich client and is demoted, his one chance of regaining his former status is to infiltrate this resistance via Lisa.

Of course, Vincent is drawn to her, and questions his own values and his drive for power.

A very slick dystopian noir..

HOSTILE
(2017, France, 94, Dir: Mathieu Turi )
A global disaster and epidemic has left a barren world with strange creatures that hunt at night.

Juliette is one of the few survivors left and part of a small organised group.  She spends her days looking for supplies in the dry wastelands, using a van that has seen better days. Her two-way battery powered radio keeps her in contact with home base. 

One day, as she travels back to base, an incident causes her to crash.  She radios base but they can’t get to her for hours and darkness is closing in.

As she tries to get through the night she remembers the life she had before.

By turns both romantic and terrifying, Hostile is an emotional roller coaster. It’s perfect for cuddling up with a loved one.

If you like scary movies, you’ll love half this film. If you like love stories, you’ll enjoy the other half... If you cherish a good story, then you’ll love the whole thing.

AintItCoolNews.

KATRINA'S DREAM
(2017, Switzerland, 83, Dir: Mirko Bischofberger, Dario Bischofberger )
Katrina wants a child but her boyfriend Louis doesn’t. 

He is a an older man, a hedonist and doesn’t want to spoil the life he has.  They split up and Katrina must look elsewhere, eventually pairing up with Louis’ friend Ron, who becomes the man of her life and they talk of raising a family, with Louis’ blessing.

One night, in a drunken state, Ron and Louis leave a 50th birthday party and the two friends are involved in a car accident.  Ron suffers severe injuries to his head, Louis his body.   

A nearby sanatorium helps recover the bodies and a new technique offers Katrina some hope; they can perform a head transplant; Louis’ head on Ron’s body.  But what if both men survive, merge into one person?  What will Katrina make of this new situation?

A gentle and beautifully shot black comedy, Mary Shelley would have loved this!  We are delighted to hold the world premiere of the film..

NOTHING REALLY HAPPENS
(2017, United States, 100, Dir: Justin Petty )
You’re having having a conversation with someone... and neither of you cares... know that feeling?

Dave Stimple, an unfocused mattress store owner, is having issues connecting with everyone around him.

He arrives at the shop one morning to find the local health and safety people have shut him down.  Bugs, huge bed bugs and lots of complaints are cited as the reason. 

Dave is really confused and his relationships with his wife, friends, and his own humanity seem to be devolving and increasingly distracting anomalies begin to take over his reality.  But his issues may not be as internal as they seem.

This is a proper WTF movie that you will enjoy unravelling.  Sometimes, modern life makes us all feel like mattress sellers at times..

PEACHES
(2016, Dominican Republic, 80, Dir: Héctor M. Valdez )
If time is truly linear and we can’t go back, don’t we just have to remember the good times?

Diego loves his girlfriend but after a disastrous anniversary trip, she declares she’s had enough of him and wants to split up.

He tries to explain why he’s changed and reminds her of the ‘good times’ they had.   t’s not enough!

Diego has a time machine and vows to amend or fix what has happened, even if it means competing with different versions of himself when travelling through time.

This is a fun-filled play on time-travel paradoxes and has some fabulous future tech - we love the anti-grav Mini.

Loosley inspired by an Australian movie called THE INFINITE MAN which we screened in association with  the London Comedy Film Festival (LOCO)..

PRECOGNITION
(2018, United Kingdom, 107, Dir: Luke Tedder )
Ripe technologies are a pseudo-governmental organisation which appear to be trying to create a safer and fairer world with new implant technology.  Negative thought and memories have been removed, people are given careers and relationships they ‘deserve’ based on an in-app Karma rating system.

This world in which every citizen lives connected to Ripe’s system seems almost perfect, at least on the surface. But the digital utopia is not without its ghosts. Soon the reality with which the characters surround themselves starts to unravel, as the true nature of the world surfaces.

Samantha, who secretly works for Ripe and manipulates memories, discovers her husband James beginning to experience visions of a woman he doesn’t recognise. Unable to correct James’ visions, Samantha puts her life on the line.

Solid scifi story that shows what low-budgets can achieve..

THE ASTRONAUTS' BODIES
(2017, Germany, 73, Dir: Alisa Berger )
They say twins can sometimes experience each other’s emotions and in a dysfunctional family this surely can’t be a good thing.

Anton and Linda are 19 year old twins who decide to flee the nest., leaving behind, Michael, their single alcoholic father and their younger sister. Michael stops taking care of himself in protest.

Anton wants to go to space and joins  a research project, while his sister Linda is in search first love is drawn to a young man who seems to have similar problems to her father.

Enigmatic and serene, this film is a poetic story about the progression of thought, dreams of space and the organic beauty of the human body, its desires and longings.  A stunning debut..

THE GATEWAY
(2017, Australia, 90, Dir: John V. Soto )
Jane is a particle physicist working on the fringe, trying to create a teleportation device “you know, like in Star Trek” as she says.  But the machine they’ve built opens a route to a parallel dimension.

The excitement about this is cut short however, as Jane receives an odd call from her husband saying he loves her before hanging up.  Later she discovers him dead.

Like Another Earth or Random Quest, The Gateway  takes us through to another universe in search of Jane’s husband - perhaps he still lives there.

In the parallel world she finds him again, bringing him across to our world, but no one guessed there would be dire consequences for her and her family.

With a great cast and beautifully shot, The Gateway is the kind of  grown-up sci-fi we love..

THE OUTER WILD
(2017, United States, 84, Dir: Philip Chidel )
The apocalypse came and went, the survivors are few and far between.

Where some have banded together they still battle for power and use slavery to ‘better’ their lot. In one group, that forces young women to be breeders, Laura decides to escape her high-tech prison, but a bounty hunter, Cole, is sent after her.

When she meets Cole, things change for them both and they must now face new threats together. They head across the wilderness to find a fabled sanctuary that can either save or destroy what’s left of humanity. Action packed, witty and surreal at times, this is the second feature by Philip, who had the brilliant Frankensteinesque SUBJECT TWO in the festival many years ago, which we screen as part of our Frankenstein Alldayer.

This is the world premiere of THE OUTER WILD and Philip will join us to present the film.

Love Mad Max, The 100, The Handmaid’s Tale?  This is a fresh, succinct mash-up of all your favourite PA films..

VIOLENTIA
(2017, Canada, 84, Dir: Ray Raghavan )
Adam Anderson is a nano-tech engineer who has found a way to interact with our memories.

Following his daughter’s death in a high school shootout, Anderson wants to use his tech to scan through the criminal’s memories in an obsessive quest to understand why he did it and find a cure for violence.

Enlisted into a government program he’s given access to a psychopath’s memories as testing ground, leading him down a dark path where the lines between reality and memory begin to blur.

A very smart and eerie film with some great ideas, Violentia takes us one step nearer to the potential of mind control and its consequences. 

We are delighted to hold the international premiere of the film and have the director with us for a Q&A..

WORD FROM A GAMER
(2017, United States, 92, Dir: Steve Wollett )
Have you played Dungeons and Dragons,  Catan, Magic The Gathering or any of the myriad other tabletop games?  If the answer is yes you’ll love the warmth and testimony in this film.

If you are new to these kind of games, you’ll probably rush out after and grab some dice and a few books!

 Word From a Gamer is a heart-felt love letter of a documentary, that explores the tabletop gaming world, the people who make the games, and the people who play them.

Interviews with D&D creators, TSR, with the editors of Dragon magazine, and numerous conventions goers and players of all types, make this a documentary designed to get you lost in a game world!

To help you along, our friends at EXP, the gaming bar, will be playing games in the foyer - don’t be shy, come play something!.

DON’T MISS…
SCI-FIDO – THE WORLD’S ONLY COSPLAY FOR DOGS EVENT returns again this year on Sat 6th May in Theatre Square, Stratford. In association with ALL DOGS MATTER it is the Crufts of Science fiction! Do you have a four-legged friend who likes to dress up as a sci-fi character? Or a pooch that looks like Princess Leia? Bring them along to our ‘dressed-up dog’ photo session!

For the full line up visit the website: sci-fi-london.com #SFL18

About SCI-FI-LONDON FILM FESTIVAL

The SCI-FI-LONDON FILM FESTIVAL (https://sci-fi-london.com/) returns for its 18^th annual festival from 1 – 7 May 2018 and is the UK’s major sci-fi event of the year. The festival has gained a reputation for pushing the definition of science fiction across the full spectrum of film, gaming, comics and literature with ground-breaking new work showcased from across earth as we know it. It also continues to celebrate the beloved sci-fi genre with its popular cult events such as the 48-Hour Film Challenge and Sci-Fido.

The festival has seen over 90,000 fans attend the festival over the past 17 years, with attendance continuing to grow year on year. 1,365 films have screened to date and the artistic programme features an ever-growing plethora of events from UK and World premieres of the latest feature films, documentaries and shorts, and future classics emerging from every programme. Visit SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival to join stars and fans in bringing together the cutting edge in science fiction from across the Cosmos.