La Cappella Underground

Trieste Science+Fiction Festival is a multidisciplinary event devoted to the realms of the fantastic, the experimental languages and the new technologies in cinema, television and visual arts. It was created in 2000, with the ambitious purpose of re-launching the International Science Fiction Film Festival (1963-1982).

In 1963 a group of “young visual poetry artists” - as they were called by Italian poet Giuseppe Ungaretti in a goodwill cable still in the archives of La Cappella Underground – founded the Festival Internazionale del Film di Fantascienza(International Science Fiction Film Festival), a revolutionary event that brought a whole bunch of renown international stars to the city of Trieste. In those years, the festival saw the participation of Arthur C. Clarke, Roger Corman - whose X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes was awarded the Astronave d'argento (Silver Spacecraft) in 1963 -, Riccardo Freda, Forrest J. Ackerman, Umberto Eco (one of the 1963 Jury members) and Brian Aldiss, among others. In the following years, the event would turn the city of Trieste into a unique stage for genre films, until 1982, when it abruptly came to an end.

In the year 2000, La Cappella Underground decided to pick up the tradition of the festival, presenting to the audience independent film productions, premières and rarities in a new event called Science plus Fiction.

In 2002, in cooperation with Arnoldo Mondadori, editor of the sci-fi and fantasy magazine “Urania”, the Urania d'Argento (Silver Urania) Career Achievement Award was created. The first Silver Urania Award went to Italian director Pupi Avati. Over the year, the Award has been bestowed to: Dario Argento (2003), Jimmy Sangster (2004), Lamberto Bava (2005), Enki Bilal and Terry Gilliam (2006), Joe Dante (2007), Ray Harryhausen (2008, via videoconference from London), Roger Corman and Christopher Lee (2009), George A. Romero (2011), Alfredo Castelli (2012), Gabriele Salvatores (2013), Alejandro Jodorowsky (2014), Bruce Sterling (2015), Rutger Hauer (2016). In 2004 the Festival picked up a new challenge by restoring the forgotten icon of the event that inspired it: the Asteroide Award, historical prize of the Festival internazionale del film di fantascienza di Trieste.  In those years the award to the best film in competition was called Asteroide d’Oro (Golden Asteroid) and it was designed and crafted every year by a different artist (e.g., Nino Perizi and Marcello Mascherini), whose fame and talent was as exceptional as that of the sci-fi films and celebrities taking part in the Festival.

In 2005 Science plus Fiction became part of the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation (www.melies.org), a network including all the main events in the field and aiming at the promotion of the European genre production on a big scale. Becoming part of the Federation has confirmed this Friuli Venezia Giulia region event has reached true international status after only five years of activity.

During all these years the Festival, which in 2007 updated its name to Science+Fiction (now Trieste Science+Fiction Festival), has never missed out in strength and innovation, planning an ever increasing range of events and reaching wider audience participation. Indeed, the program of every edition not only includes film screenings, but also a number of very popular side events: round tables and public meetings, scientific conferences, concerts and stage performances, art exhibitions and literary events.In 2009 Trieste Science+Fiction Festival festival launched the Méliès competition for feature films in addition to the competition of the same name reserved to short films.

The film schedule has always included a wide range of proposals bound to attract both fans and newcomers to the science fiction, horror and fantasy genres. Over the years new sections have been added and today, besides the official section “Neon” that includes the latest releases and film premières in and out of competition, the Festival presents short films in and out of competition (“European Fantastic Shorts” and “Fantastic Shorts” sections), and “Spazio Italia”, a showcase of science fiction and fantasy Italian productions. Among the many retrospectives organized by the Festival: Brit Invaders! (2003-2005), on British science fiction from the 1960s to the present day; Marx Attacks! (2007, 2009), a showcase of Russian and Eastern European productions; FantaEspaña (2002), a focus on Spanish science fiction films, curated by Carlos Aguilar; Voyage Fantastique (2006-2008), a journey into French science fiction, in collaboration with the Institut français in Milan and the Embassy of France in Italy; Fant'America (2009) a tribute to Edgar Allan Poe, two hundred years from his birth.

Today, Trieste Science+Fiction Festival is a well-known international showcase, greatly appealing for young viewers while also attracting a more adult audience, reaching a grand total of more than 20.000 spectators per year. A number of guests among the legion the S+F Festival has been able to bring to Trieste during these years deserve to be remembered: Brian Aldiss, Dario Argento, Pupi Avati, Lamberto Bava, Enki Bilal, Marc Caro, Roger Corman, Joe Dante, Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Valerio Evangelisti, Lone Flaming, Jean “Moebius” Giraud, Curtis Harrington, Neil Gaiman, Terry Gilliam, Harry Harrison, Ray Harryhausen, Rutger Hauer, Christiane Kubrick,, John Landis, Joe R. Lansdale, John Phillip Law, Christopher Lee, Antonio Margheriti, Dave McKean, Eugenio Martín, Paul Naschy, Carlo Rambaldi, George Romero, Jimmy Sangster, Isabella Santacroce, Gabriele Salvatores, Bruce Sterling, Jack Taylor, Ian Watson, Brian Yuzna.