SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival unwraps its sixteenth edition of the finest science fiction and fantastic film on this planet!
Taking place 27 April – 6 May 2016 at Hackney and Stratford Picturehouse cinemas, the Rich Mix in Shoreditch and The Genesis Cinema in Whitechapel. We also hold a four-day VR and immersive arts event, called HACKSTOCK at The Trampery on Old Street – a very East London focused festival this year!
SCI-FI-LONDON (The Annual International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film) presents a hand-picked selection of international features, documentaries and short films.
Tickets are on sale now from www.sci-fi-london.com
Highlights this year include:
CAPSULE: – Opening night world premiere with talent.
UK,2016 | 92mins | English | Dir: Andrew Martin
A perfect film to open our festival, and we are delighted to have cast and crew in attendance at the world premiere.After limited contact with mission control in the UK, unusual communication with the US and unorthodox exchanges with Soviet Russia’s Cosmodrome, will the navigator make the right decisions and get home?
Set in 1959, Guy is an experienced British fighter pilot in command of Britain’s first manned mission to space. He has trained for this for years, but at the height of the Cold War he is alone in space, suffering from hypoxia, with a malfunctioning capsule.
This claustrophobic thriller stars Edmund Kingsley as Guy Taylor, in this breathtaking début feature from Andrew Martin.
KILL COMMAND – World Premiere with talent present
Dir:Steve Gomez| uk,2016 |English |90 mins
Kill Command is a sci-fi action thriller set in a near future, technology-reliant society that pits man against killing machines.Against this backdrop an elite army unit is helicoptered to a remote, off-grid island training facility. What starts out as a simple training exercise for Captain Bukes and his tight-knit unit, descends into a terrifying battle to the death, as the marines discover the island is overrun by an enemy that transcends the human concept of evil.
Steve Gomez was at Uni with Gareth Edwards, they shared a room and both hope for a career in film. Gareth as you know is currently doing Star Wars Rogue One, a career built! Steve’s début feature is a feast for the eyes – Steve is a leading VFX artist and it shows in this film. Great character design and well shot, this is an awesome kill or be killed adventure!
We are delighted to present this world premiere with cast and crew in attendance.
EMBERS (Awarded best feature 2016)
USA, 2015 | 86mins |English |Dir: Claire Carré
After a global neurological epidemic, those who remain search for meaning and connection in a world without memory.
What defines us? Memories, experience? Imagine life without short-term memories – what happens to love and relationships, work and responsibility?
The film explores these ideas through an assortment of characters: two people convinced they must be lovers; a researcher who attempts to apply logic to his situation; a violent, screaming teenager who ransacks his way through the chaos. Amidst this terror we meet a father and daughter, seemingly the only people left with their memories intact. But they live in an underground shelter, repeating the same routines and never venturing out.
Writer/director Claire Carré creates a convincing and enthralling world where she examines the quixotic nature of memory as both enlightenment and burden, moral boundary and source of pain.
Embers is both poetic and cerebral, told with a graceful compassion.
TOURBILLON – World Premiere with Q&A
Dir: Gene Ivery | USA,2016 | English |87 Mins
Think you want to live forever? Think again.Tourbillon is the story of Daniela, a woman who, due to a secret genetic modification, has not aged since her twenties.
Under the strict control of a clandestine organisation that she calls her family, Daniela faces the decisive days of her endless life.
A cerebral, and gentle character study. Shot by a female cinematographer it offers a refreshing contrast to the more ubiquitous male gaze and deftly explores the themes of alienation, empathy, and our need for human connection.
A solid début feature for which we are delighted to host the world premiere
THIS GIANT PAPIER MACHE BOULDER IS ACTUALLY REALLY HEAVY –
UK Premiere with Q&A
Dir:Christian Nicolson | New Zealand, 2016 | English |112 mins
What happened to the good old days of sci-fi, when spaceships were real models, monsters were made of latex and laser guns were simply curling tongs painted silver?
In this film, three ordinary guys are thrust into a parallel world of an old sci-fi movie, trapped in a low budget universe. One-minute Tom, Jeffrey and Gavin are watching an old B-grade movie, the next they’ve been thrust into the movie itself and find themselves at the helm of a rickety old spaceship. Panic-stricken, they stumble into a space battle and make a mortal enemy of the evil Lord Froth whilst unwittingly saving the space princess Lady Emmanor.
When poor Jeffrey’s psyche is over-ridden by the sci-fi character, Star Captain Kasimir, Tom and Gavin must find a cure for Jeffrey’s predicament as they could well be next. They must adapt to survive long enough to find their way home.
In this action-packed comedy adventure of giant lizards, space battles, robots, aliens, warlords and amazons an affectionate tribute to a pre-CG cinematic world shines through. A true delight.
ANDROIDS DREAM – UK Premiere
Dir: Ion de Sosa | Spain/Germany, 2014 |Spanish (English Subtitles) |61 Mins
The year is 2052, yet this future has one foot in the past. With strangely artificial skyscrapers adorning the coastline and neon-lined broadwalks, it could be 1975.
Many of the towering apartments lie empty – wastelands of exposed wires, unfinished plasterwork and endless dust. The residents are house-proud, eager to show off their knick-knacks and national clothing, when not meeting up for the occasional tea dance.
Into this dystopia, enters a bounty hunter whose livelihood depends upon exterminating robots – a necessary role since the androids have become indistinguishable from the humans.
A sparse, enigmatic adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ that is far removed from Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.
De Sosa’s film is a minimalist genre piece, an oblique treatise on difference and brings a documentary sensibility to scrutinising the status quo of contemporary Spain.
THE CALL UP – CLOSING NIGHT FILM – Cast & Crew Q&A
Dir:Charles Barker | UK, 2016 | English |90 Mins
When a group of elite online gamers receive a mysterious invitation to trial a state-of-the-art virtual reality video game, it’s a dream come true and impossible to resist.
Arriving at the test site, the group steps into hi-tech gear and prepares for a revolutionary, next-level gaming experience bringing modern warfare to life with frightening realism.
At first their experience is unique and exhilarating. But what starts out as a dream encounter with cutting-edge technology quickly turns sinister.
Once the group is attacked by enemy combatants, they soon realise this is no game after all. Make a mistake here and you pay with your life.
Now these masters of the shoot ‘em up will have to fight for survival within a game gone bad, but this time it’s for real.
A timely look at the blurring of realities through technology. You’ll never crank up your PS4 again without looking over your shoulder…
Festival Trailer
is the UK’s only dedicated sci-fi and fantasy film festival. Always keen to challenge stereotypes and push the definition of what ‘sci-fi’ means, we have a reputation for programming a variety of exciting and independent films whilst remaining fun and inclusive.
The festival screens world and UK film premieres, documentaries and a selection of classic SF titles. SCI-FI-LONDON has a strong international shorts programme. It also holds filmmaking competitions to encourage more science fiction films to be made in the UK. 2015 saw the launch of our video-on-demand platform, watchscifi.com which features pay-to- view or buy-to-own content curated by the festival team. This non-subscription channel also features quality free content picked by us.
Full details at www.sci-fi-london.com
