– The biggest Italian sci-fi event will unspool between 29 October and 3 November, both in Trieste and online, showcasing Archive, Mortal, Skylin3s and the series SF8
Archive by Gavin Rothery
The biggest Italian event dedicated to the exploration of the future world, the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival will be celebrating its 20-year anniversary with a special edition, which is scheduled to unfold between 29 October and 3 November in the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia capital, but also via the internet for the very first time. A veritable binge-watching session – both in person and online – is in the offing for science-fiction fans, who will be treated to works hailing from Australia, the UK, Ireland, Russia, Italy, Argentina, France, Norway, Hungary, Austria, Luxemburg, Belgium, Lithuania, Spain and the US.
Set to open the festival in a cinema setting is Gavin Rothery’s film Archive [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a sci-fi reimagining of the legendary story of Frankenstein. Likewise screening in person, we find Yeon Sang-ho’s Peninsula, a hotly anticipated zombie movie coming courtesy of the director of cult movie Train to Busan; The Last Journey of Paul W.R. by Romain Quirot, which sees Planet Earth devastated by the ravages of climate change; How I Became A Superhero [+see also:
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film profile] by Douglas Attal, unfolding in a world where superheroes live alongside humans; Sputnik by Egor Abramenko, a sci-fi horror set in the Cold War; Executive Order by Lázaro Ramos, an exploration of racism in a dystopic Rio de Janeiro; Meander [+see also:
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interview: Mathieu Turi
film profile] by Mathieu Turi, a sci-fi thriller by the director of the survival horror movie Hostile [+see also:
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film profile]; the exhilarating Mandibles [+see also:
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interview: Quentin Dupieux
film profile] by Quentin Dupieux; Come True by Anthony Scott Burns, which revolves around a girl who runs away from home, and the documentary Spaceship Earth, by Matt Wolf, about an incredible experiment carried out in 1991: Biosphere 2.
Screening in the Mymovies Online Cinema, meanwhile, is a selection of the very best of 2020 sci-fi: feature films, science documentaries, two short film line-ups and the Korean TV series SF8, which is already being described as Asia’s answer to Black Mirror. Films in the offing in this category include Relic by Natalie Erika James, one of the most highly acclaimed horrors this year; Argentina’s Immortal by Fernando Spiner; Alone by Johnny Martin, where the outbreak of a terrible pandemic throws the world into chaos; Dune Drifter [+see also:
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film profile] by Marc Price, a very low-budget sci-fi film and self-declared homage to the world of Star Trek; Benny Loves You [+see also:
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film profile] by Karl Holt, based upon the classics of the horror comedy genre and involving a murderous doll, and the eco-futuristic sci-fi film 2067 by Seth Larney, starring Kodi Smit-McPhee (aka Nightcrawler in the X-Men saga).
Works available online but also screening in person are Skylin3s by Liam O’Donnell, the third film in the Skyline saga; Jumbo [+see also:
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interview: Zoé Wittock
film profile] by Zoé Wittock, starring Noémie Merlant and selected for the 2020 Berlinale’s Generation 14Plus section; Egor Baranov’s adrenaline-pumping opus The Blackout; Noah Hutton’s brilliant political satire about the gig economy Lapsis; André Øvredal’s superhero story Mortal [+see also:
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interview: André Øvredal
film profile], which doesn’t comply with conventional genre rules and which offers a European counter to Marvel and DC productions; Péter Bergendy’s ghost story Post Mortem [+see also:
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film profile], set in Hungary following the devastation of the First World War, the splatter film Yummy [+see also:
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film profile] by Lars Damoiseaux, and the enthralling work Coma by Nikita Argunov, a visionary sci-fi film hailing from Russia.
The festival programme also features a variety of documentaries, a series of science-themed meetings accessible on the festival’s YouTube channel, and, last but not least, an “Education Program” aimed at students, families and teachers, and unfolding online as well as physically in Trieste.
(Translated from Italian)