A sampling of recent sci-fi short films from Dust:
** “Planet Unknown” by Shawn Wang
Facing global resource depletion, mankind sends out Space Rovers to find potential inhabitable planet
** 2084 by Taz Goldstein
In the year 2084, the fate of mankind will rest in the hands of a total moron.
** Black Hole by Phil & Olly
If you could move through any solid object, what would you do?
A press release points me to The New York Sci Fi Film Festival being held this weekend:
This Friday marks the inaugural launch of The New York Science Fiction Film Festival, a new cinematic event debuting January 20-22, 2017 with a highly acclaimed lineup of science fiction, horror, supernatural and fantasy films and virtual reality entertainment. Valuing the importance of filmmakers from all walks of life, the festival presents to audiences modern masterpieces where storytelling transcends expectations and possibilities are endless.
Highlights include the USA premiere of Marcos Machado’s UFO’s in Zacapa (Ovnis en Zacapa) (2016), the NYC premiere of Marco Checa Garcia’s 2BR02B: To Be or Naught to Be (2016) and the East Coast premiere of Ian Truitner’s Teleios (2016). Among its many gems, the festival is also proud to screen Hiroshi Katagiri’s Gehenna: Where Death Lives (2016) starring Doug Jones (Hellboy) and Lance Henriksen (Alien), Lukas Hassel’s Into the Dark (2014) starring Lee Tergesen (The Strain) and a prominent virtual reality block featuring Ben Leonberg’s Dead Head (2016) and Ryan Hartsell’s I’ll Make You Bleed (2016) set to the music of the band These Machines are Winning.
The festival will run on January 20, 2017 at Instituto Cervantes (211 E 49th St, New York, NY 10017), January 21, 2017 at Producers Club (358 W 44th Street, New York, NY 10036) and The Roxy Hotel Cinema (2 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013) and January 22, 2017 at Anthology Film Archives (32 Second Avenue [at 2nd Street], New York, NY 10003).
Lots of space themed entries in the schedule. For example,
TITAN
Dir: Álvaro Gonzalez
12 minutes
Spain, 2015
Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is the main stage of the Mission Cronos. Orpheus, one of the astronauts who have descended to its surface, is searching for organic life forms. This is his story.
The Last Journey of Paul WR
Dir: Romain Quirot
17 minutes
France, 2015
The red moon threatens the existence of our planet. Mankind only hope lies upon the shoulders of the enigmatic Paul WR, the most talented astronaut of his generation. Mysteriously, a few hours before the mission launch, Paul has disappeared.
TELEIOS
Directed by Ian Truitner
USA, 1 hr 22 minutes
2016
Five genetically engineered “perfect” humans are sent on a rescue mission to Titan, where only one man has survived a ruined expedition to retrieve a vital cargo. Under the stress of isolation in outer space, the five perfect humans begin to exhibit formerly-concealed character flaws that threaten to tear the mission (and their chances for survival) apart.
Three sci-fi short films each with a robot theme:
Writer/Director Luc Besson made the 1997 sci-fi movie The Fifth Element and his new movie, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, appears to have a similar extravagantly stylized look to it. The movie is inspired by the French comic book series Valérian and Laureline. The movie won’t hit theaters until 21 July 2017 but there is now this official “Teaser Trailer”:
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The movie Life, about an international space crew discovering life on Mars, will be released on May 26, 2017. Here is the first trailer:
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The movie Arrival arrived in US theaters this weekend. Here is the final trailer:
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No new trailer for Passengers since I posted one here last month. The movie will open in theaters December 21st.
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Here is the latest trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which is to open on Dec.16th (find lots more short Star Wars official videos here):
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Here is an infographic about technology predictions in science fiction movies and books: How Technology Will Change According to Science Fiction – The Solar Centre Blog.
The National Geographic Channel‘s Mars mini-series directed by Ron Howard debuts on TV on November 14th. However, the first episode is now available for online streaming for free: Novo Mundo – MARS Video – National Geographic Channel.
We watched the episode last night and it was quite good. (Recommend watching it on a big screen.) The program is structured as a high production value fictional drama of a Mars mission in 2033, interspersed with documentary segments about what is happening in 2016 to make a Mars mission feasible and affordable. There is an emphasis in particular on what SpaceX is doing but they also include inputs from NASA and a variety of other sources.
Here is a nicely made short film that gives a backstory to two of the characters – Hana & Joon Seung – in the Mars series:
The ham radio station on the ISS plays a role in the story: A Guide to Ham Radio – MARS Article – National Geographic Channel.
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