Sci-Fi London 2010

For immediate release 12th April 2010

The 9th London International Festival of Science-Fiction and Fantastical Film will hold dominion over your puny Earth capital from the April 28 to May 3, bringing with it a stellar cargo of big-name releases, low-budget gems, futurist rom-coms, crazed all-nighters and Belgian Vampire Cowboys. With an intergalactic Bollywood musical with digital effects courtesy of Peter Jackson’s Weta SFX house thrown in for good measure.

Taking the general theme of ‘Life in 2050’, the festival aims to give us a feel of how we will be living over the next forty years and, just maybe, the kind of problems that we’ll face as a species in even holding on for that long should the rate of technological advance keep red-lining at the exponential rate we’re already experiencing.

With an art show, panels, talks, workshops and screenings, the festival has a little something for everyone.

Full details for each movie can be found on the festival’s website www.sci-fi-london.com and a summary of each days screening is below.

For images, interview requests and further details contact:

Frazer Nash at Frazer Nash Communications:

Tel: 44 (0) 1296712522

Email: fnc@frazer-nash-communications.co.uk

Louis Savy, Festival Director:

Tel: +44 (0) 7588 681 566

Email: louis@sci-fi-london.co.uk

FULL FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS:

WED 28th APRIL – DAY 1

The 9th Annual SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival opens on April 28th and runs for 6 days, screening the best science fiction films from around the world. Opening night highlights include the Arthur C Clarke Awards, a screening of this years winning short from the 48hour Film Challenge and Vincenzo Natali's SPLICE.

7.45pm – ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD CEREMONY

We host this annual award for the best science fiction novel of the year, selected from novels whose UK first edition was published in the previous calendar year.

8.30pm – SPLICE (USA 2010, Vincenzo Natali) – OPENING NIGHT GALA

Directed by Vincenzo Natali and produced by Guillermo del Toro this is an exciting, and sometimes shocking, yet perfectly formed hybrid of horror and sci-fi with a memorable ending you won’t be expecting.

We will also be screening the winner of the National SCI-FI-LONDON 48hour Film Challenge 2010 before the main feature.

THURS 29TH APRIL - DAY 2

Two films screened today, one UK Premiere, the Girl Geek Dinner panel talk, a Focus on Poland event and a sneak preview of a new feature, RADIO FREE ALBEMUTH, written by Philip K. Dick.

6.30pm - THE HOSPITAL OF TRANSFIGURATION (Poland 1979, Edward Zebrowski)

Part of the Focus on Poland.

A very rare opportunity to see this dark sci-fi movie based on a Stanislaw Lem story. The screening is introduced and followed by a Q&A session with the graphic novelist and film poster designer, Andrzej Klimowski.

7.00pm - LONDON GIRL GEEK DINNERS

British Women of Manga Panel.

Discussion panel featuring Kate Brown, Emma Vieceli and Karen Rubins.

8.30pm – NOTHING (USA 2003, Vincenzo Natali)

As yet unseen in the UK! A bizarre and extremely funny film from the fervent imagination of Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Splice).

9.00pm - RADIO FREE ALBERMUTH (USA 2010, John Simon)

Sneak preview of a Philip K. Dick adaptation. Be the first to see this ahead of its world premiere and theatrical release. Stars Alanis Morrisette.

FRI 30TH APRIL - DAY 3

Three films screened, one programme of shorts, stand up comedy and The Director’s Guild of Great Britain networking drinks.

6.45pm - 8th WONDERLAND (France 2008, Nicolas Alberny and Jean Mach)

A nightmareish tale of an international organisation set on changing the world. Followed by a post-screening Q&A with both directors.

7.00pm - SHORTS PROGRAMME 1

Eleven excellent short films featuring a remarkable range of styles and ideas from around the world.

9.00pm – DEPOSITARIOS (Mexico 2010, Rodrigo Ordoñez)

A thought-provoking and action-packed Mexican clone movie.

9.00pm- STAND UP COMEDY – GEEK NIGHT OUT

An evening of the very best in Geek stand-up comedy featuring some of the hottest talent in London. Featuring Gemma Whelan, Rik Moore, Rob Deb and the Lone Gunman himself, Dean Haglund.

10.30pm – BARBARELLA (Italy/France 1968, Roger Vadim)

A Satellite Event with cult movie club, CURZON MIDNIGHT MOVIES.

Featuring themed cocktails, Alexander’s Festival Hall & Piney Gir DJ tag team, a live performance from Suri Sumatra, and the ultimate cult sci-fi film, Barbarella.

7.00pm - THE DIRECTOR’S GUILD OF GREAT BRITAIN: Networking Drinks

We are delighted to host a networking event for the Guild at the Apollo.

SAT 1ST MAY – DAY 4

Seven features screened including one Focus on Poland plus 4 all-night events.

10.30am - TEST PILOTA PIRXA (Poland 1978, Marek Piestrak)

Part of the Focus on Poland

Landmark Polish film about a spaceship pilot who suspects one of his crew may be a robot. Screened with X, a short film inspired by Stanislaw Lem’s short stories.

1.00pm - LOVE STORY 2050 (India 2008, Harry Bajawa)

Bollywood does science fiction! An all-singing, all-dancing musical extravaganza featuring special effects from Weta. There will be an intermission with free Indian snacks for sampling.

3.00pm - SHORTS PROGRAMME 2

Fourteen excellent short films featuring a remarkable range of styles and ideas from around the world.

4.45pm - TRANSMISSION (Hungary 2009, Roland Vranik)

Not a typical science fiction movie, but a meditation on a world where technology has failed and the resulting ingenuity of humans to adapt and find solutions.

7.00pm – 2033 (Mexico 2009, Francisco Laresgoiti)

A brilliantly realised film that confirms Mexican movie making is a force to be reckoned with in the world of science fiction. Dystopian and dark.

7.15pm – TIMER (USA 2009, Jac Schaeffer)

Sci-fi meets rom-com. A date movie with a wider, gentler appeal. After all, geeks need loving too. Is your love match-out there? Your Timer will tell you.

9.30pm VAMPIRES (Belgium 2010, Vincent Lannoo)

A mockumentary that follows a family of vampires ‘living’ in Belgium – “a flat land full of grey people” but they’re bored by their immortality. Think Spinal Tap meets The Munsters, in Benelux.

9.30pm HUNTER PREY (USA 2010, Sandy Collora)

The debut feature from concept designer and artist Sandy Collora, best known for the 2003 short Batman: Dead End, one of the best fan films ever made.

11.30pm - STARCRAFT II ALL-NIGHTER

SCREAMERS, INDEPENDENCE DAY, THE ABYSS, STARSHIP TROOPERS

Do you have the stamina for our notorious all nighters?

Ahead of Blizzard’s release of STARCRAFT II – The Wings of Liberty, we put together a few movies with mecha, monsters, aliens and some great macho dialogue…

Join us in the bar from 10.30pm and play a beta version of the game then grab your goody bag and kick-back for a night of kick-ass! Complimentary Purbeck Ice-cream, energy drinks, tea and coffee and a few special give-aways on the night.

11.45pm - COMEDY ALL-NIGHTER

SALUTE OF THE JUGGER, ALIEN FACTOR, THE UNEARTHLY, FIRST SPACESHIP ON VENUS

Join us for some of the worst film ever made.

LIVE!!! At midnight we screen a Rutger Hauer classic, but the soundtrack is provided by some of London’s hottest stand-up talent including: Vanessa Hammick, Charlotte Gittens, Fraser Millward, Paul Foxcroft and Sara Pascoe.

12.00 MIDNIGHT - JAPAN ALIVE ALL-NIGHTER

TOKYO GORE SCHOOL, KAMUI, TAJOMURI, CHANBARA STRIPTEASE

We’ll be screening 4 amazing live-action movies to keep your blood boiling. Set piece fight scenes, swordplay and nudity, what more could you want.

12.00 MIDNIGHT - MANGA ALL-NIGHTER

REDLINE, BLEACH II, FATE/STAY NIGHT, MUSASHI

This is the 9th annual anime night and brave souls will be rewarded with complimentary Purbeck Ice-cream, energy drinks, tea and coffee and a packed goody bag. Scribble on the Letraset Mangawall, request some J-pop from the DJs and play a little Starcraft II, all in all it is a great night out – allnight!

SUN 2ND MAY – DAY 5

Five features screened (one free), two documentaries and a selection of shorts.

11.00am - DALEKS INVASION EARTH 2150AD (UK 1966, Gordon Flemyng) FREE SCREENING

Peter Cushing as the Doctor!. Arriving in a future London, the Doctor and his companions discover the Daleks have taken over the Earth.

11.15am - PLUG AND PRAY (Germany 2009, Jens Schnaze)

A documentary examining the role of AI and robotics featuring leading figures in the fields of cybernetics and related areas from MIT, Italy, Germany and Japan. Anyone interested in the future possibilities of science and humanity should see this film.

1.30pm - SHORTS PROGRAMME 1

Eleven excellent short films featuring a remarkable range of styles and ideas from around the world.

3.30pm - INTO THE PIT: THE SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT DEADPIT.COM (USA 2009, Kelly Marcott)

Documentary following internet radio station Dead Pit.com presenters The Creepy Kentuckian and Uncle Bill. See what can be achieved with a couple of microphones, passion and an Internet connection.

4.00pm - ONE (Hungary 2009, Pater Sparrow)

Based on the essay, One Human Minute by Stanislaw Lem, every book becomes one, which purports to be a collection of statistics of what happens on Earth in the space of 60 second. A very surreal thriller.

6.00pm - ERASER CHILDREN (Australia 2009, Nathan Christoffel)

Set in a world of useless products, police brutality and pre-paid dreams in an oppressive society where laughing too loudly attracts a hefty fine. Imagine Gilliam directing The Matrix, meets 1984, by way of Max Headroom and you are near to the wonderful world of Misner and the Eraser Children.

7.00pm – GOLEM (Poland 1980, Piotr Szulkin)

Part of the Focus on Poland.

Rare screening of a Szulkin masterpiece. Set in a dark future, scientists have created and control a half-human, half-android population. But one of the creatures begins showing independent will. Should he be destroyed lest he influence the rest?

8.30pm – EARTHLING (USA 2009, Clay Liford)

A US indie movie that questions one’s sanity, humanity and the urge to survive. With an air of mystery and compassion. It is reminiscent of The Man who Fell to Earth

MON 3RD MAY – DAY 6

Last day of the festival. Four features, one documentary, and one programme of shorts screened. Plus the notorious SCI-FI-LONDON pub quiz.

10.45am – VAMPIRES (Belgium 2009, Vincent Lannoo)

A mockumentary that follows a family of vampires ‘living’ in Belgium – “a flat land full of grey people” but they’re bored by their immortality. Think Spinal Tap meets The Munsters, in Benelux.

12 Noon - MINORITY REPORT (USA 2002, Steven Spielberg) FREE SCREENING

2054, Washington, D.C. and murder has been eliminated. The future is seen and the guilty punished before the crime has ever been committed. ‘Pre-Cogs’, three psychic beings, whose visions of future murders have never been wrong; see unit Chief Anderton murder a man called Leo Crow. Anderton (Tom Cruise) goes on the run to prove his innocence.

12.30pm - PAX AMERICA AND THE WEAPONISATION OF SPACE (Canada/France 2010, Denis Delestrac)

50% of the satellites orbiting Earth are owned by the US government and US corporations. If attacked, they would cause the collapse of society as we know it.

With unprecedented access to US government agencies and space development corporations, this documentary presents a balanced view of what is happening outside the Earth’s atmosphere.

3.30pm - SCI-FI-LONDON Pub Quiz

It is a quiz, but it’s not in a pub... it’s on the big screen! Our annual sci-fi quiz is set to challenge you once again. Put a team together or play alone and join us for 24 of the toughest questions around. Cool prizes and giveaways – and maybe a dance-off instead of a tie-breaker.

5.00pm - SHORTS PROGRAMME 2

Fourteen excellent short films featuring a remarkable range of styles and ideas from around the world.

5.15pm – DRONES (Amber Benson & Adam Busch)

Co-directed by Buffy alumni Benson and Busch and starring familiar faces from cult shows such as Freaks and Geeks, DRONES takes the mundanity and humour of The Office and gives it a dark, extra-terrestrial twist.

7.30pm – CARGO (Switzerland 2009, Ivan Englar) Closing night premiere

Continuing the long tradition of scary monsters in the confined quarters of a spacecraft, this excellent Swiss movie adds the darker sensibilities of European indie cinema that Hollywood invariably glosses over.

LIFE-IN-250 ART EXHIBITION:

Science fiction has often taken the future as a subject. In a new exhibition, ‘LIFE IN 2050′, we set the dial to 40 years from now and have commissioned visual artists to imagine the future.

How and where will we be living, what problems will still ail us, and what will have been our achievements?

Life in 2050 is an exhibtion created by Transmission for the SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival and takes place from 22nd April until 4th May at Proud Central, John Adam Street. www.life-in-2050.com

SCI-FI-LONDON: Labs (full details online http://www.sci-fi-london.com/festival/2010/programme/lab)

We created the SCI-FI-LONDON: LAB because we're committed to promoting science fact as well as fiction.

Filmmakers often tell us that sci-fi is tough to make due to a perceived need for special effects or lack of credible stories. The LAB programmes offer opportunities to consider new ways of telling stories and puts cutting-edge research and practice in the spotlight.

Scientists, comic artists, leading genre writers and filmmakers explore where fact and fiction intersect. This year we have several workshops planned with an aim to create some credible sci-fi film treatments.

Highlights include:

5.15pm Sun 2nd May - FAITH WARS

The ideological square-off between religion and science is here to stay... or is it? Perhaps the dichotomy is a falsehood, and everyone will learn to live and let live. Or perhaps faith will become the fracture point of an energy-hungry civilization, a warring sphere of philosophies.

What will we believe in 2050? Is believing that others should act according to our beliefs the fault that unites the two sides of the argument?

Panellists:

Andrew Copson became Chief Executive of the British Humanist Association after five years’ coordinating their education and public affairs work. He has written on humanist and secularist issues for numerous publications.

Steve Fuller is Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick. He actively debates evolution and creationism on both sides of the Atlantic. His latest book is Science: The Art of Living.

China Miéville is a two-time winner of the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award and the British Fantasy Award. The City & The City, an existential thriller, was published in 2009 to dazzling critical acclaim and drew comparison with the works of Kafka, Orwell and Phillip K. Dick.

Ruth Gledhill has been religious affairs correspondent for The Times, London for 21 years where she also writes the blog, Articles of Faith. She joined the paper in 1987 as a news reporter.