The Philip K. Dick European Science Fiction Film Festival has announced its full schedule for the fifth annual celebration spotlighting the brilliance of legendary novelist Philip K. Dick. Pushing the boundaries of storytelling through remarkable feature and short films and virtual reality, the festival will be held October 25-26 at L’Hybride and Inoui in Lille, France and November 1-2 at Film Club 813 e.V. in Cologne, Germany.
This year’s festival marks its fifth gathering in the locations of Lille and Cologne, both highly artistic meccas essential for the event’s mission. “Europe has a long tradition of integral and psychological science fiction,” said Daniel Abella, the founder and director of the festival. “Both Lille and Cologne have a rich cultural life and are popular areas for learning and appreciating this genre.” The event will also commemorate its namesake by attributing his work as a reflection of modern society. “Philip K. Dick foresaw the aspects of technology to free and liberate us,” said Abella. “If you look around at the technological advancements of our world, many of his stories have come to pass and the festival recognizes his vision. He understood that the fluid nature of reality and the lure of transhumanism is becoming a real phenomenon.”
L’Hybride (18 Rue Gosselet 59000, Lille, France)
Short Films + Q&A: Reality Is An Illusion
7:00pm – 9:00pm
It’s a Clear Day (2017)
Director: María Vázquez
Run Time/Country: 14 min, Spain
Synopsis: A woman is planning on giving a lecture on the famous science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. Everything seems like her everyday routine, except for a little excitement because of the event. But as time passes she will discover nothing is what it seems.
Gab (2018)
Director: Gazanfer Biricik
Run Time/Country: 10 min, France
Synopsis: A journalist who was charged by her diary to write an article about a victim killed in an attack organizes an interview with the sister of the deceased in a pub.
The Photographer (2017)
Director: Bertrand Normand
Run Time/Country: 12 min, France
Synopsis: A woman photographs statues of antique gods in the gardens of the Versailles palace. Through her camera, she perceives the presence of a male statue who has come to life and is lurking around her.
The Pipers (2013)
Director: Ammar Quteineh
Run Time/Country: 15 min, France
Synopsis: An army psychiatrist is puzzled by a case of a French soldier who returns from the war in Afghanistan and claims that he’s a plant. Based on Philip K. Dick’s short story Piper in the Woods.
Tous les jours (2017)
Director: Philippe Orreindy
Run Time/Country: 14 min, France
Synopsis: A company director is under the perverse psychological influence of her superior. But is it real or is it an hallucination caused by her anguish?
The Summoned (2017)
Director: Mathias Couquet
Run Time/Country: 29 min, France
Synopsis: Paris, 1920. Four veterans of the Great War painfully try to recover from this dreadful experience. But for them, the horror is only beginning. For in the midst of their dreams, a dark and sinister entity has arisen.
Post-Film Q&A:
The screening will be followed by an in-depth discussion with directors.
Short Films + Q&A: Invisible Realms
9:00pm – 11:00pm
The Bay (2017)
Director: Joris Laquittant
Run Time/Country: 23 min, France
Synopsis: Every year during the summer solstice, the Bay transforms into desert sands and the tides stop. This year, when a hunter is charged with battling the forces of nature, nothing goes as planned.
Mimesis (2017)
Director: Patrick Lee
Run Time/Country: 4 min, USA
Synopsis: Nothing is what it seems in the cycling of the natural world.
Le Flottement (2017)
Director: Philippe Gariepy
Run Time/Country: 15 min, Canada
Synopsis: A woman suffering from dementia disappears from her rest home. During the search, her daughter discovers mysterious clues.
A Forest (2017)
Director: Thomas Geffrier
Run Time/Country: 15 min, France
Synopsis: A young woman meets a couple at a private party and leaving with them, she finds herself trapped in some sort of twilight zone from which she cannot escape.
The Devil’s Remix (2017)
Director: Hugues Sanchez
Run Time/Country: 44 min, France
Synopsis: A surrealist remix of Les Diaboliques (1955) directed by Henri Georges Clouzot.
Post-Film Q&A:
The screening will be followed by an in-depth discussion with directors and the first Audience Award.
Virtual Reality Experience
7:00pm – 11:00pm
Eclipse (2018)
Director: Aymeric Favre
Run Time/Country: 40 min, France
Synopsis: An immersive “hyper-reality” experience and a glimpse into tomorrow’s cinema. Contrary to most VR experiences dedicated to entertainment, this exhibition is a four-player interactive science fiction short film enhanced by physical effects, full body awareness and a total freedom of movements.
L’Hybride (18 Rue Gosselet 59000, Lille, France)
Short Films + Q&A: The Eschaton Approaches
7:00pm – 9:00pm
Those Who Can Die (2017)
Director: Charlotte Cayeux
Run Time/Country: 18 min, France
Synopsis: A 15-year-old girl enters a strict boarding school. Around her pupils are playing and attending classes with faded eyes and the violence of the supervisors is visible through their obsequious look. One day she meets a classmate and understands their true destiny.
SOMA (2018)
Director: Christel Morvan
Run Time/Country: 9 min, Belgium
Synopsis: A tribute to Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ showing the challenges and risks of living in a world of artificial pleasure.
Cyborgs. Should We Be Better Than We Are? (2017)
Director: Victoria Sutton
Run Time/Country: 23 min, USA
Synopsis: Restoring human senses and capabilities is almost universally accepted, yet enhancing human capabilities beyond human norms is highly controversial. This short documentary explores this question and what it means to be human.
Fraktaal (2017)
Director: Julius Horsthuis
Run Time/Country: 4 min, Netherlands
Synopsis: A world within worlds.
December 17 (2016)
Director: Yuji Hariu
Run Time/Country: 15 min, Japan
Synopsis: In the near future, a family comes face to face with a dangerous secret about their sons.
Metta Via (2017)
Director: Warren Flanagan
Run Time/Country: 10 min, Canada
Synopsis: Set in the future, a young woman wakes up in a mysterious temple-like room and must figure out her purpose.
Post-Film Q&A:
The screening will be followed by an in-depth discussion with directors.
Short Films + Q&A: The Darkness Returns
9:00pm – 11:00pm
Shelter (2017)
Director: Daniel Andrew Wunderer
Run Time/Country: 10 min, Austria
Synopsis: A wanderer in the wasteland seeks shelter in an abandoned trailer, where he discovers he corpse of a boy with strange wounds.
MayDay (2016)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček
Run Time/Country: 13 min, France
Synopsis: A man subject to violent hallucinations must overcome the imminence of death during his extradition flight towards United States.
I Came from the Future (2018)
Director: Dave Lojek
Run Time/Country: 4 min, Germany
Synopsis: A man writes his suicide note but finds there are more questions than answers.
Rabbid Jacob (2017)
Director: Donovan Alonso-Garcia
Run Time/Country: 22 min, France/Belgium
Synopsis: Two meteorites have hit Brussels. There is little time left for Jacob to restore order and moral in the depths of a city in complete loss.
Leftovers & Leftlovers (2017)
Director: Raitis Abele
Run Time/Country: 15 min, Latvia
Synopsis: After years of madness, a man seeks out his past and confronts his feminine and masculine alter egos.
Sound From the Deep (2017)
Director: Antti Laakso, Joonas Allonen
Run Time/Country: 29 min, Finland
Synopsis: An international research group is searching natural resources from the Arctic Ocean. They pick up a strange underwater sound from far north, and start to follow it to the uncharted waters. Inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft.
Post-Film Q&A:
The screening will be followed by an in-depth discussion with directors and the second Audience Award.
Virtual Reality Experience
7:00pm – 11:00pm
Eclipse (2018)
Director: Aymeric Favre
Run Time/Country: 40 min, France
Synopsis: An immersive “hyper-reality” experience and a glimpse into tomorrow’s cinema. Contrary to most VR experiences dedicated to entertainment, this exhibition is a four-player interactive science fiction short film enhanced by physical effects, full body awareness and a total freedom of movements.
Film Club 813 e.V. (Hahnenstraße 6 50667, Cologne, Germany)
Short Films + Q&A: War and Paranoia
7:30pm – 9:30pm
Shelter (2017)
Director: Daniel Andrew Wunderer
Run Time/Country: 10 min, Austria
Synopsis: A wanderer in the wasteland seeks shelter in an abandoned trailer, where he discovers he corpse of a boy with strange wounds.
The Super Recogniser (2017)
Director: Jennifer Sheridan
Run Time/Country: 11 min, UK
Synopsis: A normal guy has the very special talent of 90% facial recollection. He never forgets a face and you better hope he doesn’t knows yours. Starring Jacob Anderson (Game of Thrones) and Ritu Arya (Humans).
Sound From the Deep (2017)
Director: Antti Laakso, Joonas Allonen
Run Time/Country: 29 min, Finland
Synopsis: An international research group is searching natural resources from the Arctic Ocean. They pick up a strange underwater sound from far north, and start to follow it to the uncharted waters. Inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft.
Hunters and Gatherers (2018)
Director: Andreas Ramm
Run Time/Country: 15 min, Germany
Synopsis: The year is 2044. A violent conflict permeates throughout the country. Various zones are ridden by chaos and terror. To put down riots, a regime sends troops but does not shy away from biological warfare.
Nazi VR (2017)
Director: David Freid
Run Time/Country: 17 min, Germany
Synopsis: The High Tech Prosecution of a WWII Nazi Guard with virtual reality.
Post-Film Q&A:
The screening will be followed by an in-depth discussion with directors.
Short Films + Q&A: Reality Is An Illusion
9:30pm – 11:00pm
It’s a Clear Day (2017)
Director: María Vázquez
Run Time/Country: 14 min, Spain
Synopsis: A woman is planning on giving a lecture on the famous science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. Everything seems like her everyday routine, except for a little excitement because of the event. But as time passes she will discover nothing is what it seems.
The Pipers (2013)
Director: Ammar Quteineh
Run Time/Country: 15 min, France
Synopsis: An army psychiatrist is puzzled by a case of a French soldier who returns from the war in Afghanistan and claims that he’s a plant. Based on Philip K. Dick’s short story Piper in the Woods.
Instant Realities (2017)
Director: Andreas Z. Simon
Run Time/Country: 10 min, Germany
Synopsis: A businessman feels followed by fitting puzzle pieces on the street. Reality seems to fade away and a greater mystery begins.
Gallery of Lost Trades (2018)
Director: Will Kubica
Run Time/Country: 8 min, Germany
Synopsis: The year is 2068. A gallery owner leads a journalist through “The Gallery of Lost Trades”. By means of impressive paintings it depicts the historical downfall of whole fields of trades and professions.
Alchemy (2017)
Director: Brandon Polanco
Run Time/Country: 14 min, USA
Synopsis: A failed everyman begins working through pages and pages of questions. As time begins to elongate, the man finds himself tormented and more and more isolated. He battles the unknown ultimately transcending into a heightened reality, discovering a new life existing between multiple worlds, both familiar and otherworldly.
Mental Health (2018)
Director: Michael Carolan
Run Time/Country: 15 min, Ireland
Synopsis: A young worker is sent to be mentally assessed after expressing disillusionment with his job, leading to a sinister revelation about his very existence.
First Day Kosmos (2018)
Director: Thomas Kuhling
Run Time/Country: 18 min, Germany
Synopsis: Under the vast expanse of a cosmic sky, a psychiatric guardian is on his way to his farmhouse in a secluded region where he is surprised by the unannounced visit of his old friend who escaped from a psychiatric ward.
Post-Film Q&A:
The screening will be followed by an in-depth discussion with directors.
Film Club 813 e.V. (Hahnenstraße 6 50667, Cologne, Germany)
Short Films + Q&A: Human All To Human
7:30pm – 9:30pm
December 17 (2016)
Director: Yuji Hariu
Run Time/Country: 15 min, Japan
Synopsis: In the near future, a family comes face to face with a dangerous secret about their sons.
SOMA (2018)
Director: Christel Morvan
Run Time/Country: 9 min, Belgium
Synopsis: A tribute to Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ showing the challenges and risks of living in a world of artificial pleasure.
Cyborgs. Should We Be Better Than We Are? (2017)
Director: Victoria Sutton
Run Time/Country: 23 min, USA
Synopsis: Restoring human senses and capabilities is almost universally accepted, yet enhancing human capabilities beyond human norms is highly controversial. This short documentary explores this question and what it means to be human.
The Very Near Future (2017)
Director: Sebastian Egert
Run Time/Country: 5 min, Germany
Synopsis: In the very near future, a man tries to order a pizza online.
The Ash: Safe Haven (2017)
Director: Marty Stalker
Run Time/Country: 17 min, UK
Synopsis: A deadly volcanic ash cloud. A 12-year-old boy besieged by the bloodthirsty infected. When the ash falls, terror rises.
Brainbloodvolume (2016)
Director: John Carter
Run Time/Country: 17 min, Germany
Synopsis: Inspired by the bizarre actual life events of Dutch librarian and medical student Hugo Bart Huges, this stylistic interpretation of the essential moments at which Huges followed through with an operation he theorized would lead to a permanent state of higher consciousness – through the ancient mind-altering practice of “trepanation.”
Post-Film Q&A:
The screening will be followed by an in-depth discussion with directors.
Short Films + Q&A: The Alchemical Wedding
9:30pm – 11:30pm
APEX (2018)
Director: Stuart T. Birchall
Run Time/Country: 4 min, UK
Synopsis: Emergence of a hybrid human-alien consciousness from the void.
Metta Via (2017)
Director: Warren Flanagan
Run Time/Country: 10 min, Canada
Synopsis: Set in the future, a young woman wakes up in a mysterious temple-like room and must figure out her purpose.
Genesis (2018)
Director: Michael Tekle
Run Time/Country: 9 min, Germany
Synopsis: The CEO of a biotech corporation suffers from an incurable disease. With the help of a doctor, he creates an android with autonomously growing A.I. uploads of his entire memory. However, his search for eternal life might end faster than he thinks.
The Replacement (2018)
Director: Sean Miller
Run Time/Country: 16 min, USA
Synopsis: On election night, a janitor feels cheated out of a life he might have lived when his own clone becomes the president. He goes on a bender to seek justice, encountering new forms of prejudice, dismissal, and classicism. In a society where the morality around cloning is dividing the masses, physically looking like the newly elected president has its own dangers.
Ghostcode (2017)
Director: Patrick Defasten
Run Time/Country: 9 min, Germany
Synopsis: Advancements in sonic warfare lead to a net-born artificial intelligence.
Voyager (2017)
Director: Kjersti Helen Rasmussen
Run Time/Country: 8 min, Norway
Synopsis: A shooting star falls down over the arctic island of Svalbard. The Global Seed Vault gets an unexpected visit. Hunger knows no boundaries.
Pura Energia (2018)
Director: Francisco Garcia Mateos
Run Time/Country: 15 min, Spain
Synopsis: They thought it was a distant future. They thought they knew disaster. But only a few of us were aware of what surely would happen.
Pure White (2018)
Director: Sven Windszus
Run Time/Country: 3 min, Germany
Synopsis: The protagonist is an anatomy model who awakens in a seemingly perfect world. The fact that she must live as a “damaged” being in such an ideal environment amplifies her pain. She converses with her creator in an attempt to find answers.
I Came from the Future (2018)
Director: Dave Lojek
Run Time/Country: 4 min, Germany
Synopsis: A man writes his suicide note but finds there are more questions than answers.
Back and Forward INC. (2014)
Director: Martin Demmer
Run Time/Country: 13 min, Germany
Synopsis: Switching between visual metaphors and a near future possible way of living created by the company Back and Forward INC., a program is launched for the modern society that nobody has to fear the effect of the burnout syndrome any longer.
Attack Of The Cyber Octopuses (2017)
Director: Nicola Piovesan
Run Time/Country: 20 min, Estonia/Italy
Synopsis: Neo-Berlin, 2079. A dark city held by mega corporations where the only way to enjoy life is by connecting into cyberspace. Here, a team of detectives are investigating a new menace: an army of cyber octopuses that are terrorizing the government.
Post-Film Q&A:
The screening will be followed by an in-depth discussion with directors.
Festival Passes:
Passes to the festival are available for purchase on www.philipkdickfilmfestival-europe.com.
