We are culture. We are exploration. We are The New York Science Fiction Film Festival. The city’s newest platform for independent science fiction cinema arrives on the scene with a lineup that revolutionizes the core values of film and imagines new paths in the art of storytelling. Valuing the contributions of innovative filmmakers, the event presents a trailblazing collection of modern masterpieces where audiences will experience breathtaking journeys and visionary wonders. The festival launches its inaugural gathering on January 20, 2017 at Instituto Cervantes, January 21, 2017 at Producers Club and The Roxy Hotel Cinema and January 22, 2017 at Anthology Film Archives.
A lifelong admirer of science fiction, Daniel Abella, the founder and director of the film festival established the event as a center for diverse filmmakers to display their work among the city’s multicultural dynasty. “New York is the capital of the world and it is time we have a science fiction film festival devoted specifically to our city,” said Abella. “We received films from all over the world and that proves there is a little New York in everyone.”
FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2017:
Instituto Cervantes (211 E 49th St, New York, NY 10017)
Block One: Sci-Fi Short Films
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
María Fernanda in Time (2016)
Director: Xavier Pijuan
Run Time/Country: 11 min, Spain
Synopsis: An overprotective mother disrupts the space-time continuum.
Bow Shock (“Arco de choque”) (2016)
Director: Javier Diez
Run Time/Country: 17 min, Spain
Synopsis: An object that appears in a series of recent telescope images will drive a young astronomer and her colleagues to a surprising discovery.
Only Stars Will Remain (“Il ne restera que les étoiles”) (2016)
Director: Clemence Amiot
Run Time/Country: 23 min, France
Synopsis: Elena has a complicated life; her mother is an alcoholic, her father left them long ago and she feels she doesn’t belong anywhere. When human kind begins to decline from a mysterious disease, she meets, after going to the morgue to see her dead mother, a young man as mysterious as the disease itself.
Titan (2015)
Director: Álvaro González
Run Time/Country: 12 min, Spain
Synopsis: Saturn’s largest moon “Titan” 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.
Piper in the Woods (2016)
Director: Matthew Ramirez
Run Time/Country: 7 min, USA
Synopsis: With strange things happening at a remote research station, a university psychologist is sent to investigate.
Based on a short story by Philip K. Dick.
Ferrum Domina (2016)
Director: Xavier Velasco Du Solier
Run Time/Country: 11 min, Mexico
Synopsis: Alfredo has his life perfectly timed and controlled. Each morning he performs a magic ritual in order to make a small Eiffel Tower disappear. Will he know of the power he has in his hands?
The Last Journey of Paul WR (2015)
Director: Romain Quirot
Run Time/Country: 17 min, France
Synopsis: The red moon threatens the existence of our planet. Mankind’s 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.
Glimpse (2016)
Director: Eric Medina
Run Time/Country: 9 min, USA
Synopsis: In a not-so-distant future, a new tech startup offers a peek at a defining moment from your future. One young couple must decide whether or not to start a life together after their Glimpse reveals more than they anticipated.
Cumulus (2016)
Director: Thomas Vernay
Run Time/Country: 12 min, France
Synopsis: The wind blows and noises of armor resound. A knight escorts a young woman athwart plains. The thunder begins to scold, clouds invade the landscape. The knight, worried, stares at the castle on the horizon. The end is close.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 2017:
Producers Club (358 W 44th Street, New York, NY 10036)
Block One: Sci-Fi Feature Film
Time: 12:00pm – 1:30pm
UFO’s in Zacapa (“Ovnis en Zacapa”) (2016) – USA PREMIERE
Director: Marcos Machado
Run Time/Country: 1 hour, 30 min, Guatemala
Synopsis: UFO sightings are reported in northeastern Guatemala. A frustrated college professor and the production team of a sensationalist TV show embark on a supernatural journey across the thin boundary between blind faith, self- delusion and the unknown in search of truth.
Block Two: Animated Sci-Fi Short
Films Time: 1:30pm – 2:00pm
Deadly Drive-in Disaster (2015)
Director: Arjan Wilschut
Run Time/Country: 3 min, Netherlands
Synopsis: Sola Powers, a special agent with Extra-Terrestrial Affairs jumps into action when a drive-in cinema showing a UFO invasion movie is attacked by a real flying saucer.
I run away even if I am not guilty (2015)
Director: Berin Tuzlić
Run Time/Country: 3 min, Bosnia
Synopsis: A man in a global guardianship attempts to establish communication to achieve freedom.
Super Science Friends – Web Series (2016)
Director: Brett Jubinville
Run Time/Country: 16 min, Canada
Synopsis: In the first episode “The Phantom Premise,” a team of time-traveling super scientists led by Winston Churchill travel through time fighting Nazis, zombies and all forms of science villains.
Killer Recipe (2016)
Director: Chadwick Whitehead
Run Time/Country: 4 min, USA
Synopsis: An avocado inadvertently invents tortilla chips that want to eat him. His tomato friend helps him destroy the menace and he learns to appreciate nature. Maybe.
Chevron (2016)
Director: Javier Longobardo
Run Time/Country: 9 min, Spain
Synopsis: Experience a trip across endless oceans, stormy skies, multicolored forests and far-reaching galaxies. The melodic beats flow simultaneously with the visuals. Both aesthetically and musically pleasing, one is left with the feeling of having taken a ride around the universe full of emotion.
Block Three: International Sci-Fi Short Films
Time: 2:10pm – 3:40pm
Jakob (2015)
Director: Eymeric Jorat
Run Time/Country: 16 min, France
Synopsis: Jakob, a humanoid robot has committed the world’s first crime on a human. Intended to be destroyed, a lawyer will try to save him. Together they have 12 hours before the judgment to explain the murder.
Mirrors (2016)
Director: Rena Yao
Run Time/Country: 15 min, USA
Synopsis: A secret agent discovers a big secret about himself during a mission about hunting doppelgangers.
Incinerator (2016)
Director: M. Sean McManus
Run Time/Country: 11 min, USA
Synopsis: In a dread-filled dystopian society, the movement is over but the work must continue as “Sister” must complete a missions but “Brother” may be forced to stop her.
Slayer A.D. (2016)
Director: James Allerdyce
Run Time/Country: 17 min, USA
Synopsis: A rural country farmer hires a lone tracker to discover who—or what—is responsible for his daughter’s mysterious disappearance. As the tracker travels deep into the mountains in search of her he encounters something he can’t explain, but that he must face.
Ouroboros (2016)
Director: Henry Boffin
Run Time/Country: 16 min, Australia
Synopsis: In 2028, a weary yet determined man obtains an illegal time-travel device and travels back into his past attempting to stop the hit-and-run accident that paralyzed his wife 15 years earlier.
Into the Dark (2014)
Director: Lukas Hassel
Run Time/Country: 14 min, USA
Synopsis: Sometime in the future, two men strapped in back to back are on a journey from the moon to the earth.
Starring Lukas Hassel (The Blacklist), Lee Tergesen (The Strain) and Laura Fay Lewis (Snitches).
Block Four: Supernatural Short Films
Time: 4:00pm – 5:30pm
Basement (2016)
Director: Haonan Zhou
Run Time/Country: 11 min, USA
Synopsis: Two young adults are bitten by a zombie and they lock themselves in a stranger’s basement. Waiting, they grapple with their past and struggle to connect with each other.
Awakenings (2015)
Director: Bhargav Saikia
Run Time/Country: 14 min, India
Synopsis: A woman caring for two children is haunted by mysterious entities as the line between reality and dreams is blurred.
Epidemic (2016)
Director: Kevin Luk
Run Time/Country: 29 min, Hong Kong
Synopsis: When an unknown virus spreads throughout the globe, three protagonists race for the cure against annihilation as human society sits at the brink of its end.
The Closet (2016)
Director: Mario Coello
Run Time/Country: 20 min, USA
Synopsis: A frightened woman finds that she is being stalked by a homeless man who mysteriously invades her home through her hallway closet. The police refuse to help her leading to a confrontation and a surprising twist in this stylistic, Kafka-esque tribute to Rod Serling’s classic anthology series The Twilight Zone.
A Place to Stay (2016)
Director: Justine Priestley
Run Time/Country: 15 min, UK
Synopsis: An urbanite woman ventures to an eerie countryside mansion in search of her missing brother, who claims he is engaged to a young woman who lives at the property.
Paranormal Shopping Network (2016)
Director: K Bethany Sawyer
Run Time/Country: 4 min, USA
Synopsis: Commercials of mail order brains for zombies, breath mints for vampires and a GPS for ghosts present a story of one woman’s struggle with the undead.
Block Five: Science Documentary Feature Film
Time: 5:45pm – 7:15pm
How to Build a Time Machine (2016)
Director: Jay Cheel
Run Time/Country: 1 hour, 24 min, Canada
Synopsis: Two men work together to discover the truth and possibilities of time travel. Hollywood animator Rob Niosi, driven by the idea recreating the sled in the H. G. Wells-inspired film The Time Machine (1960) directed by George Pal while Ronald Mallet, a University of Connecticut theoretical physicist distressed by the death of his father, works on a time portal based on Einstein’s Equation.
Block Six: Sci-Fi Feature Film
Time: 7:30pm – 9:00pm
Diverge (2016)
Director: James Morrison
Run Time/Country: 1 hour, 25 min, USA
Synopsis: In the aftermath of a global pandemic one survivor must travel across time to stop the cataclysmic event and regain everything he has lost. To do that he must kill the man responsible for sowing the seeds of mankind’s destruction – his past self.
Starring Ivan Sandomire (Restive), Andrew Sensenig (Powers) and Jamie Jackson (The Blacklist).
Block Seven: Supernatural Feature Film
Time: 10:30pm – 12:00am
Gehenna: Where Death Lives (2016)
Director: Hiroshi Katagiri
Run Time/Country: 1 hour, 45 min, USA/Japan
Synopsis: A resort company dispatches key personnel to the remote and pristine Pacific Island of Saipan to search for locations for their company’s new luxury resort. They find curious natives and strange dolls and what they think is the perfect spot for the resort. However, there is a cave on that perfect spot that turns out to be a hidden Japanese bunker from WWII. They enter and soon discover that curiosity can kill. Each member of the team faces their most private secrets and inner demons as the secrets of the bunker itself become known, resulting in a most shocking conclusion.
Starring Doug Jones (Hellboy), Simon Phillips (Dangerous Mind of a Hooligan) and Lance Henriksen (Alien).
The Roxy Hotel Cinema – Cellar Level, The Roxy Hotel
(2 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013)
Block One: Sci-Fi and Horror Short Films
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Monochrome (2016)
Director: Kodi Zene
Run Time/Country: 2 min, USA
Synopsis: Traded and sold as currency, the outcast people known as “Hues” are hunted down in a black and white world.
Might (2016)
Director: Emil Sallinen
Run Time/Country: 9 min, Finland
Synopsis: Maryam, a rebel leader in an archaic world governed by a ruthless religion is set to prove that the god hovering in the sky is a lie. However, she is stopped by a holy warrior that turns out to be her lost father and their lives change as they are about to find out a secret only a god can keep.
2BR02B: To Be or Naught to Be (2016) – NYC PREMIERE
Director: Marco Checa Garcia
Run Time/Country: 18 min, Canada
Synopsis: Set in a dystopian future where population is strictly controlled, a father waits for his children to be born. In a deserted hospital waiting room, one man must ask himself exactly what he is willing to do to give his children a chance at life, any life at all.
Prince of Nothing (2016)
Director: Avram Dodson
Run Time/Country: 9 min, USA
Synopsis: A first time thief gets more than he bargained for from an elderly shopkeeper.
What Goes Up (2016)
Director: Brian Naughton
Run Time/Country: 6 min, USA
Synopsis: When a man wakes up in a mysterious place, he is forced to face his demons.
The Fisherman’s Wife (2016)
Director: Ben Leonberg
Run Time/Country: 9 min, USA
Synopsis: When her estranged fishing-obsessed husband goes missing, a woman’s search leads her face to face with an unspeakable horror.
Book of Secrets – Web Series (2016)
Director: Michael Perl
Run Time/Country: 11 min, USA
Synopsis: A mysterious traveller looking for alien artifacts that could help him return home investigates some of America’s deepest held secrets. Based on actual UFO events between 1947 and 1996.
Allhallowtide (2016)
Director: Tia Salisbury
Run Time/Country: 9 min, UK
Synopsis: It’s an important night for Molly, but her feckless housemate Dan has totally forgotten. She’s going to do everything in her power to remind him, but that’s not easy when you’ve been dead for 180 years and can’t talk.
Standing Stones (2016)
Director: Masa Gibson
Run Time/Country: 17 min, USA
Synopsis: A traveler from another world is geographically lost. A man of this world is spiritually lost. The man offers to help the traveler get where he needs to go but the traveler struggles to return the favor.
Aden (2015)
Director: Gary Lee
Run Time/Country: 10 min, USA/Taiwan
Synopsis: A powerful multinational corporation, Aden, must deploy a bounty hunter in order to stop an unseen creature forged from a child’s imagination.
Block Two: Sci-Fi and Supernatural Short Films
Time: 9:00pm – 11:00pm
Uncanny Harbor (2015)
Director: Nicholas Valaskatgis
Run Time/Country: 20 min, USA
Synopsis: Twenty years after a man was blamed for his wife’s mysterious vanishing, new evidence arises creating more questions than answers.
Electric Faces (2015)
Director: Johnny Herbin
Run Time/Country: 12 min, UK
Synopsis: A young crook’s plans to commit the perfect robbery are thrown into chaos by a cantankerous bank guard and an increasingly unstable robot.
Gateway (2015)
Director: Matt Mullen
Run Time/Country: 16 min, USA
Synopsis: Despite the accidental nature of her passing, a brother feels great regret over the death of his sister and wants nothing more than to have her forgiveness.
Agent9 – Web Series (2015)
Director: Jeff Schultz
Run Time/Country: 10 min, USA
Synopsis: In the year 2030, planet Earth has begun a transformation as alien species from all over our galaxy begin to migrate to a little marble orbiting the sun.
April the 6th (2016)
Director: Mark Hammett
Run Time/Country: 8 min, UK
Synopsis: A young girl attempts to gain access inside the one room in her house she’s not allowed in. There, she finds a key to her future.
FLUX 324 (2016)
Director: Carlos Margarido
Run Time/Country: 10 min, Brazil
Synopsis: A world of relationships is run by nanotechnology.
All Your Base: Last of Last (2016)
Director: Richard Roszko
Run Time/Country: 4 min, USA/UK
Synopsis: Bombs planted on a space ship explode and panics the crew. While trying to figure out what was happening, the crew gets a message from “CATS” that their ship is doomed and that he has captured all of their outposts in space. The Captain in turn launches a counter attack with the super modern long range Zig fighters.
Voiced by Colin Baker (Doctor Who), Claudia Christian (Babylon 5), Terry Molloy (Kosmos), Lizzie Roper (Boy Meets Girl) and Cliff Simon (Stargate SG-1).
1950 DA (2016)
Director: Laurence Lascary
Run Time/Country: 8 min, France
Synopsis: Axel is passionate about astronomy but his cosmic dreams isolate him from the other children in the neighborhood. Then, something very special happens with the passing of a meteorite.
Reality+ (2014)
Director: Coralie Fargeat
Run Time/Country: 22 min, France
Synopsis: In a near future, the brain chip ‘Reality+’ acts on your sensory perceptions and allows you to see yourself with the perfect physique you’ve always dreamed.
Block Three: Virtual Reality Program
Time: 7:00pm – 11:00pm
*NOTE: Block Three runs concurrently with Block One and Two*
The Probe (2016)
Director: Aldo Romero
Run Time/Country: 5 min, USA
Synopsis: An automated space probe named “Annie Em” sent to explore Titan becomes the first true artificial intelligence from Earth when it encounters an extraterrestrial spacecraft and is “updated” to become self aware.
I’ll Make You Bleed (2016)
Director: Ryan Hartsell
Run Time/Country: 6 min, USA
Synopsis: Standing helpless, bear witness to a ritualistic virgin suicide in the tradition of The Bohemian Grove Society. The viewer is transported into an emotional and visceral experience set to the music of “These Machines are Winning.” This 360° VR video was shot against a beautiful moonlit backdrop using a custom low-light sensitive camera rig making it one of the first high quality nighttime VR pieces to date.
I, Philip (2016)
Director: Pierre Zandrowicz
Run Time/Country: 14 min, France
Synopsis: In early 2005, David Hanson, an American robotics is developing its first android human. His name is Phil, a copy of the famous science fiction author Philip K. Dick. In a few weeks, Phil became famous on the internet and in the author’s fan circles and is presented in several conferences around the world. In late 2005, the head of the android disappeared during a flight on America West Airlines between Dallas and Las Vegas. Through the memories of the android and those of the author, the film offers an interpretation of Phil’s life.
Dead Head (2016)
Director: Ben Leonberg
Run Time/Country: 3 min, USA
Synopsis: Experience a unique perspective of the Zombie Apocalypse. Will Hank and Julie make it out of the barn alive? Find out in this head-pounding Virtual Reality encounter like you’ve never seen.
Sonar (2014)
Director: Philipp Maas, Dominik Stockhausen
Run Time/Country: 7 min, Germany
Synopsis: An asteroid emerges from the darkness of space, sending out some kind of signal. A drone tries to locate the source and dives deep into an extensive cave system. Production made use of an Oculus Developer Kit 1 Virtual Reality Headset, creating a 360° experience for VR use.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 22, 2017:
Anthology Film Archives (32 Second Avenue [at 2nd Street], New York, NY 10003)
Block One: Sci-Fi Feature
Film Time: 3:00pm – 5:00pm
Teleios (2016) – EAST COAST PREMIERE
Director: Ian Truitner
Run Time/Country: 1 hour, 29 min, USA
Synopsis: 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 apart the mission and their chances for survival. Starring Sunny Mabrey (Snakes on a Plane), Lance Broadway (Olympus Has Fallen), T.J. Hoban (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Mykel Shannon Jenkins (Containment) and Michael Nouri (Flashdance).
Block Two: Finalists Announcement
Time: 5:00pm – 6:00pm
Guests and filmmakers will be on hand for a special screening when the final slate of official selections is announced.
Festival Passes:
All passes for The New York Science Fiction Film Festival will be made available on www.newyorksci- fifilmfestival.com on Friday, December 16, 2016.
Three-Day Full Access Pass:
$35 (includes ALL events)
Friday, January 20, 2017
Instituto Cervantes:
Free with RSVP
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Producers Club:
All-Day Full Access Pass: $15 Individual Film Block Pass: $10
The Roxy Hotel Cinema:
Individual Film Block Pass: $20
Virtual Reality Program Pass: Free with ticket purchase
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Anthology Film Archives:
Individual Film Block Pass: $15
About The New York Science Fiction Film Festival:
The New York Science Fiction Film Festival, founded by Daniel Abella who created The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival (annually since 2012) and The Philip K. Dick European Science Fiction Film Festival (annually since 2013), is the city’s newest destination where boundaries are broken and all forms of creativity are embraced. The festival celebrates the freedom of expression and unique approaches practiced by independent filmmakers as a merit to the science fiction, horror, supernatural and fantasy genres. By honoring a groundbreaking past and looking ahead to an unprecedented future, the festival is committed to encompass the everlasting luster and brilliance of film.
Connect With Us:
Website: www.newyorksci-fifilmfestival.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/nyscififilmfest
Facebook: www.facebook.com/newyorkscififimfestival
