THE NEW YORK SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2023 AWARD WINNERSRupert Barker’s Stoneman Awarded Prize For Best Experimental Sci-Fi Featurette
Richard Terrasi and Kevin Losani’s The Monster Mash Named Best Horror Feature
The New York Science Fiction Film Festival has announced the award winners for its third annual event, which featured a lineup of film screenings, and screenplay and graphic novel categories. Held in-person on Saturday, March 25th at the Producers Club Theaters, with a virtual encore on Sunday, March 26th, the festival honored the city’s diverse filmmaking community and recognized 13 official selections for exceptional storytelling. More information on this year’s event is available at https://www.newyorksci-fifest.com.
Congratulations to the award winners of The 2023 New York Science Fiction Film Festival:
BEST EXPERIMENTAL SCI-FI FEATURETTE
Stoneman (2022)
Director: Rupert Barker
Run Time/Country: 38 minutes, UK
Synopsis: The last man on Earth must escape the British Isles before the country’s unmanned nuclear power stations go into meltdown.
BEST HORROR FEATURE
The Monster Mash (2022)
Director: Richard Terrasi, Kevin Losani
Run Time/Country: 120 minutes, USA
Synopsis: An anthology of three gruesome tales that will take you back to the days of creature features.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Black Knight Satellite: Beyond the Signal (2022)
Director: Melissa Titti
Run Time/Country: 78 minutes, USA
Synopsis: Billy Carson as he uncovers the truth coming from an unknown signal. Carson has spent most of his life studying the unseen to uncover why humanity is here and where we came from. When he discovers a NASA image depicting an unknown object, Carson knows this could be the answer to his questions. Known as The Black Knight Satellite. He interviews leading thinkers in the field.
BEST HORROR FEATURETTE
The Pit and the Pendulum (2021)
Director: Danny Ashkenasi
Run Time/Country: 29 minutes, USA
Synopsis: Musical short film adaptation of the classic Poe story. A desperate composer imagines himself both the victim and the Inquisition in Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum.” Reality and fantasy converge with frightening consequences.
BEST SCI-FI SHORT
The Signal (2022)
Director: Daniel Lasker
Run Time/Country: 18 minutes, Zimbabwe
Synopsis: A deadly sound transmitted from space known as “The Signal,” corrupts the minds of all who hear it, turning them into soulless demons under its control.
BEST HORROR SHORT
Hangman (2022)
Director: Cameron Sun
Run Time/Country: 12 minutes, USA
Synopsis: A woman returning home is stalked by a mysterious upside down figure.
BEST ANIMATION
Agatha (2022)
Director: Roland Becerra, Kelly Bigelow Becerra
Run Time/Country: 60 minutes, USA
Synopsis: The film follows “The Professor,” a man suffering from a terminal disease, who by a twist of fate, witnesses an incredible event involving his mysterious neighbor Agatha.
BEST WEB SERIES
Cosmic Virtuoso (2022)
Submitter: Scienshell Studio
Run Time/Country: 20 minutes, USA
Synopsis: Showcasing alien mega constructions around the universe.
BEST TRAILER
Staycation (2023)
Director: Russ Emmanuel
Run Time/Country: 2 minutes, USA
Synopsis: Teaser Trailer for the upcoming film “Staycation” starring Olivia d’Abo, Sean Kenney, Tracee Cocco, Laurene Landon, Kelli Maroney, and Eileen Dietz.
BEST SCI-FI SCREENPLAY
Death Memory
Writer: Jenny Popovich
Synopsis: An eager scientist develops and performs an experimental cure for Alzheimer’s on her mother, who begins having disturbing memories of crimes she committed.
BEST SUPERNATURAL SCREENPLAY
An American Afterlife
Writer: Michael Natoli
Synopsis: After a shady life and a suspicious death on a job gone wrong, loudmouth mercenary Gee Zulamina finds herself conscripted onto a team of afterlife assassins, made up of misfit souls from different eras of American history.
BEST SHORT FORM SCREENPLAY
E.Nygma – A Batman Story
Writer: Rob Ayling
Synopsis: A psychological dive into the narcissistic mind of Edward Nygma,who is struggling to answer one of his most personal riddles.
BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL
Gorilla My Dreams – Team-Up #1
Writer: Tim Stiles, Kieran Jack
Synopsis: Knockaround-Guy (KG) and Cthulhu Williams don’t always see eye-to-eye. KG is a D-List superhero (and talking gorilla) who solves the weird and bizarre, street-level cases the A-List ignore. Williams is a paranormal investigator/monster hunter who takes his job VERY seriously.
