GERMAN SCI-FI SHOWCASE TO LAUNCH SATELLITE EVENT SERIES FROM SYDNEY SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL
Ten contemporary works of groundbreaking science fiction cinema from Europe’s German-language territories will screen in Sydney on Saturday, February 27. The GERMAN SCI-FI SHOWCASE will consist of nine shorts and one feature and be presented by the SYDNEY SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL in conjunction with the BERLIN SCI-FI FILMFEST.
The first German genre film exhibition of its kind in Australia, the showcase also officially launches the Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival’s SATELLITE SERIES, an ongoing roster of one-off events leading up to the second annual instalment of Sydney’s newest film festival in November.
The line-up includes six Australian premieres, including director Lisa Charlotte Friedrich’s thrilling dramatic feature LIVE, a prescient work that foresaw a society devoid of human contact and the yearning such a world inspires. Friedrich’s feature directorial debut, featuring a compelling lead turn by actress Karoline Marie Reinke (pictured, above), was the Opening Night film of the 2020 London Sci-Fi Film Festival.
Screening with LIVE will be the experiential cinematic odyssey TX-REVERSE, from co-directors Martin Reinhart and Virgil Widrich. The revolutionary work utilises a film technique called ‘tx-transform’, which exchanges the time (t) and space axis (x) in a film. Normally, individual film frames represent an entire space, but only a brief moment of time (1/24 second). The opposite is true of tx-transformed films: each film frame shows the entire time, but only a tiny part of the space.
A wondrous visual feast, Reinhart and Widrich employ their craft to capture Berlin’s iconic picture palace, Babylon Kino (pictured, above), known worldwide amongst science-fiction fans as the theatre that held the 1927 premiere of Fritz Lang’s masterpiece, Metropolis.
“The works we have acquired via our partnership with the Berlin Sci-Fi Filmfest represent the very finest German-language science fiction cinema in the world today,” says Simon Foster, Festival Director of The Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival. “The traditions that Germany and its neighbours bring to the genre have, in many respects, defined the very nature of speculative cinema over the past century. To have these films play theatrically for Sydney audiences is a rare treat.”
The 2021 GERMAN SCI-FI SHOWCASE Program in full:
First Session: 4.00pm - 6.00pm
THE DACH SHORT FILM SESSION: DACH is an acronym used to describe Germany (D), Austria (A), and Switzerland (CH), neighbouring countries that represent the largest community where German acts as the de-facto nationwide official language.
GROUND (Switzerland, Dir: Nic Gyalson) Finding one's way back home can be difficult sometimes...
Q: GHOSTLY REMOTE EFFECT (Germany, Dir: Marcus Hanisch) On a journey deep into undiscovered territory, a scientist discovers a ghostly remote effect between herself and her android companion. Will she maintain control, when nature starts changing?
CYCLE 2217 (Germany, Dirs: Evgeny Kalachikin, Ruben Daunhauer) In the 23rd century, post-apocalyptic world all of the resources have become just as scarce as empathy.
OVERVIEW (Germany, Dir: Alexander Rottman) An astronaut is sent into space for the first time, changing her perspective on our blue planet forever.
WHERE DO THEY COME FROM? (Austria; Dir: Manuel Huttner) Lukas's simple, mundane life is turned upside down after meeting the girl of his dreams.
KRIM (Austria; Dir: Manuel Huttner) A mysterious secret agent, lost on a mission, is recovered implanted with a new objective that she is determined to keep to herself.
THE TICKET (Germany, Dir: Franz Ufer) Thomas dies. But what he witnesses on the other side is under no circumstances what he expected.
PEPERIT8 (Germany, Dir: Aaron J.J. Schmidt) Carmina's DNA is stolen to create a new generation of security clones that are supposed to rule the dystopian world.
Second Session: 6.30pm - 8.30pm
SHORT FILM PRESENTATION - TX-REVERSE (Austria, Dir: Martin Reinhart, Virgil Widrich) What happens in a cinema when you reverse space and time? Originally shot in 10K resolution and 360° at the legendary Babylon Berlin.
FEATURE FILM PRESENTATION - LIVE (Germany, Dir: Lisa Charlotte Friedrich) Public gatherings are forbidden and all cultural life has stopped. Live concerts are played without audiences, broadcast via a VR platform. Drawn by the desire for ‘actual contact’, Claire (Karoline Marie Reinke) plans a secret concert with her brother Aurel (Anton Spieker), a famous trumpet player who has spent years performing to virtual audiences.
The afternoon will unfold at the ACTORS CENTRE AUSTRALIA auditorium in Leichhardt, the official venue partner of The Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival.
Tickets are available via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-sydney-science-fiction-film-festival-presents-german-sci-fi-showcase-tickets-138696939279
The GERMAN FILM SHOWCASE is a reciprocal event co-presented by BERLIN SC-FI FILMFEST. Previously announced was a line-up of Australian-made science-fiction shorts that will screen to German audiences via an online festival overseen by Berlin-based festival directors Alexander Pfander and Anthony Straeger.
For further information and interview opportunities:
SIMON FOSTER, Festival Director
Mob: (+61 0)431 948 522
Email: sifimadjen@gmail.com