SYDNEY SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 10 SHORT FILMS TO PLAY AT BERLIN SCIFI FILMFEST’S ‘AUSTRALIAN SHOWCASE’
Ten Australian productions encompassing the vast themes and infinite possibilities of speculative cinema will represent the Oz sector as part of the inaugural Australian Short Film Showcase. An online screening series to be hosted by the Berlin SciFi Filmfest in conjunction with the Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival, the line-up includes four international and five European premieres.
The shorts will screen to a geoblocked German audience in what will be the first co-presented program initiative between the Berlin-based genre festival and Sydney’s newest sci-fi/fantasy film event. All but one film screened at the 2020 Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival in November; The Quiet, by student filmmaker Radheya Jegatheva, has also been included.
“One of our key aims is to take Australian films to the global audience via the network of international genre festivals that love science-fiction as much as we do,” says Simon Foster, Festival Director of the Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival. “To be able to launch this project with the incredible team at Berlin SciFi Filmfest is an incredible honour for us and a wonderful opportunity for our filmmakers.”
The films selected for the Berlin SciFi Filmfest Australian Short Film Showcase are:
BROLGA (Dir: Adrian Powers; 15.43 mins) In a ravaged future-Australia, a young girl fleeing murderous scavengers is forced to take shelter with an isolated hermit, who guards a priceless secret. With danger around every corner, can they learn to survive together?
STORAGE (Dir: Megan Broberg, Drew Bailey; 5.31 mins) In the early 21st century data storage is the world’s most valuable commodity. But storage comes at a cost, and it’s not one everyone can afford.
MILK (Dir: Kyle Lacey-Janetzki; 5.34 mins) When a young boy is torn away from his pink strawberry milkshake, his world transforms into a video game escapade to reunite him with his beloved sugary drink.
A BLASTER IN THE RIGHT HANDS (Dir: Richard De Carvalho; 20 mins) On the trail of a crashed Imperial Shuttle, two bounty hunters collide over a valuable cargo, only to discover they’re not the only hired guns around.
STARSPAWN: OVERTURE (Dir: Travis Bain; 19 mins) Recently widowed farmer Randolph Sutton goes to collect his teenage daughter Amy from a party, but their routine drive home turns into a frightening close encounter, when the Suttons are stalked by a winged alien creature that seems intent on extracting Amy's brain.
EQUIVALENCE (Dir: Luis Arnet; 10 mins) Convinced that they are the human, obsessed with being the only one of their genetic makeup in the universe, Hunters stalk their Equivalent. Blue blood is the only key to the hunter’s chase. The key to equivalence.
THE OTHER SIDE (Dir: Hugo Duvergey; 14.18 mins) Bea hid and bore this oddity inside her, the Forbidden Thing. But today, she might have compromised herself and has to escape if she wants to survive.
MR RACHEL (Dir: Oliver Bailey, Oliver Crawford-Smith (10.13 mins) Set in a hyper-sexualised dystopian future, world famous erotic poet Teddy Brown shares an enlightening encounter with a skeptical bartender.
THE QUIET (Dir: Radheya Jegatheva; 10 mins)When an astronaut ponders on the solitude of space, he comes upon a startling self-realisation. The truth is written in the stars, but what will he uncover?
THE TRAVELER (Dir: Robert J. D'Ottavi; 7 mins) In the near future, an isolated man is tortured by his precious memories.
A corresponding line-up of German-language science fiction shorts will screen in Sydney under the banner, The DACH Session. Taking its name from the acronym for the German-language region comprising Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the line-up premiered at the 2020 Berlin SciFi Filmfest and will be presented as a physical theatrical event as part of the Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival’s ‘Satellite Series’. More details of the program will be announced soon.