Fifth-annual festival, featuring live-action and animation films
Experience Music Project|Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (EMP|SFM), in partnership with Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), presents the fifth-annual Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival (SFFSFF) at the renowned Cinerama Theatre in Seattle on Saturday, January 30, 2010. SFFSFF brings together industry professionals from both the filmmaking and science fiction and fantasy genres to encourage and support new, creative additions to science fiction and fantasy cinema arts.
From a field of almost 100 films from all over the world, 20 entries were selected for inclusion in the festival. To meet requirements for entry, all films were produced after January 2005 and were no longer than 15 minutes in length. Entries included animated or live-action films in science fiction (examples: futuristic stories, space adventure, technological speculation, social experiments, utopia and dystopia) and fantasy (examples: sword and sorcery, folklore, urban fantasy, magic, mythic adventure).
This year’s judges consisted of science fiction notables and award-winning film professionals, including filmmakers A.J. Bond, Howard McCain, Daniel Myrick and Vincent Taylor, as well as writer and producer Marc Scott Zicree, director Jesse Harris and producer Susan LaSalle. The judges will award Grand Prize, Second Place, Third Place and the Douglas Trumbull Award for Best Special Effects. The audience will determine the Audience Favorite Award during the festival.
During the festival ten short films will be screened in the first session from 4-6 p.m. and ten more short films will be screened in the second session from 7-9 p.m. An awards ceremony follows the second session.
The mission and objective of the Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival is to promote and encourage an awareness, appreciation and understanding of the art of science fiction and fantasy cinema. Its mandate is to create a forum for creative artistry in science fiction and fantasy film and recognize the most outstanding short films produced. Among notable submissions this year are the locally-made Third Days Child and CC 2010, which feature actors, directors, and even in-film references to the Seattle area. (See complete list of films below.)
Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival 2010 FILMS:
AFTERGLOW
Country: USA
Year: 2009
Running Time: 11 minutes
Director: Andres Anglade
In the aftermath of a failed alien invasion, two men from the newly formed militia are challenged with determining if the threat died with the invasion or if it lies manifest in a once familiar territory.
ALMA
Country: Spain, USA
Year: 2009
Running Time: 5.5 minutes
Director: Rodrigo Blaas
Alma, a little girl, skips through the snow covered streets of a small town. Her attention is caught by a strange doll in an antique toy shop window. Fascinated, Alma decides to enter...
ARTHUR’S LORE
Country: UK
Year: 2008
Running Time: 13.5 minutes
Director: Vincent Lund & Matthew Cooke
Hurling the legend of King Arthur into the present day, ‘Arthur’s Lore’ is a fantasy action adventure combining old myth with contemporary humour and our love for all things spooky!
BEAST OF BURDEN
Country: USA
Year: 2009
Running Time: 13 minutes
Director: Sam Carter
Wally is having a tough time. He's broke, he's depressed, and he just found out that he's been fired from his job. Oh, and he's a giant lizard monster. It's up to Wally's friend, a rock-a-billy vampire, and the rest of his motley crew of ghouls to rally around their friend and try to bring him out of his slump.
BURDEN
Country: USA
Year: 2009
Running Time: 10 minutes
Director: Michael David Lynch
Ordered to evacuate Earth on the eve of an Alien invasion, a lone "Hero" named Calik must decide between his sworn duty to flee, or defy his instructions, and battle the imminent threat and attempt to save our world.
CC 2010
Country: USA
Year: 2009
Running Time: 11 minutes
Director: Travis Senger
Long after her parents have ceased, the remnants of the 1962 Seattle World's Fair still exist for CC Raven. Her life-long mission has been to scatter her parent's ashes inside the Pacific Science Center. After a mysterious crash on her motorcycle, she encounters "Sputnik", an angelic milkman who quickly becomes her sidekick. Together, the two navigate the Pacific Science Center and CC begins a surreal reunion with her long-lost parents somewhere within the cosmic ether.
CHARLIE THISTLE
Country: USA
Year: 2008
Running Time: 15 minutes
Director: Bragi Schut Jr.
Charlie Thistle dreams of a better world, a world in color, a world in which trees grow indoors and sidewalks are made of grass. Alas, Charlie works at the Department of Normality, where change is frowned upon. But there comes a time when every man must stand up for what he believes... and that day is coming for Charlie Thistle!
DIE SCHNEIDER KRANKHEIT
Country: Spain
Year: 2008
Running Time: 10 minutes
Director: Javier Chillon
The fifties, a Russian space shuttle crashes in Germany. The passenger: an astronaut chimp who spreads a deadly virus...
ELDER SIGN
Country: Canada
Year: 2009
Running Time: 2 minutes
Director: Joseph Nanni
A hilarious commercial spoof from the people that brought you Casting Call of Cthulhu. If you suffer from an overwhelming sense of dread brought on by the realization of your own insignificance in the universe, then you need Elder Sign - H.P. Lovecraft's aeons old remedy for cosmic dread.
EXTRA•ORDINARY
Country: USA
Year: 2009
Running Time: 13.5 minutes
Director: Ian Christian Blanche
What if your best friend had superpowers? Dylan and Alex have been inseparable for as long as they can remember. When an accident reveals Alex's incredible secret, their friendship is put to the test.
HANDS OFF!
Country: USA
Year: 2009
Running Time: 7 minutes
Director: Patrick Bosworth
When John is visited by an Angel, he learns a disturbing truth about how he spends his time on the internet.
HANGAR NO. 5
Country: USA
Year: 2008
Running Time: 11 minutes
Director: Nathan Matsuda
Two treasure hunting teens activate a cold war weapons system and must fight for survival.
NANSPORIN AI
Country: USA
Year: 2009
Running Time: 5 minutes
Director: Stephen Hal Fishman
After arriving at his remote research station, a scientist performs experiments with the Nanosporin AI serum, first on grapes, then on himself, causing the host some discomfort as well as some rather intense hallucinations. The experiment culminates in the host becoming a 'living work of art' and then expiring.
S.S. HUMANITY
Country: USA
Year: 2009
Running Time: 17 minutes
Director: Matthew Ladensack
In the year 2210 humankind is faced with one option for survival: moving to outer space. The most precious of Earth’s natural resources have been depleted; the planet has been ripped apart by war and natural disasters. Survival of the fittest has transformed into survival of the luckiest when a family gets last minute tickets to board the Space Station: Humanity.
SHUTTLE T-42
Country: USA
Year: 2009
Running Time: 2.5 minutes
Director: Joon Hyung Kim
Shuttle T42 crash lands on an unknown planet leaving young Jay and his mother stranded.
SINGULARITY
Country: USA
Year: 2009
Running Time: 6 minutes
Director: Stephen Griffin
In the year 2029, an ailing scientist transfers his most important memory into an android, in an attempt to merge their consciousnesses.
THE CONTROL MASTER
Country: UK
Year: 2008
Running Time: 6.5 minutes
Director: Run Wrake
Halftone City, USA. A peaceful metropolis of family values and space-age dreams. Mild-mannered blonde Dorothy Gayne secretly protects its citizens from harm. But dangerous new technologies abound. What happens when a powerful device falls into the hands of scientist-turned-villain Doctor Moire? Who will rescue Halftone City from this oversized creep?
THE KIRKIE
Country: USA
Year: 2008
Running Time: 13.5 minutes
Director: James Krieg
Jeff, a self-hating Star Trek nerd, is bumming out his sci-fi geek buddies with his visions of a life beyond fandom. But when their car breaks down on the way to San Diego's famous Comic Con, he is forced to find a payphone in a local bar. There he meets the girl of his dreams... and her knuckle-dragging date! But thanks to countless hours of epic Trek battles, Jeff knows how to handle himself in a fight. Or does he?
THIRD DAYS CHILD
Country: USA
Year: 2008
Running Time: 9.5 minutes
Director: SJ Chiro
Danger lurks in the Blank Days System, incorporated to relieve stress on natural resources in an oppressive future. Will the Third Day Child be reached by the rebels?
TO THE MOON
Country: USA
Year: 2008
Running Time: 9 minutes
Director: Jacob Ospa
A 19th century Englishman goes on a balloon voyage to the moon, and gets more than he bargained for...
The Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival is sponsored by Cinerama Theatre, Vulcan Inc. and NORWESCON. For more information, including film stills and director bios, visit www empsfm.org/filmfestival
Updated 02-2010
