News / 25 January 2024

MELBOURNE SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL Returns To Cinema Nova This February

Now an established annual event, the MELBOURNE SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL returns to Cinema Nova from February 23 – 25 with 10 sessions of the most wildly imaginative Sci-Fi and Fantasy cinema from across the globe.

This year’s Melbourne line-up will include 16 Australian Premieres from international visionaries hailing from France, Canada, Macedonia, Sweden, United States and the United Kingdom.

The Shorts program of 12 films includes groundbreaking works from the Chinese visual effects sector, cutting-edge Polish animation and three stunningly original works from Australian directors.

Opening the festival is French filmmaker Damien Faure’s PYRAMIDEN, a stark, visually stunning odyssey starring David D’Ingéo as the lone survivor of a mass extinction event, who settles in an abandoned city only to experience new and strange phenomena.

Making its International Premiere at the festival is SHADOWS IN THE DESERT: HIGH STRANGENESS IN THE BARREGO TRIANGLE, the acclaimed documentary from paranormal podcast duo Derek Hayes of MONSTERS AMONG US, and David Flores of BLURRY PHOTOS. The pair explore unique stories of weird phenomena in California’s Anza-Borrego State Park, including sightings of legendary cryptids, ghostly apparitions and some of America’s most compelling UFO encounters.

If you like your Lovecraftian flicks loaded with laughs, you need see filmmaker Stewart Sparke’s HOW TO KILL MONSTERS, a practical effects heavy horror-comedy that finds a motley crew holed up in a police station pitted against monsters from another dimension.

In recognition of the remarkable work being done by founder Ryan Ward and his production entity Memory Pill Films, the festival will screen two films from the Manitoba-based filmmakers – DAUGHTER OF THE SUN, an evocative road-movie/supernatural drama featuring a star-making turn from teen actress Nyah Perkin, and their latest, the La Jetée-inspired short film TIME TRAVELLING THROUGH TIME.

Short Film programming includes LIMIT (边界), a dazzling deep-space adventure from Chinese effects house, Helium Flash; a heartwarming animation journey called LIGHTS (Svetla) from Polish director Jitka Nemikinsová; the hilariously monstrous romance, A KAIJU LOVE STORY, from AFTRS graduate Leo O’Donoghue; and, local filmmaker Harrison Ewart-Dart’s moving fantasy, 10 SECONDS TIL MIDNIGHT.

For further programming, scheduling and tickets, visit Cinema Nova’s site here.