Sci-Fi London 2002 will run February 1-3, 2002 at the Curzon Soho and aims to be a celebration of the science fiction and fantasy genres through film. With an exciting and packed program featuring classic and cult from all over the globe, UK and world premieres and themed all night screenings, the festival promises to deliver the very best of sci-fi to an eager UK audience. Recognizing that there are still a lot of misconceptions surrounding the genre, the team has worked hard to devise a program which shows the diversity, richness and sheer imaginative range of sci-fi.
Film highlights of Sci-Fi-London 2002 include: ^ · The UK premieres of the stunningly beautiful Avalon (2001)* from Ghost In The Shell creator Mamoru Oshii, Cory McAbee’s musical comedy The American Astronaut (2000)*, and the sex-fiction spectacular, IKU (2000)*. ^ · Gilliam’s darkly lavish Twelve Monkeys (1995) presented alongside its rarely seen inspiration, La Jetée (1962). ^ · A plethora of Anime features from Japan including the mind-blowing Electric Dragon 80,000 V (2000)*; the rock ‘n’ roll zombie-fest, Wild Zero (2000)*; the samurai themed Wicked City (1995)*; the intelligent Jin Roh (1998); the haemophiliacs’ nightmare Blood: The Last Vampire (2000) plus the very recently re-voiced and re-mastered classic, Akira (1988). ^ · Dystopic futures with rarely seen cult movies like the hauntingly beautiful Stalker (1979), the post-apocalyptic A Boy and His Dog (1975) and George Lucas’ first feature film, THX 1138 (1970). ^ · Other classic and cult titles include Luc Besson’s visually stunning The Fifth Element (1997), the digitally re-mastered Tron (1982), and Charlton Heston in the original Planet of the Apes (1968) and the still relevant Soylent Green (1973).
Special features include: ^ · All Nighters – for the first time in the UK, Sci-Fi-London is offering three all night programmes, including: ^ · Aliens – all four Alien movies back to back (Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992) & Alien Resurrection (1997)) ^ · John Carpenter Tribute – worship the horror-meister with Dark Star (1974), Escape from New York (1981), The Thing (1982), Starman (1984) and They Live (1988). ^ · Short Films – 20 new shorts will be selected to be showcased alongside the main features programme, including the brilliant Irish computer-animated Fifty Percent Grey (2000) and Knit Your Own Karma (2000), winner of the Sci·Fi Shorts film competition. ^ · Live Debates at the ICA with active audience participation:- ^ · Science Fiction versus Science Fact – looks at technology today and examines how science fiction might be steering our future. ^ · Film versus Literature – featuring respected novelist, critic and broadcaster, Kim Newman.
Festival Director Louis Savy says, “Considering science fiction is the most popular film genre on the planet, it is amazing that London has never hosted a festival celebrating the genre before now. With Sci-Fi-London, we hope to show that science fiction has a depth and scope beyond ray-guns and spaceships – it’s a genre for people who are prepared to think differently. It also makes the best film entertainment.”
For more info, visit the official Sci-Fi London 2002 web site.
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