Zach Kaplan’s Nativity jumps headlong into its futuristic premise—people in America in 2092 can now have custom-made babies ordered, on their preferred date to boot. The question of America for Americans is at the centre of the narrative, with unflattering questions that the film does not allow one to shirk and gloss over. The sterile… Continue reading Nativity: A Dystopian Future That Holds A Mirror To Present Day Sanctimony
Tag: Sci-Fi
Providence: Infinity and the Limits Placed on It
Anant Mehra’s Providence is a 13-minute horror about vows that last and succeed lifetimes. Powers that are also curses are passed on from generation to generation of young women by other, older mysterious women. Saba is the latest in the line of young women blessed with infinite being in exchange for unquestioning obedience. The opening… Continue reading Providence: Infinity and the Limits Placed on It
Through the Stars: Leaving Homes that are Not
Ariel Danziger’s sci-fi Through the Stars, written by Ryan Marth, is a teenager’s act of self-preservation in the face of a steadily diminishing scope to hold on to her early childhood or live freely in the present. So when Casey begins to slice through time and space, it is in pursuit of the freedom no… Continue reading Through the Stars: Leaving Homes that are Not
Sometime Else: A Thriller Through Sci-Fi and Therapy
James Cleave combines romance with science fiction and puts a dark spin on it with the 21-minute Sometime Else. Premised on a therapy session that the protagonist attends, the film delves into his psyche to unfold a series of events in the attempt to find answers. Though a thriller, the film starts off in a… Continue reading Sometime Else: A Thriller Through Sci-Fi and Therapy
Swiped: Technology and its Pesky Problems Evolve Together
Edward J. Douglas’ sci-fi comedy Swiped is a 4-minute glimpse into a very probable future. As most, if not all, of us have experienced, every piece of technology targeted towards consumer comfort has been exploited in some or the other way. Written by Daniel Roy, Swiped uses this as the basis for its story of… Continue reading Swiped: Technology and its Pesky Problems Evolve Together
Apotheosis: A Cyberpunk Future On A Space Colony
Max Pearce’s Apotheosis (co-written with Maria Sara Santoro) is an ambitious sci-fi film exploring a cyberpunk near future where genetically engineered humans and space colonies are part of the daily order. So is the socio-economic hierarchy on which natural born and genetically engineered people fall. This determines everything from employment opportunities to living standards and… Continue reading Apotheosis: A Cyberpunk Future On A Space Colony
The Atomic Spawn: Nuclear Testing and Other Things Beyond Control
Arthur Veenema’s The Atomic Spawn is a mildly humorous sci-fi about a man condemned to die as a test subject and the irradiated lizard he helps bring into existence. Set in the early 1950s US, the experiences of its Vietnamese-American protagonist as he is left to die is juxtaposed with the lizard who not only… Continue reading The Atomic Spawn: Nuclear Testing and Other Things Beyond Control
A Trillion Miles West Of Bradford: Love And Grief That Cuts Across Universes
Hamish Robertson’s A Trillion Miles West Of Bradford is a 22-minute LGBTQ+ sci-fi short about a man who is willing to transcend interdimensional limits to reclaim a lost love. A carefully paced narrative, the film explores grief through the moments of selfishness it sometimes brings on. This selfishness takes centre stage in A Trillion Miles… Continue reading A Trillion Miles West Of Bradford: Love And Grief That Cuts Across Universes
Moment: An Interplay of Time and Fate
Moment, Geoffrey Uloth’s 22-minute sci-fi about a homeless girl’s brush with death, deals with a particular kind of fantasy: the chance of escape, of a do-over, of a save where none seems physically possible. And it does so while keeping reality–and its limits–an unavoidable constant. Charli (Emelia Hellman) is a homeless young woman, squatting in… Continue reading Moment: An Interplay of Time and Fate
Prisoner #1616: Reincarnation And A Case Of Forced Empathy
A mesmerising film, Michael Fodera’s Prisoner #1616 dangles an alluring idea: reincarnation, backed by science. At its centre is Monica Klee, a scientist with a potentially groundbreaking discovery, and Rudy Vaspar, a prisoner who could be the key to it. Their chemistry is a blend of The Joker and Batman, and Clarice Starling and Hannibal… Continue reading Prisoner #1616: Reincarnation And A Case Of Forced Empathy