Four-Days
Jam-Packed with Award-Winning and Groundbreaking Features and Shorts
HIGHLIGHT:
Mark Netter's "Nightmare Code" Starring "The Walking
Dead's" Andrew J. West
NYC
PREMIERE: Jacob Akira Okada's Documentary Short "Painting The Way To The
Moon"
@PhilipKDickFest
#PKDFestNYC
Legend
states that events come in threes -- a phenomenon in its truest form for The
Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival as it embarks on a third year
honoring the literary world's most nuanced and visionary author, Philip K.
Dick. The highly anticipated four-day experience from January 15-18, 2015 will
screen at three distinguished locations including The Cervantes Institute,
Tribeca Cinemas and The Producer's Club and features a slate of innovative
features and shorts which capture the distinctive boldness of the the genre and
brings forth the most riveting moments of science fiction cinema ever to grace
the big screen.
The
festival launches on Thursday, January 15, 2015 at The Cervantes Institute with
a free-admission night of international science fiction shorts beginning at
7pm. The exciting schedule includes Martín Rosete's Voice Over (2011, Spain), Michel
Goossens' Exit (2013,
Spain/Netherlands), MacGregor and Bruno Zacarías' Similo (2014, Spain), Daniel
Romero's No Mires Ahí (2014, Spain), Fernandez Sanchez's Sujeto Darwin (2014, Spain), Antonio
Souto Fraguas' Renacimiento (2013, Spain), Thierry Lorenzi's On/Off (2013, France), Didier
Philippe's Seule (2014,
France), Lee Citron's Martian American (2014, USA/Mexico) and Federico
Telerman's Albino (2014,
Argentina).
The
mayhem comes full force on Friday, January 16, 2015 at Tribeca Cinemas with the
frighteningly entertaining and award-winning Nightmare Code (2014) at 7pm in Theater
One. The star- studded film features Andrew J. West, widely known to audiences
as Gareth on AMC's mega-hit The Walking Dead, Mei Melançon (X
Men: The Last Stand,
The L Word)
and Googy Gress (Apollo 13, Parenthood) and follows the
gripping account of a start-up programmer who battles a mysterious software
code that takes on a life of its own following the murderous rampage of his
predecessor. The feature film is directed and produced by Mark Netter, written
by Netter and M.J. Rotondi and executive produced by Craig Allen and Avi
Bachar. A Q&A session with Netter is scheduled to follow. Having premiered
to critical success across the board, Jacob Akira Okada's documentary short Painting
the Way to the Moon (2013)
will have its exclusive New York City premiere at 9pm in Theater One. Produced
by Adam Morrow and Carylanna Taylor the film follows Princeton mathematician
and artist Ed Belbruno, who discovered a new form of space travel. His
"eureka" moment while working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL) in the 1980s came to him while painting. The groundbreaking conjecture
that satellites could use the mathematics of the chaos theory rather than
rocket fuel to orbit around the moon and send experiments into space was
initially rejected by NASA and he was soon fired. However, his work eventually
found a home at the agency. The film examines how "art and science share a
common process and explores how creative thinking is not only for
artists," according to the official film synopsis. A Q&A session with
Belbruno is scheduled to follow.
A
block of international science fiction short films begins at 7:30pm in Theater
Two. A highlight of the evening is Room 731 (2014, USA) which stars
Tim Kang, best known as Kimball Cho on CBS' smash-hit The Mentalist. The film directed by
Young Min Kim and written by Kim and Christie Cushing is a supernatural mystery
along the bloodlines of The Grudge and Saw and follows an amnesiac girl who awakens
in a jail-like room and is haunted by dangerous spirits. Also starring Yoojung
Kim and Nikki SooHoo, the film sheds light on the traumas of the WWII-era
Japanese concentration camp known as "Unit 731." Industry
professionals including Eddie Yang (co-founder, Alliance Studio), SFX makeup
artist Diana Choi (The Dark Knight), Vanessa Mi Kyung Lee (The Hunger Games), editor Jimmy Gadd (The
Mentalist)
and executive producers Anna Liza Recto and Michael Kaleda (Bold MP) have
rallied behind the project. The evening continues with Thomas Charles' Désaffection
(2013,
France), Mat Owen's Turn On (2013, UK), Winnie Cheung's Dear Lucas (2014, USA), Laura
Maxfield's A Girl, A Cat, A Bomb (2014, USA), [followed by Room 731 in sequence], Faroukh
Virani's Vimana (2014,
USA/India), Aldo Romero's Silent Threat (2014, USA), Erin Li's Kepler X-47 (2014, USA) and Vanessa
Gould's The Atom Bomb (2013, USA). And just when you thought the screams had died
down, three filmmakers barricade themselves in a haunted house where no one has
survived past 21 Days (2014) at 9:30pm in Theater Two. The spine-chilling and
multiple award-winning feature film written and directed by Kathleen Behun
stars Whitney Rose Pynn (co-star of NBC's upcoming David Duchovny series Aquarius), Max Hambleton and
Mickey River. A Q&A session with Behun is scheduled to follow.
The
festival continues on Saturday, January 17, 2015 at The Producer's Club with
three blocks of short films. First up are Philip K. Dick-inspired films of
"Paranoia, Conspiracy and Dystopia" at 3pm including John Butler's The
Terminal Node (2014),
Stephen Parkhurst's Frontier (2014), Scott Danzig's Sky Paradise (2013), Alessandro
Bricoli's Ignorenatus Alius (2014), Gavin Williams' Sleepworking (2013), Anthony Willis' Escapement
(2014),
Etienne Gravrand's The Fischer Case (2014), Joachim Huveneers' I Wish My Life (2014), Ayoub Qanir's Artificio
Conceal (2014)
and William Hart and Ciaran Birks' Serpent Dreams (2014). After the block,
audience members will have the opportunity to vote for the "Best PKD
Short." Next is "Wonders, Curiosities and Oddities" at 5pm
include Zac Grant and Jason Markowitz's The Dahl House (2014), Peter LaSala and
Christopher Ventura's Except for Us (2014), Dustin Lee's The Astronomer (2015), Michel Goossens'
Ego (2014),
Edmond Deraedt and Kristin Arnesen's Reliquary (2014) and Keaton
Smith's The Story of Christopher Jenkins (2014). "Horror and Supernatural"
closes out the lineup with Andy Green's Vomica (2014), Lauren
Morrison's Viscera (2014) and Kristen Swinkels' Nigredo (2013). But the night is
far from over with the screening of the award-winning feature film The
Perfect 46 (2014)
starring Whit Hertford, Don McManus and James M. Connor. Written and directed
by Brett Ryan Bonowicz, the film follows the story of a geneticist who develops
a website to pair individuals of a pure genetic match in order to create the
"perfect child." Ending the night is the feature There (2014), a high-octane
thriller about a socially displaced war veteran who " justifies domestic
terrorism by interpreting his actions with alien invasion." Written and
directed by prolific underground filmmaker James Fotopoulos, the film stars
Xander O'Connor, Brenda Bakke and Sarah Brooks.
The
festival ends on Sunday, January 18, 2015 but not before the twists and turns
of Inverse (2014)
at 4pm in Tribeca Cinemas' Theater One. Written and directed by Matt Duggan,
the feature film stars Josh Wingate, Luisa Beck, W.C. Boelter and John Burish
in this story of eternal ruination and forbidden desire. Experience captivating
shocks as a man awakens from what he perceived as death but is in fact a
parallel universe all the while he falls in love with his doppelgänger's wife
and mankind is threatened with total destruction. A Q&A session with Duggan
is scheduled to follow. When all is dead and done, the highly anticipated
awards ceremony brings the festival to a satisfying close.
The
Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival has thrilled its attendees with
entertaining and visually captivating themes which have made the event a
favorable and continued success. For full schedule and ticketing information
please visit www.thephilipkdickfilmfestival.com. The festival will take place
on January 15, 2015 at The Cervantes Institute (day is free admission) at 211
East 49th Street, New York, NY 10017 (visit nyork.cervantes.es/en/default.shtm or
call 212-308-7720), January 16 and 18, 2015 at Tribeca Cinemas at 54 Varick
Street, New York, NY 10013 [at Laight Street, one block below Canal Street]
(visit www.tribecacinemas.com or call 212-941-2001) and January 17, 2015 at The
Producer's Club at 358 W 44th Street, New York, NY 10036 (visit www.producersclub.com
or call 212-315-4743). And always be sure to visit the festival's Twitter page
at twitter.com/PhilipKDickFest (tweet the hashtag #PKDFestNYC) and the Facebook
page at www.facebook.com/ThePhilipKDickFilmFestival.
About
The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival:
The
Philip K. Dick International Film Festival of Science, Science Fiction,
Fantastic Film and the Supernatural is New York City's first festival of its
kind and is organized by individuals and filmmakers who understand the
difficulties and challenges of telling a unique story in a corporate
environment. With extremely successful 2012-2013 festivals, a 2013
international event in Lille, France and endless screening events the festival
is only beginning its vision of honoring the legacy of the great Philip K.
Dick. From guest speakers and writers who best represent the goals of the
festival, original voices and enhanced visions in works submitted, this is a
festival created by filmmakers for filmmakers.
About
Philip K. Dick:
"Reality
is whatever refuses to go away when I stop believing in it." - Philip K. Dick
Philip
K. Dick (1928-1982) was one of the 20th century's most profound novelists and
writers within the science fiction community. His exploration, analysis and
beliefs led to the publishings of 44 novels and 121 short stories. Dick's enormous
library of works led to several film developments including Blade Runner (1982), Total Recall (1990), Minority
Report (2002),
Paycheck (2003)
A Scanner Darkly (2006),
Radio Free Albemuth (2010), The Adjustment Bureau (2011) andTotal
Recall (2012).
Dick's enormously effective views comprised of fictional universes, virtual
realities and human mutation foresaw an exaggerated version of the current
state of government and contemporary life. Though he is gone in the physical
form his philosophies live on in the techniques applied to modern stories and
films and generate large displays of appreciation and understanding.
Festival
Websites/Social Media
Official
Website: www.thephilipkdickfilmfestival.com
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/PhilipKDickFest
Twitter
Hashtag: #PKDFestNYC
International
Website: www.philipkdickfilmfestival-europe.com
Fractured Atlas Donation Page:
www.fracturedatlas.org/site/contribute/donate/6853
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