2008 SCIENCE FICTION SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
Seattle Sci-Fi Fans Get Their Fix
By Theresa Jones
February marked the third year running for the Seattle Science Fiction Short Film Festival. “The Cinerama is an 800 seat theater, and we sell it out” remarked Therese Littleton, Director of Curatorial for EMP|SFM. “I remember the first time we did this. We said okay, if it’s only a hundred people, we’ll tell them all to come to the center of the theater to sit together. But then it sold out. We were just absolutely stunned. We were attempting to get the science fiction community, but we got a wide audience.” The SFSFF is comprised of ten short films that run for one night at the Cinerama in February. Therese describes the audience as “movie lovers, just people who love movies” as well as a “Cinerama audience” and “a SIFF audience.”
“People can expect a wide variety of films. There are hilarious comedies, we have animations, but also some dark, heavy films” says Janine Logsdon, Manager of Public Programming, EMP|SFM. Innovation is abound in the short film lineup but there are also constants. “There is always something dystopian, like Brave New World” says Therese. “…at least one is going to be set in outer space. But surprisingly few.”
Films are chosen based on an array of criteria from production values to artistic and aesthetic merit. The definition of whether a film fits into the sci-fi genre is a moving target. “If it has a small sci-fi theme, we tend to put it in anyway. We aren’t rigid about it… We had issues last year but ultimately included all the ones that we were unsure about,” says Therese. “The things that make the genre are the things that define science fiction, which is really asking the question ‘what if.’ That can be anything, like ET that asks ‘what if an alien was your best friend.’”
The winner of the 2008 festival was a short film titled Forecast, a film that “deals with time travel, a boy being visited by his older self, also dealing with relationships with fathers and sons,” says Janine. The grand prize is a pitch meeting with the Sci-Fi Channel who Therese notes “has been incredibly generous to take meetings with filmmakers.”
When asked if they have plans to expand the festival to more than one night for next year, they hesitate. “Cinerama is donating the space for us, and it’s an incredible gift. Asking for two nights would be tough” says Therese. She can’t resist adding “It would be fun though.”
Applications for the 2009 festival will be accepted between June 1 and September 15. Next year’s festival will include both science fiction and fantasy genres. For more information, filmmakers can visit http://www.empsfm.org.