“Not just one of the world’s leading science fiction festivals but one of the finest genre events in the world regardless of the genre in question, one of the captivating film festivals in Europe you won’t want to miss“.
“Trieste Science+Fiction Festival” annually awards the Asteroid to the best international feature film in competition.
Moreover, in cooperation with the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation – that the festival joined in 2005 – it awards the Méliès d’argent (Silver Méliès) to the best European feature and short films in competition.
“Trieste Science+Fiction Festival” was founded in 2000 under the name of “Science plus Fiction” by the Research and Experimentation Centre La Cappella Underground with the ambitious purpose of re-launching the Festival Internazionale del film di fantascienza (“International Science Fiction Film Festival”), which had been held in the northern Italian city of Trieste in the years 1963–1982.
“Trieste Science+Fiction Festival” is a multidisciplinary event devoted to the exploration of the realms of the “fantastic” genre, and the use of new technologies and experimental languages in film, television and visual arts. The main purpose of Trieste Science+Fiction Festival is to present and promote, in Italy and in its neighboring countries, “fantastic” productions from all over the world, focusing particularly on science fiction and fantasy cinematographic and audio-visual works.
The 19th edition of Trieste Science+Fiction Festival was held from October 29, 2019 to November 3, 2019.
Awards & Prizes
The Festival features the following competitive sections:
• Asteroid Award – competition for best international science-fiction and fantasy feature-length film;
• Méliès d’argent Award – competition for best European feature-length and short film from the fantastic genre;
and the following non-competitive sections:
• Spazio Italia – selection of Italian productions from the fantastic genre;
• Fantastic Shorts – selection of international short films from the fantastic genre;
• Futurologia – selection of international science(-fiction) documentaries;
• Sci-fi Educational – selection of international works from the fantastic genre targeted at a younger audience;
• premieres and special events;
• retrospectives and special programs.
The Selection Committee of the Festival selects and invites the films, and assigns them to the competitive and non-competitive sections of the Festival.
Asteroide Award
The Award is given to the best science fiction, horror or fantasy film by emerging directors in the Neon | Competition section.
The prize is awarded by an international jury composed of cinema professionals and experts of the fantastic cinema. Members of the 2019 Asteroide award jury were producer and director Brian Yuzna, journalist and creative director of the Fantastic Fest (Austin, Texas) Evrim Ersoy, and documentary film director Alexandre O. Philippe.
TS+FF 19 Gold Asteroid Award (Asteroide d’Oro ) winner
“Aniara” by Pella Kågerman, Hugo Lilja (Sweden, 2018)
Motivation
“It’s a true science+fiction film with a strong environmental and existential message.
The Jury particularly liked the character of Mima (watch the film and you will understand!).“
Méliès d’argent Award – Feature Films
The competition, which is organized in collaboration with the Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF), awards the best European fantastic feature film. The prize is awarded by an international jury composed of cinema professional and also counts as a nomination to take part in the annual competition for the Méliès d’or Award. Members of the 2019 Méliès d’argent jury were composer and orchestra leader Fabio Frizzi, the CEO of CG Entertainment Lorenzo Ferrari Ardicini, and journalist and president of the Bruges Razor Reel Flanders Film Festival Thierry Phlips,
TS+FF 19 Méliès d’argent Award winner – Feature Films
“Extra Ordinary” by Mike Ahern, Enda Loughman (Ireland, Belgium, 2019)
Motivation
“A delicious ghost story that owes a lot to a great cast, the script, and the direction. A universal story that remains grounded in European and Irish culture and folklore. In the end, it’s a classic story reinvented with modern rhythm and style.“
Méliès d’argent Award – Short Films
The competition, which is organized in collaboration with the Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF), awards the best European fantastic short film. The prize is awarded to the film that gets the most votes from the audience and also counts as a nomination to take part in the annual competition for the Méliès d’or Award.
TS+FF 19 Méliès d’argent Award winner – Short Films
“This Time Away” by Magali Barbé (UK, 2019)
Rai 4 Award
The prize is awarded by the Rai 4 channel of Italian television, media partner of the 2019 Trieste Science+Fiction Festival, to one of the films of the Neon section.
TS+FF 19 Rai 4 Award winner
“After Midnight” by Jeremy Gardner, Christian Stella (USA, 2019)
Motivation
“An ironic and intelligent metaphor of the sentimental crisis of a young couple, in which the refined narrative plot leads the male protagonist into the labyrinth of an anguished loneliness, and the experience of fear becomes monstrous and unsettling.”
Stars’ War – Web Critics Award
The prize is awarded to the best debut film by nine web magazines: BadTaste, Blow Out, Cineblog, CineClandestino, CineLapsus, Cinematographe, Quinlan, Sentieri Selvaggi, and Taxi Drivers.
TS+FF 19 Stars’ War Award winner
“Extra Ordinary” by Mike Ahern, Enda Loughman (Ireland, Belgium, 2019)
Nocturno Nuove Visioni Award
The prize is awarded to the most innovative genre film by Nocturno, the main Italian magazine in the genre movies field.
TS+FF 19 Nocturno Nuove Visioni Award winner
“Extra Ordinary” by Mike Ahern, Enda Loughman (Ireland, Belgium, 2019)
Motivation
“A breath of fresh air in a genre often victim of repetitions and clichés. An almost miraculous balance between moments of great supernatural tension and loud laughter, Nocturno prize speaks Irish!
CineLab Award
The prize, in cooperation with DAMS (Arts, Music and Entertainment Disciplines), an intra-university degree by the University of Udine and the University of Trieste, is awarded to the best Italian short in the Spazio Italia | Spazio Corto section by a jury composed of students.
TS+FF 19 CineLab Award winner
“N” by Iacopo Di Girolamo (Italy, UK, 2019)
Motivation
“N” succeeds in applying the philosophy of Stanislaw Lem to an expressionist form, not entering into contradiction with it, nor obtaining a parodic result, but maintaining themes and style, while creating an original work. The construction of the soundtrack according to the assembly is truly remarkable.”
Asteroide Life Achievement Award
The career award has been given since 2002 to a leading personality of the fantastic world.
TS+FF 19 Asteroide Life Achievement Award winner
Phil Tippett (born September 27, 1951 in Berkeley, California) is an American movie director and Oscar and Emmy Award-winning visual effects supervisor and producer, who specializes in creature design, stop-motion and computerized character animation. Over his career, he has assisted ILM and DreamWorks, and in 1984 formed his own company, Tippett Studio. His work has appeared in movies such as the original “Star Wars” trilogy, “Jurassic Park”, and “RoboCop”. He is currently involved with his ongoing “Mad God” stop-motion series, which were funded through Kickstarter.
https://www.sciencefictionfestival.org/?lang=en
