The World’s First International Science Fiction Film Festival : Trieste (Italy) founded in 1963 !

Trieste Science + Fiction/International Festival of Science-Fiction is a multidisciplinary event that explores the many worlds of the fantasy and science fiction genres, focussing on the experimental languages and new technologies of cinema, television, visual arts and entertainment.

The festival as we know it today is the natural progression of The Trieste International Film Festival of Science Fiction that started in the 1960s.

From left : Flavia Paulon, Giulio Raiola, Piero Zanotto, Gastone Schiavotto

The founders of the International Science Fiction Film Festival of Trieste (Il Festival Internazionale del Film di Fantascienza di Trieste, the first SF film festival in the world launched in 1963) were the film critic, screenwriter, novelist and journalist Flavia Paulon (1906-1987), who had the idea of ​​organizing the festival, the film critic Piero Zanotto (born : 1929), the SF writer Giulio Raiola (1927-2006) and the one who became the artistic director of the festival, Gastone Schiavotto (1915-1977). It was ment as a pan-european event and an international one, and it was a great success with critics and audiences both in Italy and, unexpectedly, at the international level.

“At the Festival could participate only long/medium/short films made in the last four months testifying the progress achieved in the field of cinema from various countries. No review, even at the Venice Film Festival, had ever dealt with science fiction films  and there were eight hundred reviews in magazines around the world.  Flavia Paulon, thanks to her’s experience, organized almost everything from her home in Venice, promoting many events: art exhibitions, thematic panels, exhibitions and retrospectives.”

The jury of first edition of the International SF Film Festival from Trieste, from 1963, was composed of the French writer Jacques Bergier (1912-1978), President’s Jury, the British writer Kingsley Amis (1922-1995), the French director Pierre Kast (1920-1984), the famous semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist Umberto Eco (not so famous then, he was 31 years old) and italian SF writer Luigi Berto (1913-1983).

The “Golden Spaceship” Grand Prize was awarded to the Czechoslovak film, “Ikarie XB1” by the czech director Jindrich Polak and ex aequo to the French film “La Jetée” by Chris Marker, the “Silver Spaceship” was given to Soviet film, “The Amphibious Man” by Vladimir Chebotariov and Gennady Kazanski and to the American film, ” X, the Man with X-Ray Eyes” by Roger Corman, the Czechoslovak animated film, “Cyber Nun” by Jiri Trnka had received the ” Trieste Gold Seal”  and the British animated film, “Little Island” by Richard Williams had been awarded with the “Trieste Silver Seal”. The first edition was the theater of confrontation (“A colossal litigation” as stated by Vittorio Curtoni) between competing SF groups, the one of the SF magazines Galassia, Galaxy, SFBC and the rival supporters of the magazines Futuro, Interplanet, Oltre il Cielo, the most vocal being Roberta Rambelli, Sandro Sandrelli, Lino Aldani, Inisero Cremaschi and Luigi Berto.

It’s worth to note the presence and relevance in the period of the Eastern European science fiction films by Czech, Russian, Polish and East German film schools : “Silent Star” by Kurt Maetzig (East Germany,1960), “Ikarie XB1”  by Jindrich Polak (Czechoslovakia, 1963), “The Confused Planet” by Pavel Prochazka (Czechoslovakia) , “Solaris” by Andrei Tarkovsky (USSR, 1972), “Test of the Pilot Pirx” by Marek Piestrak (Poland, 1978). It is not at all accidental that in 1972, the  first edition of Eurocon (The European Science Fiction Convention) was also organized in Trieste. In 1982 was held the last edition of the first series of the festival: „The Festival ended in 1982 when there were no more funds from the Trieste Tourist Office, which had supported the event.”

The festival was relaunched in 2000 with the title of “Trieste Science + Fiction Festival Internazionale del Film di Il fantascienza di Trieste”. 

The official poster of the upcoming event: once again an original design from the triestino illustrator and cartoonist, Mario Alberti, who has created an exclusive trilogy of works, conceived specifically for the festival in Trieste.

Trieste Science + Fiction, the International Festival of Science Fiction, dedicated to the exploration of the worlds of fantasy, experimental languages ​​and new technologies in film, television, visual and performing arts, officially announces the location and the new dates for the  2015 edition: the event will be held in Trieste on November 3rd to 8th at the Tripcovich Hall and the House of Cinema.

Organized by La Cappella Underground the research center (with the collaboration and support of the Ministry of Heritage and Culture – Film Board, the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, in the Province of Trieste, Trieste City Council, the Chamber of Commerce Trieste, University of Trieste and the association Casa del Cinema di Trieste), the festival is back this year in the historic center of the city.

Every November, the celebration brings a fantastic atmosphere to the city of Trieste, with cult movies, previews, big names, young talents, retrospectives, classics and rare material of the genre on show. The festival is also widely recognised as a launch pad for up and coming directors and as a showcase for the new trends of sci-fi, fantasy and horror cinema.

The International Science Fiction Film Festival’s first edition, in 1963, started the history of a revolutionary event bringing a whole bunch of celebrated international stars to the city of Trieste. In those years, the festival saw the participation of Arthur C. Clarke, Roger Corman, Riccardo Freda, Forrest J. Ackerman, Umberto Eco and Brian Aldiss, among others.

A group of “young visual poetry artists”, as Ungaretti called them in a cable he sent wishing luck to the Festival, coordinated at that time La Cappella Underground Research and Experimentation Centre. In the following years, they would turn the city of Trieste into a unique stage for genre films, until 1982, when the last edition took place.

In the year 2000, La Cappella Underground decided to pick up the tradition of the Festival and its innovative impulse on independent film productions, premieres and rarities with a new event called Science plus Fiction.

Recent celebrity guests include Terry Gilliam, Dario Argento, Pupi Avati, Lamberto Bava, the director of Blue Brothers John Landis, Christiane Kubrick,  cartoonists Moebius and Enki Bilal, Joe Dante, Roger Corman, Christopher Lee, the Godfather of zombies Roger Romero and the creator of E.T. Carlo Rambaldi.

Trieste Science + Fiction is about more than just cinema though. Recent editions of the festival have included specialist sections and events, exhibitions, concerts, performances, talks and conferences to an audience around 10 000 people each year.

Four prizes are awarded at each edition of the festival:
Urania d’Argento, a lifetime achievement award presented to an important personality of the fantastic genre, in collaboration with Mondadori publishing house
Premio Asteroide, awarded to the best international film in competition
Méliès d’Argent, awarded to the best European film in competition. The winner of this prize goes on to compete for the Méliès d’Or, in competition against winners of the Méliès d’Argent at the other festivals of the E.F.F.F.F – European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation
Méliès d’Argent, awarded to the best European short in competition.

Trieste Science+Fiction Teaser

From the 3rd to the 8th November, Trieste will be the European Capital of Fantastic film: Trieste Science+Fiction – Festival della Fantascienza has the honour of hosting the annual convention of the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation and the 19th Golden Méliès Ceremony, the prize giving of the EFFFF’s Méliès d’Or for the best feature and short. What is an appointment with excellence in itself will be made even more special with a concert by Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin, playing their “Profondo Rosso Live Soundtrack” on the 6th November 2015 at the Sala Tripcovich.

After having hosted the Trieste International Science Fiction Film Festival, one of the oldest and most important science fiction festivals in Europe, it was time, in 2000, for the capital city of Friuli Venezia Giulia to go back to its cinematographic roots and give birth to scienceplusfiction: a new festival for the new millennium, but with its glorious past still in mind.

http://www.sciencefictionfestival.org/triestesciencefiction2015/selezione-ufficiale-2015/?lang=en

Focusing on sci-fi, fantasy and fantastic cinema, nervertheless touching upon other artistic and cultural fields such as music and literature, theatre and comics, during its previous editions scienceplusfiction featured, among its guests, artists like: John Landis, Carlo Rambaldi, Brian Yuzna, Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean, Dario Argento, Jimmy Sangster, Lone Flaming, Paul Naschy, Curtis Harrington, Valerio Evangelisti, Ian Watson, Christiane Kubrick, Antonio Margheriti, Pupi Avati, John Philip Law and many others.

Among the retrospectives and tributes presented at the festival, we would like to highlight William Castle – 13 Ghosts, FantaEspaña – 100 years of fantastic Spanish cinema, Voyage dans la Lune, a tribute to Georges Méliès, Brit-Invaders! and Hammer – House of Horror, focused on British sci-fi and horror movies.

Trieste Scienceplusfiction Festival includes an International competition, where the best sci-fi feature film is awarded with the Asteroid. Starting in 2005, there will be a new section: a competition for the best fantastic short film. Besides, every year scienceplusfiction awards the Silver Urania, a life achievement prize (in collaboration with the Italian science fiction magazine Urania).

Spazio Italia is Trieste Science+Fiction’s special section dedicated to fantasy and science fiction productions made in Italy.
Born in 2011, it o ers a selection of works in different formats with the goal of giving visibility to a movement which so far has remained quite underground, but always valid and vital. It hopes to become a reference point for Italian authors of science fiction cinema, and to o er the festival’s audience an updated overview of the genre. The selection of Spazio Italia collects works in di erent formats — feature – length films, documentaries and short films— o en presented as previews. A heterogeneous selection which shows the transverse nature of science fiction, capable of going from pure entertainment to experimentation. All the works share a common passion for science fiction and a strong desire to prove successful in front of the audience and of the cinema industry.

SPAZIO ITALIA
Acid Space / Stefano Bertelli
Ananke / Claudio Romano
Bangland / Lorenzo Berghella
Monitor / Alessio Lauria
Muffe Il Film / Guillermo Giampietro
Strings / Alessio Vasarin, Sandro Tarter

SPAZIO CORTO
Cursor / Marco Castiglione
Deus in Machina / Nicola Piovesan
Encounter / Fabrizio Rinaldi
Ison / Maicol Borghetti
Le Streghe / Fabio Bressan

EVENTO SPECIALE
Blood On Méliès’ Moon / Luigi Cozzi

The nights of Trieste Science+Fiction will light up with music, concerts and parties.
The famous La Notte degli Ultracorpi will take place in the new venue of the beautiful Salone degli Incanti, the former fish market designed by Giorgio Polli and built in 1913 on like a cathedral on the sea. Special guest of Saturday, November 7th’s party will be Alexander Robotnick, aka Maurizio Dami, a pioneer of Italian electronic music. A true living legend: his productions of the early 80s have been played and remixed by all kinds of dj since, from electro to Italo- disco, from house to Carl Craig’s techno.
A fine music expert, in his energetic and charismatic sets he mixes Italo-disco gems and new wave with the more update techno he is making the world dance to, from Detroit to Brasil, from China to Canada. Resident djs, Mothership’s Alain The Lone and Electrosacher’s Jazza and Cannibal Se-Lecter.

FUTUROLOGY MEETINGS

At the exact moment when the astronaut lost on Mars arrives on our screens, NASA announces that on the red planet some salty water streams can run on the surface? The University of Rome welcomes 15.000 people for the opening of the Maker Faire, the international exhibition dedicated to innovation, with the artisans of the future dealing with robots and drones? The astronauts from Interstellar reach the most remote planets in search of “another Earth”, passing through black holes and wormholes?
Very well. These will be the topics of the third appointment with the Futurology Meetings that Trieste Science+Fiction has scheduled for five days (from the 4th to the 8th of November) in the conference hall of the prestigious Palazzo Gopcevich. It confirms how well the feedback between reality and fiction works, between the science of astrophysicists, biologists, technologists and the imaginary of writers and cinema makers.

This year, Trieste Science+Fiction will recognise Bruce Sterling’s career by awarding him the Premio Urania. Born in 1954, he is amongst the most important American science fiction authors, a scene that he has profoundly influenced and developed since the 80s. The standard setting in his books is the near future, but he also uses the present depicted in a realistic manner, although subtly altered by the our relationship to technology. He is famous for Mirrorshades, a collection of short science fiction stories published in 1986 that helped to define the cyberpunk subculture, and is a very shrewd in his understanding of advanced technology and new media. Amongst his greatest works are Schismatrix (1985), Islands in the Net (1988) and The Difference Engine (1990), which he wrote with William Gibson. This year he has released Utopia Pirata (published by Urania), another collection of short stories set in Italy, under the pseudonym Bruno Argento.

MONDO9 – THE ILLUSTRATIONS OF FRANCO BRAMBILLA

Here’s an abstract from ‘”Introduction to World9” by Franco Brambilla:

“A whole world to illustrate: what a privilege and an engaging challenge at the same time. Thanks to Dario I have had the possibility to freely experiment with my 3D softwares, taking them to their limit in order to create increasingly bigger ships, more and more exotic landscapes, dusty and dirty, yet drowned into poisonous sewage. Illustrating World9 is never boring, the extreme climate gives you thousands of ideas, from the driest desert to the coldest glaciers, and don’t forget also the planet’s dangerous jungles and the muddy oceans where it’s easy to get lost. The huge cruel ships are always moving, the local flora and fauna is extremely mysterious and varied and human beings are not always at the top of the food chain. Dario describes a many-sided universe of great richness and I’m convinced that he has only revealed a small part of it so far, so there will still be plenty to dream and draw about.” (Urania Millemondi n. 72, with the kind permission of Mondadori Libri)

THE BODY OF SPACE

This year the Asteroid Award has been put into the graceful hands of Eloise Suppancich. Born in Triest in 1989 she a ends the Art Institute E. U. Nordio and then continues her studies in Triest and Milan in the fields of fashion design, model building, dressmaking and photography.
In 2014 with the capsule collection Life she wins the award for the best beachwear collection at the EcoFashion Style contest in Pisa, she is among the finalists of the international fashion design contest The Link, and displays her creations at the international beachwear exhibition MarediModa in Cannes. In 2015 she presents her jewellery collection in Triest, at the atelier/art studio Katastrofa with which she collaborates, and she brings her capsule beachware collection Ceci n’est pas on the catwalk of the international exhibition Mare d’Amare in Florence.

“My interpretation of the Asteroid Award went through a research of the possible links between the asteroid’s features, the human being and space. The asteroid, an irregular-shaped celestial object. The human being, a body which might have a soul. The space, a place where despite mankind’s contamination nature still holds its supremacy. My ideas materialised into a heart, the ambivalent symbol of the soul and of the irregular physical shape of the asteroid, tightly gripped by a human hand representing mankind and its a empts at seizing the whole universe; I then robotised it, since without mechanics there would be no human presence in the firmament.”