[From a press release.] The Philip K. Dick European Science Fiction Film Festival has announced the full lineup for its upcoming season celebrating the legacy of novelist Philip K. Dick. The two-day event held from October 27-28 at the L’Hybride theater in Lille, France will showcase films with themes of scientific and technological advancements, extraordinary events, and dystopian worlds.

This year’s event continues the festival’s longstanding tradition of showcasing films throughout Europe. “France is an integral location for the science fiction genre,” said DanielAbella, the founder and director of the festival. “The rich cultural life of Lille is a popular area for learning, and appreciating all things sci-fi.” The festival will also commemorate its namesake by attributing his work as a reflection of modern society. “Philip K. Dick foresaw the aspects of technology to free and liberate us,” said Abella. “If you look around at the technological advancements of our world, many of his stories have come to pass and the festival recognizes his vision. He understood that the fluid nature of reality and the lure of transhumanism is becoming a real phenomenon.”

The film program follows the jump.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2023

L’Hybride Theater (18 Rue Gosselet, 59000, Lille, France)

Block 1: Future Shock

8PM- 9:30PM

MEGAVILLE – After Hours

• Directors: Tim Cürlis, Christian Skibinski
• Germany, 13 min

On a restless night in the cyberpunk city “Megaville” a disillusioned ranger encounters a washed-up chef called Jack. They reach an agreement and a culinary duel to the death follows.

A lethal supper that only one of them will survive.

NEW AIR

• Director: Leo Lee
• China, 9 min

On a distant planet, human explorers are forging a new future on a brutal, resource-scarce world. A mother and her young daughter battle for survival together.

RED GAIA

• Director: Udesh Chetty
• South Africa, 13 min

Alone on the dying red planet, among the ruins of human civilization, one last android desperately guards the last essences of life. In her pursuit for meaning, she finds her own soul hanging in the balance.

KILL – BURN

• Directors: Adam Hayes, Nick Hayes 
• Taiwan, 7 min

Kill-Burn explores social media’s impact on mental health in a near-future society, a mirror to our own current times. We follow three protagonists on a journey to discover the possibility of learning to love imperfect reality, rather than perfect virtual realities.

CONVERGENCE

• Director: Zechariah Thormod
• US, 15 min

At the edge of a black hole, in the midst of a mission to save humanity, an astronaut discovers something that will forever change him. Starring Eric Roberts

CHIMERA

• Director: Andrew Lee Ryan
• US, 25 min

Set in a not-too-distant future small town, a VR life simulation junkie goes on a mission in reality to get a new dopamine game cartridge before she goes through happiness withdrawal.

INTERMISSION AND Q&A

9:30PM-10PM

Block 2: A Separate Reality

10PM-11:30PM

MIRROR MAN

• Director: Ginew Benton
• US, 14 min

A Native police officer, who is doubting her traditional faith, is called to a possible burglary but is met by a supernatural entity that leads her to a buried secret.

WELCOME TO CANDY’S

• Director: Sabine Crossen
• France, 14 min

Like in a fairy tale, it only took one glance for Etienne to fall head over heels in love with Candy. When she invites him home for a drink, he discovers that this pretty influencer with a vivid imagination, did not invite him just by chance

EDEN

• Director: Olivier Perrier
• France, 13 min

Antoine is moving with his mother and little brother in a modern tower with green walls and a sustainable, self-sufficient architecture. In great psychological distress, he feels like a stranger to this new environment.

A MIND CANNOT TOUCH

• Director: Geoffrey Prather
• US, 15 min

A Mind Cannot Touch is a short film about loss and how one grieving mother will go to any lengths to bring her daughter back from the dead. The film asks, “What if you could bring a loved one back after their physical body has died?” and explores the moral implications of this hypothetical.

FAITH

• Director: Carol Butrón
• Spain, 20 min

When just a small child, Teresa has to face the disappearance of her best friend, Lucas. After many years and without having forgotten him, Teresa begins to have a hunch that Lucas is alive, but in another dimension.

WILD

• Director: Nicholas Devienne
• France, 20 min

In 2043, Melissa, a young eco-entrepreneur, works on her intelligent sailboat, the Rainbow. With her dog Cham, she cleans up the Mediterranean Sea and sells the plastic on the world recycling market. One day, she saves a monkey from drowning, an encounter that will change her life.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2023

L’Hybride Theater (18 Rue Gosselet, 59000, Lille, France)

Block 1: Cracks in the Cosmic Wall

8PM- 9:30PM

THE SIGNAL

• Director: Daniel Lasker
• Zimbabwe, 18 min

A deadly sound transmitted from space known as “The Signal”, corrupts the minds of all who hear it, turning them into soulless Demons under its control.

THE OPERATOR

• Director: Matt Riley
• UK, 20 min

The Operator follows Michael, a client contact associate, as he starts another dull day of business as usual. Connecting long distance intergalactic calls from a remote satellite (not as exciting as it sounds); a bleary eyed and coffee fueled Michael receives a distress call. No one ever receives a distress call. They barely touch on distress calls during the induction day.

EMILY’S MOUNTAIN

• Director: Tal Somech
• Israel, 22 min

Emily celebrates her 6th birthday on a magical trip with her family and is slowly exposed to the horrifying reality that her parents are trying to conceal from her using modern technology and entertainment systems.

MOTHERLORD

• Director: Sebastien Landry
• Canada, 9 min

An alien, borrowing the body of a human mother-to-be, is confronted by fear and uncertainty as its offspring grows inside her.

ESCALATION

• Director: Christian Bachini
• Italy, 15 min

Chris, a paranoid and self-centered man, is happily avoiding all human contact, preferring to escape from reality in whatever’s on TV. When a friend reaches out to him to confront him about his past promises, Chris must decide what kind of person he is inside, or it may just eat him…alive.

INTERMISSION AND Q&A WITH DIRECTORS

9:30PM-10PM

Block 2: At the Mountains of Madness

10PM-1130PM

MEANTIME

• Director: Guillaume Scaillet
• France, 13 min

Marc, a young city dweller, goes into the countryside where he stays on his own in a lonely house. He is expecting his girlfriend Louise who is supposed to come and join him soon, but the silence grows heavier and heavier, and Louise hasn’t arrived yet. In the anxious surrounding calm, Marc gradually falls prey to the assault of all kinds of sounds that are usually ignored and sounds that are not usually heard.

DAWN

• Director: Shane Lim
• UK, 18 min

On the night of the largest supermoon in history, Willow is called upon by her estranged father and finds society’s elites gathered in a secret facility, ready to escape the planet.

TRIGGER.CHARLIE.ONE

• Director: Dan Clifton
• UK, 9 min

In the face of her doubts, a naval commander must follow orders and press the launch button triggering the earth’s final nuclear apocalypse.

WAKE UP LITTLE GIRL

• Director: Noah Lydiard
• US, 10 min

While home alone, Sara gets a familiar guest who threatens to destroy what she loves most.

THE HANGMAN

• Director: Cameron Sun
• US, 7 min

A woman returning home is stalked by a mysterious upside down figure.

HYSTERIC

• Director: Rod Blackhurst
• US, 10 min

A mysterious sound, a mother stricken with madness, and two daughters caught in a fight for survival.

NIGHT

• Director: Frank Sun
• US, 20 min

A man arrives at a friend’s apartment and hears sounds from outside his window… but is it real?

FESTIVAL PASSES. For more information on passes and films, visit here.

ABOUT THE PHILIP K. DICK SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL. “The core of my writing is not art but truth.” – Philip K. Dick.

The Philip K. Dick European Science Fiction Film Festival launched in October 2013 and has held events in Lille, France, Cologne, Germany and Łódź, Poland. Organized by individuals and filmmakers who understand both the challenges and rewards of telling a unique story in an independent environment, the festival represents the deep analyses and philosophical views of internationally renowned novelist Philip K. Dick, whose work has inspired generations of writers, filmmakers and fans around the world.