Angels and Airwaves' Love to close 2011 Sci-Fi-London's Oktoberfest Film Festival

BLINK 182’s frontman, Tom Delonge’s other music project is ANGELS AND AIRWAVES and SCI-FI-LONDON is delighted to screen the UK premiere of their first feature-length movie, LOVE.

The screening is part of SCI-FI-LONDON’s Oktoberfest celebration in Camden Town and takes place Sun 9 Oct, 7.30pm at the Odeon Camden.

A lone astronaut aboard the International Space Station becomes stranded in orbit when he loses contact with Earth. As time passes and life support systems dwindle, he battles to maintain his sanity – and simply stay alive. His world is a claustrophobic and lonely existence, until he makes a strange discovery aboard the ship.

William Eubank makes his feature-directing debut with LOVE to create a visually stunning film. The opening sequence of LOVE is achingly beautiful and intense –if you saw nothing but the first ten minutes, you’ll have had a cinematic treat. Add to this the fact that Will and his brothers spent years building sets for an underground Civil War bunker sequence in his parent’s backyard and you can definitely make an argument for dedication to craft.

Driven by the powerful music of ANGELS & AIRWAVES, LOVE explores the fundamental human need for connection and the limitless power of hope.

ABOUT OKTOBERFEST:
The UK’s leading science fiction and fantastic film festival, SCI-FI-LONDON (The London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film), lands in Camden Town for its notorious OKTOBERFEST screenings, special events, workshops and celebrations during 3 days of festival from 7 – 9 October 2011.

Oktoberfest is the mini-version of SCI-FI-LONDON and takes place at the Odeon Camden, Camden Head and the new Cyber Market.

FESTIVAL ALSO INCLUDES:
ROB DEB’s SCI-FI-CABARET Fri 7 Oct , 20.00 – Camden Head Geek stand-up comedian and festival regular, Rob Deb hosts an evening of truly nerdy stand-up comedy, a little magic, and burlesque that includes Sophia Disgrace’s Darth Vader routine… Comedians include award-winning and critically acclaimed Bec Hill, fresh from sold-out shows at the Edinburgh Fringe.

ANIMÉ ALLNIGHT – Sat 8 Oct (from 11.30pm until 8am Sun 9th) – Odeon Camden Our infamous Animé Allnight screenings are packed with the best in Japanese animation, as one would expect. Alongside the classic JIN ROH: The Wolf Brigade, we are delighted to be screening TEKKEN BLOOD VENGENCE – the amazing CGI smash from Japan. We also screen TRIGUN BADLANDS RUMBLE, the first Trigun movie for 10 years!

ANOTHER EARTH (USA 2011, Mike Cahill) Sat 8 Oct, 21.30hrs, Odeon Camden. Winner of the Sloan Award at Sundance, this beautiful and intelligent drama unfolds when a duplicate Earth is discovered behind our sun and the impact this has on the lives of a young scientist and a widowed composer. This is science fiction at its best and demonstrates how great storytelling can be achieved in film even on a modest budget.

THE DIVIDE (USA 2011, Xavier Gens) Sat 8 Oct, 19.00hrs, Odeon Camden. In the near future, New York City is destroyed by an apocalyptic event; eight survivors hide in the basement of their large apartment building which has now been reduced to rubble. The survivors must find another way to escape as well as maintain their own sanity in order to survive. The Divide portrays an unremittingly bleak and brutal view of a post-apocalyptic world. Stars Michael Biehn, Rosanna Arquette, Milo Ventimiglia PHASE 7 (Argentina 2010, Nicolás Goldbart) – UK PREMIERE Sat 8 Oct, 16.30hrs, Odeon Camden. As a pandemic spreads through Buenos Aires, Coco wants to protect his pregnant wife, Pipi. He joins forces in their quarantined apartment building with his well-armed neighbour, Horacio. A gory and sometimes funny post-apocalyptic film that draws much from the horror maestro, John Carpenter.

HELLDRIVER (JAPAN 2011, Yoshihiro Nishimura) Sun 9 Oct, 16.45hrs, Odeon Camden It’s near future Japan and Kika, a teenage girl living on the run with her father, is trying to stay away from her mother and uncle, a pair of psychotic cannibals. When a meteorite saves Kika’s life, it triggers a zombie outbreak. In order to contain the zombies a massive wall, the entire width of the country, is built. Kika becomes a chainsaw-katana wielding zombie slayer, and a bloody gorefest ensues.

Think of it as an over-the-top Japanese version of Neil Marshall’s DOOMSDAY, filled with everything you’d expect from Yoshihiro Nishmura, the legendary effects artist and the maker of TOKYO GORE POLICE.

BY DAY AND BY NIGHT (Mexico 2011, Alejandro Molina) Sun 9 Oct, 14.30hrs, Odeon Camden In a world where overpopulation is out-of-control, the government’s solution has been to implant an enzyme into people's DNA. The enzyme determines whether people are active during the day or the night. Within this world, Aurora has lost her daughter and Urbane, a scientist, discovers a lost child – but from which part of society?

Stunning cinematography in a palette of grays and blues, with stylish production design, this is visual treat that explores our roles in society and whether we can deviate from our destiny.

Tickets are on sale now from the Odeon box office – Odeon.co.uk or 0871 22 44 007 Full details at SCI-FI-LONDON.COM

SCI-FI-LONDON’s 48 Hour Film Challenge is looking for the next Gareth Edwards

Since 2009, SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival has run a 48 Hour Film Challenge where participants script, shoot, edit and complete a short format science fiction or fantasy film. In 2008 the winning submission came from a young, London-based director named Gareth Edwards.

Gareth’s début feature was the multiple award-winning MONSTERS – the project being green-lit due to Vertigo Films seeing his winning 48 hour short film at SCI-FI-LONDON. They were so impressed with what he achieved in just two days and no budget that they decided to develop a feature film with him.

Our 2011 challenge not only sees Gareth on the jury, but the producer of MONSTERS and head of Vertigo Films, Allan Niblo, also joins us.

In our 10th anniversary year, SCI-FI-LONDON is delighted to announce that the challenge’s first prize is a development deal with Vertigo Films. The 2011 winner will have the opportunity to develop a feature film with the creators of STREETDANCE 3D and MONSTERS.

Vertigo will either develop the winning short film into a feature, or develop an alternative concept from a slate of projects the filmmaker will be asked to pitch to the team.

Also new for 2011 is an Under 21 category run in conjunction with the BFI Future Film Festival. Prizes for this section include the winning film being screened at the BFI Southbank.

Did we mention our amazing jury?

• Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim)
• Mary Lambert (Pet Cemetery, Dark Path)
• Gareth Edwards (Monsters)
• Todd Brown (Editor, Twitchfilm.net)
• Allan Niblo (Head of Vertigo Films)
• Rosie Fletcher (News Editor, Total Film)

Taking part is free and easy...
Our film challenge is FREE TO ENTER – it seems wrong to ask for money, it’s hard enough work as it is! We give out a randomly generated film title, some dialogue and a prop list. Participants then have just 48 hours to write, shoot and edit a complete five minute film.

The SCI-FI-LONDON 48 Hour Film Challenge takes place 2 – 4 April, 2011 at the Apollo Piccadilly Circus.

This year’s festival runs Saturday 23 April – Monday 2 May, 2011.

Full details will be available soon and on www.sci-fi-london.com.

SCI-FI-LONDON to celebrate 10th anniversary at BFI Southbank

Ten years of fantastic film: SCI-FI-LONDON celebrates its tenth anniversary with a bigger festival than ever

The UK’s leading science fiction and fantastic film festival, SCI-FI-LONDON (The London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film), will host film screenings, special events, workshops and celebrations during its 10 day festival across the capital in 2011. For the first time, the BFI Southbank and BFI Imax will host festival events.

The festival runs Saturday 23 April – Monday 2 May, 2011. In the current climate, SCI-FI-LONDON makes no apologies for its defiantly carnival attitude. In addition to the core film programme, highlights include:

• The Royal Wedding all-nighter The night before Will and Kate’s wedding we celebrate the wonder of weddings with Veronica Lake, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. The evening features five black-and-white classics including: BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, BRIDE OF DRACULA and I MARRIED A WITCH. Midnight ‘til 9am... cheaper than a hotel and a stone’s throw from The Mall!
• 20th Anniversary of MANGA UK
  Celebrate with screenings of the classic AKIRA in glorious HD and brand new animé feature, EDEN OF THE EAST.
• 48 Hour Film Challenge
  With Edgar Wright and Gareth Edwards on the jury, our 2011 challenge has a first prize of a feature development deal with Vertigo Films. The challenge takes place 2–4 April, 2011.
• SCI-FI-LONDON LAB
  Our real science thread examines subjects including long distance space travel and synthetic biology. Thinking caps on please.
• Fantasy Easter Parade along the Southbank
  From the BFI to the London Film Museum on Easter Sunday, featuring Stormtroopers, zombies, superheroes and more. All genres, all costumes, all-comers welcome to this free event!

Festival Director, Louis Savy says:
“It is a tribute to our volunteer staff and the support of our sponsors and venues that we are here today. When we started ten years ago it was to challenge preconceptions about science fiction and bring a few independent movies to London.

I never imagined we would become a key fixture in the international film festival calendar, and be a well-known genre event. This year’s festival will certainly be bigger and bolder but, equally, a celebration of those 10 years of fantastic film.”

Full details will be available soon and on www.sci-fi-london.com.

About SCI-FI-LONDON:
SCI-FI-LONDON, now in its 10th year, is the UK's only dedicated sci-fi and fantasy film festival. It screens world and UK film premieres, documentaries and a selection of classic SF titles. SCI-FI-LONDON also has a strong international shorts programme and screens a short film with every feature screening. It also holds a film school and filmmaking competitions to encourage more science fiction films to be made in the UK Images etc at media.sci-fi-london.com

V: The Complete Series - Review

This series is excellent, 4 stars all the way.

Firstly, if you were a fan of the original series, you will be excited to try this and maybe a little worrried too, I know I was. There is nothing disappointing about V: The Complete Series, it is exciting and fast paced and retains the sense of mystery which we all enjoyed so much the first time around. Although it is a remake of the original series (aired in the 80s) it holds it's own very well alongside any of the more recent sci-fi offerings.

The basic premise remains the same; Aliens arrive at Earth, publicly offering peace, but privately with a very different agenda. If anything, in the current climate of heightened awareness of the threat of terrorism, the story carries more impact now than it did originally.

The series follows the stories of the members of the Resistance and how they each deal with the moral dilemmas with which they are presented. Among these; the discovery of 'sleeper cells' of infiltrating Visitors, present on Earth for many years and establishing themselves in prominent positions in the human community, effectively casting suspicion upon everybody. Also dealt with very well are the various Mother and child relationships.

The cast are excellent, as is the acting, Elizabeth Mitchell - Lost (playing Erica Evans) and Morena Baccarin (playing Anna - the Leader of the Vs) are particularly good and fans of the genre will find plenty of familiar faces, Joel Gretch - 4400 (playing Father Jack), Lexa Doig, Alan Tudyck, among others.

Any fans of the original series wil be very happy to see a couple of brilliant (and very direct) homages, seemingly a hats-off to their predecessors and a most welcome addition.

Because it has been so well brought up to date, V: The Complete Series will also make great viewing for any newcomers to the story, in fact, in some ways I envy the voyage of discovery which awaits them.

The visual effects and make-up are at times nothing short of spectacular and bring a new dimension to the story which simply wasn't possible in the 80s.

Special Features

• Deleted Scenes
• The Actor's Journey From Human to V Featurette
• Commentary with Steve Pearlman and Scott Rosenbaum
• Breaking Story, The World of V Featurette
• An Alien in Human Skin: The Makeup of V Featurette
• The Visual Effects of V Featurette

The special features are relatively short, but that is not always a bad thing! Fans of directors commentary may be litttle disappointed that it is available only for one episode, but otherwise they seem fairly comprehensive and informative.

In summary, they have thoroughly done justice to what was always a brilliant story, and this is a must see for sci-fi fans everywhere!

The DVD is out to buy from November 8, 2010.

You can find out more by heading over to the official website
all images are © 2009 Warner Brothers. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED