BERLIN SCI-FI FILMFEST FETES M.A.J.I.C., THE TANGLE IN 2019 HONOURS ROLL

Highlighting the event’s growing international standing amongst speculative fiction filmmakers, works from Canada, Italy, Japan and The U.S. were among the honorees at this year’s Berlin Sci-fi Filmfest, which wrapped its third edition under festival directors Alexander Pfander and Anthony Straeger in the German capital this past weekend.

Erin Berry’s Roswell-inspired M.A.J.I.C., a post-X-Files riff that incorporates 'men in black' conspiracy theorising and alien tech-driven alternate realities, took out Best Feature in a hotly-contested field; the independent Canadian production was up against Milena Lurie’s Entangled, Navin Dev’s Zoo-head and Christopher Soren Kelly’s The Tangle for the top trophy. So close was the final tally that The Tangle was singled out for special mention with the Grand Jury Award. (Pictured, top; Paula Brancati, as Pippa Bernwood, in M.A.J.I.C.)

The other major stand-out from the festival line-up was Yuichi Kondo’s Ryoko’s Qubit Summer, a futuristic riff on teen romance that poses the question, ‘Can love exist between an A.I. and a human?’ The short film, featuring touching performances from Miku Komatsu and Ami Yamada, earned the Outstanding Film Award from official jurors Rick McLeod of Celtic Storm Films; Crawford Talents agency head Caprice Crawford; and, sound engineer Iwan Romanow. (Pictured, right; from left, Christopher Soren Kelly, Jessica Graham and Nicole da Silva in The Tangle)  

Berry was denied a double win when Aleem Hossain earned Best Director for After We Leave, a drama about a husband’s search for his wife before the opportunity to live off-world expires. The Best Script award was won by Spain’s Andres Malo Segura and Alfonso Segura Ballesteros for their short Luz Azul (Blue Light), the story of one man’s struggle to cope with a dark memory that has emerged from his archived brain patterns.

The U.K. sector offered up its finest thespians in genre roles, with Brits taking out both the acting categories. Best Actress honouree Krista De Mille (pictured, right) plays ‘Kate’, a warrior-mother fighting for the survival of her daughter, in Martin Gooch’s post-apocalyptic U.K. thriller Black Flowers, while Best Actor kudos went to Sam Gittins for Ciro Sorrentino’s time-travel/alternate reality romp, Time Perspectives.

The vibrant German science-fiction scene was acknowledged with Thorsten Franzen winning the Best Cinematography award for Daniel Raboldt’s man-vs-machine survival thriller A Living Dog, while Marcel Barion’s The Final Land won Outstanding German Contribution.

The highly prized Best Visual Effects category went to the Amsterdam-based post-production house PostPanic for their mesmerising debut science-fiction effort, Sundays. Shot entirely in Mexico City, it envisions a world under the control of a single mega-corporation after a solar flare renders the planet powerless, and the young man whose independent thought may reveal the truth.

The Australian/Croation co-production Slice of Life, co-directors Luka Hrgovic and Dino Julius’ stunning return to the urban decay of Ridley Scott’s masterpiece Blade Runner, won Best Fan Film, against the Star Wars-inspired works Bucket Head and The Lightsaber Maker and the ectoplasmic comedy Ghostbusters Italia. Jason Axinn’s blood-splattered cartoon nightmare To Your Last Death, featuring the voices of William Shatner, Ray Wise, Bill Moseley and Deadpool star Morena Baccarin, won for Best Animation.

Others who walked away triumphant from the 2019 Berlin Sci-fi Filmfest included Andréanne Germain’s augmented reality coming-of-age tale Nova, which earned the Best Experimental/Music award; Brett Ryan Bonowicz’s Best Documentary winner Artist Depiction, a profile of the three illustrators who imagined the realities of NASA’s conjecturing (pictured, right); brothers Nick and Adam Hayes’ robo-militaristic Fight Machine, which won both Best Action Short and Best Web/TV Series categories; Patrick Hagarty’s hilarious twist on holiday homecoming Home in Time, for Best Comedy Short; and, Stephen Eigemann’s emotion-filled Rewind, which took Best Drama Short honours for its exploration of how VR technology can help the parent of a deployed soldier deal with anxiety and grief.

REWIND (short film) TEASER from Stephan Eigenmann on Vimeo.