The 47th annual event will transport and entertain viewers
This year, the Boston SciFi Film Festival, an imaginative and futuristic, cinematic celebration, will be held from Feb. 16-21, with a live marathon held from Feb. 20-21. It will be both in person and virtual, with hybrid programming. The event will be presenting 3o features, about 70 shorts, and 10 workshops/panels. Live screenings will take place at the Somerville Theatre. The Marathon will run for 24 straight hours, showcasing films such as “The Man Who Saved the World,” “I, Robot,” “Star Trek First Contact,” and “The Invisible Woman.” Ticket options, which include the All Access Festival Pass, can be purchased here.
Selected features include “Abandoned Creatures,” directed by Bill Zahn, “Alchemy of the Spirit,” directed by Steve Balderson, and “12 Months of Kai,” directed by Mutsumi Kameyma.
“Last year Boston SciFI, like many events, went virtual,” said Boston SciFi Festival Director Garen Daly. “While it is not the same as being ‘live’, virtuality has unique properties, one being that it expands our reach and brings the world into people’s homes. For us, our virtual platform is just another venue, just another theatre. This year we will be able to bring many of the festival’s films from 30 countries to anyone’s home. It could be the charming and lovely animated Chilean film Elulu that took nearly a decade for one artist to make by hand. Or it could be the powerful story of a woman whose auditory senses are Out of Sync with the rest of the world. Science fiction is no longer about bug eyed monsters and people in funny costumes. It is about tackling real world issues within the confines of fiction that just happens to be science fiction. As we look around at what is happening in the world now, and we look at the films being curated and submitted for our 47th iteration, we recognize our motto’s resonance – The Future is Now.”
This year, the festival will also be putting on its first ever Costume Ball, hosted at the Somerville Theatre’s Crystal Ballroom, on Feb. 16. The Ball will be emceed by Boston-based drag entertainer and Miss Gay Massachusetts 2018, Qya Cristál.
Shira Laucharoen is a reporter based in Boston. She currently serves as the assistant director of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. In the past she has written for Sampan newspaper, The Somerville Times, Scout Magazine, Boston Magazine, and WBUR.
