FAN-FILM DOUBLE FEATURE CONFIRMED AS SYDNEY SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL’S FIRST ‘VIRTUAL EXCLUSIVE’ PREMIERES.
A pair of lovingly-produced fan-made efforts have been confirmed as the first ‘Virtual Exclusives’ - films to be launched solely online - as part of the 2021 Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival’s initial foray into the digital festival space.
Australian director Sarah Stephenson’s ATTACK OF THE CAT PEOPLE is a shoestring-budgeted mini-feature that pays homage to the Universal Studios’ black-&-white horror classics of the genre’s heyday. The long-in-gestation project will go straight from it’s November 5 premiere at the Redlands Sporting Club in the Queensland suburb of Wellington Point onto the virtual festival platform, where it will be available Australia-wide.
“I’ve always had a strong connection to those old films, with storylines that draw you in and allow your imagination to do the rest,” says Stephenson, “I’m so excited that Attack of The Cat People will find a national audience via the Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival’s virtual event. The last time I was this happy was the first day of shooting!”
Screening alongside Stephenson’s films will be Roger Christopher Stevens’ LOCKDOWN: THE DOCTOR WHO FANS’ SURVIVAL GUIDE, a U.K. production from Reeltime Pictures as part of their CultTV series. During the 2020 COVID19 outbreak, a call went out to fans of the cult BBC-TV science fiction series to film personal videos of how they were coping with domestic lockdown for months on end. Shot on mobile phones, laptops, tablets and video cameras, the finished work is an inspiring tale of the indomitable human spirit, wrapped in unique stories that are funny, sad and unforgettable.
For producer Keith Barnfather, the selection acknowledges the effort made by his on-camera talent. "It really does give recognition from a major festival to all the hard work put in by fans to make the production happen," he says. “I'm absolutely delighted that Lockdown: The Doctor Who Fans’ Survival Guide has been selected for the Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival.”
“It is in the programming of titles like Attack of the Cat People and Lockdown that the new virtual festival format reveals its valuable point-of-difference,” says Festival Director Simon Foster. “To be able to get these types of micro-budgeted, heart-&-soul films out to a national audience and support the creative fan culture that helps events like our festival survive is a true thrill. That potentially 100s of Aussie eyeballs will see them via our festival is an honour.”
Tickets for the full line-up of the 2021 SSFFF VIRTUAL FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE will screen November 4-25, co-presented by the US streaming service Xerb, will go on sale soon.
The 2021 SYDNEY SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL will screen November 11-14 at the Actors Centre Australia, Leichhardt.