Sci-Fi-London
 Festival Poster 2011 | |
| Location | London, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2002 |
| Awards | The Arthur C. Clarke Award / Best Short Film / Audience Award |
| Language | International |
| Website | http://www.sci-fi-london.com/ |
SCI-FI-LONDON (The London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film, SFL), is a United Kingdom-based film festival, dedicated to the science fiction and fantasy genres, which began in 2002.
About the festival
Designed to be a festival that “takes a serious look at sci-fi and fantasy, bringing new, classic and rare movies from around the world to the UK”, Sci-Fi-London annually screens world and UK Premieres, seminal cult classics, as well as documentaries, debates and talks. The festival was founded by Louis Savy.
Short films are also an important part of the festival programme, screening in front of every movie shown, as well as together in the Blink Of An Eye short film programme. Over its history Sci-Fi-London has also held a number of Short Film competitions, and in 2008 launched the Sci-Fi-London 48hr Film Challenge, in order to encourage filmmakers to create sci-fi short films over a very short period of time.
In 2006, the festival became the official home of The Arthur C. Clarke Award, the most prestigious award for science fiction literature in Britain, and recognised as one of the most prestigious science fiction awards in the world.
Since its inception, the Sci-Fi-London Film Festival has also been one of the few places in the United Kingdom to consistently screen "All-Nighters" — film marathons which run throughout the night. These have focused on anime, horror, Alien, and Matrix films as well as episodes of the cult American television series: Mystery Science Theater 3000.
The Festival is reliant mostly on a large and varied team of Volunteers, who give up their time and expertise for free, in aid of the various aspects of the running of the Festival. These are mostly recruited in the months leading up to the Festival, through the Festival's website.
Festival dates and location
In its first four years (2002–2005), the Festival resided mainly at the Curzon Soho Cinema on Shaftesbury Avenue (Central London).
The Festival then resided primarily at the Apollo Piccadilly Circus on Lower Regent Street (also Central London), from its fifth year through to its eleventh (2006–2012).
At the same time, the festival also moved from screenings in late January/early February to a slot in late April/early May (usually the May Bank Holiday Weekend), running over a longer, 5-day period.
Since October 2012, the festival has moved to its current location, at the Stratford Picturehouse, running a full 7-day programme.
Since 2008, Sci-Fi-London has also held a second festival in October, called Oktoberfest. This normally takes the form of a shorter festival, held at venues including the Apollo Piccadilly Circus, the Stratford Picturehouse, the Royal Observatory, Greenwich and the Royal Society.
The next Sci Fi London Film Festival will be on the 13th to the 20th May and will be based at Stratford Picturehouse.[1]
The Arthur C. Clarke Award
The Arthur C. Clarke Award is awarded every year to the best science fiction novel which received its first British publication during the previous calendar year. The Award is chosen by Jury.
The Award was set up in 1986 and the first winner was announced in 1987. In 2006, Sci-Fi-London hosted the Awards ceremony for the first time.
References
- ^ "SCI-FI-LONDON : 13-20 MAY 2020". Retrieved 2020-02-26.