While Hollywood blockbusters thrill us with breathtaking escapist spectacles, short films present diverse and idiosyncratic stories across the spectrum of genres, from fantasy and science fiction to riotous comedy and psychological drama. Short films can function as speculative windows into possible futures, or provide glimpses of contemporary realities that we don’t normally see.
The Phoenix Loves Sci-Fi festival celebrates the best and brightest sci-fi, fantasy, and animated films that have been produced or screened in Phoenix over the past year. The one-night event highlights a variety of official selections from the Phoenix Film Festival, Filmstock Film Festival, International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival, Phoenix Comicon Film Festival, and the Independent Feature Project Phoenix.
The festival takes place on Thursday, July 2, from 6:00 – 9:30 pm, at Arizona State University’s Downtown Phoenix campus. Tickets are $5.00 (plus a $1.27 purchase fee); proceeds benefit the Phoenix Film Foundation’s youth education programs. Get your ticket today at the festival’s Eventbrite page!
The program features U.S. and international films, both live-action and animated. Highlights include the science fiction shorts “Alone,” directed by Tony Severe; “Focus,” directed by Matt Chesin; “Hoyt’s Awakening,” written and directed by Boise Esquerra; “Ouroboros,” directed by Alexander Broderick; “Reprogrammed,” directed by Daniel Jones; “The Rogue Animal,” directed by Adolpho Navarro; and “Vault of Souls: The Pact,” directed by Kevin R. Phipps. These films were created by Arizona-based casts and crews, and demonstrate the talent and vision of a community of talented filmmakers who have begun to reach broader audiences beyond the desert.
Questions? Press inquiries? Need more information? Contact the festival’s organizer, Cassandra Nicholson, at Nicholson.Cassandra@gmail.com.