Fantasia’s showcase of character-driven sci-fi shorts returns with nine compelling works of brilliance that will wrench emotions and captivate your imagination.
The Ukraine brings us gifted writer/director Anna Sobolevska’s award-winning ETERNITY (Canadian Premiere) in which humankind has effectively conquered death by digitizing souls of the dying, who go on to live in state-created digital worlds.
From the USA, a scientist diagnosed with Alzheimer’s builds a time machine to revisit memories of his deceased wife in Colin West’s poignant and haunting HERE & BEYOND (International Premiere).
In a future where humans have evolved beyond the need to procreate, one woman risks everything to explore motherhood in THE SLOWS (International Premiere), the acclaimed directorial debut of screenwriter Nicole Perlman (CAPTAIN MARVEL, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY).
Ursula Ellis’ darkly comic AVA IN THE END (World Premiere) depicts a young woman waking up in a virtual space to learn that she perished in an accident and is waiting for her cloud-hosted mind to be downloaded to a new body.
A businessman in mourning uses a special telephone booth to have a final talk with his departed wife in Shange Zhang’s heartbreaking THE FIVE MINUTES (International Premiere).
David Gidali & Einat Tubi's amusing FACE SWAP (Canadian Premiere) sees a couple utilizing innovative A.I. tech to spice up their love life… with decidedly mixed results.
A woman uses a device that allows her to have anonymous sex with distant strangers, facing an uncomfortable situation when a system crash forces her to have a conversation with her evening’s rather unscrupulous lover in Kit Zauhar’s phenomenal THE TERRESTRIALS (Canadian Premiere).
Brock Heasley’s unforgettable THE TWO HUNDRED FIFTH (World Premiere) introduces us to a “repeater” who relives her life over and over again, memories fully carried through, unable to alter the tragedies that she knows are coming.
Australia delivers Henry Boffin’s multi-award-winning LAVENDER (Canadian Premiere), set in a near-future world where much of the population has been ravaged by a brain-wasting disease amidst ever-growing food shortages. We’ll say no more. Count on wiping away tears. – Mitch Davis
