The Utopia Science Fiction Festival in Tel Aviv is more than your usual fantasy and sci-fi convention: it takes you on a journey into the future of science, technology and of cinema.
This multidisciplinary festival for science, imagination and future is a platform for the genius and edgy scientists of our times; the amount of sheer talent in one event is just remarkable – there is something for everyone, from directors to artists through programmers, neuroscientists’ poets and inventors! The festival is also part of the Tel Aviv DLD Innovation Week.
The Utopia Festival takes place between September 13-20, 2014, at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, and features a wide range of events, from film premieres and screenings, to exhibitions, performances, and conferences.
Among the many events of the Utopia Festival (see the festival website for full details), here are some highlights:
- The Utopia Futurological Congress – a nexus of science fiction big ideas, visions of tomorrow and the extreme realities of our times.
- The ‘Robots in Human Society’ mini-symposium will see discussions relating to the introduction to robotics into human society from a social and cultural perspective. This academic forum will be opened to the public and feature a line-up of lectures on the evening of September 15. More details: http://robots.strikingly.com/
- The Science Fiction Film Festival will feature a varied line-up of premiers and screenings of Israeli and international science fiction movies. The festival will be opened with a screening of ‘The Zero Theorem’ by Terry Gilliam (starring Christoph Waltz, Matt Damon and Tilda Swinton).
- An exclusive sneak peak at ‘JeruZalem’, the new horror film by the Paz Brothers.
- The ‘Idea Bazaar’ will take place every evening at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, and feature small, micro-talks and open discussions in a relaxed setting. Whilst most talks will take place in Hebrew, the micro-talk ‘Techno-Sex’ on September 15 will take place in English.