2019 SciFi Miami Season Six Short Films

Shy Monster – Angle Shades | Miami, USA | Thursday 6:00 PM 3/21/19

Drawing influences from cinematic composers such as Giorgio Moroder and John Carpenter to synthpop stalwarts Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode and post-rock and chamber orchestrations by Stars of the Lid and Rachel’s, Shy Monster digs its teeth deep in synthesizers, dusty organic sounds, progressive percussion and film nostalgia.

Genre: Sci-Fi, Music Video

Time: 5 minutes 22 seconds

Hippopotamus | USA | Friday, 10:20 PM 3/21/19

Left alone to caretake a gay nude resort closed for the season, a man finds himself confronted by what he can see and by what he can’t. When everything is visible, when nothing is hidden, it’s not just about what you see. It’s also about what sees you.

Genre: Horror, LGBT, Thriller, Gay, SciFi

Time: 15 minutes

Nadine | USA | Saturday, 6:45 PM 3/22/19

Born into a world of hate, Nadine must find a way to break free.

Genre: SciFi, Thriller

Time: 3 minutes – Filmmaker in attendance.

Subverse | USA/UK | Friday, 6:45 PM 3/22/19

Max meets a beautiful girl online, but when the ‘outside’ date goes awry he returns home for a drunken, late-night porn binge and discovers a portal to the dark net. Bad things happen.

Genre: SciFi, Cyberpunk

Time: 10 minutes

The Bomb | UK | Friday, 6:45 PM 3/22/19

In this political climate, certain operatives are called upon to work for the Sentient Bomb Disposal Unit.

Due to the rise in technology, explosive devices and weapons of mass destruction are equipped with intelligent holographic protection units that can protect the explosive device on its discovery, and dissuade anyone trying to disarm it, by looking into the person’s memory and duplicating a character from their past. This should stop them from getting close enough to stop it counting down.

Genre: SciFi, Thriller, Action

Time: 17 minutes 27 seconds – Filmmaker in attendance.

The Replacement | USA | Friday, 6:45 PM 3/22/19

On election night, a janitor feels cheated out of a life he might have lived when his own clone becomes the President. He goes on a bender to seek justice, encountering new forms of prejudice, dismissal, and classism. In a society where the morality around cloning is dividing the masses, physically looking like the newly elected President has its own dangers…

Genre: SciFi, Suspense

Time: 15 minutes

AFK – This World and the Next | UK | Friday, 6:45 PM 3/22/19

AFK is a gaming/fantasy web series that follows the misadventures of a group of gamers who mysteriously wake up in the bodies of their MMO characters. Gender-swapped, confused and out of their element, they must work together to survive in a hostile new world.

Genre: SciFi, New Media

Time: 12 minutes 41 seconds

Geek Lounge – Going Solo | USA | Friday, 6:00 PM 3/22/19
Screens with Eleven Eleven

Abby makes a new friend on “Cosplay Night”, who is too afraid to venture out and meet people of the opposite sex.

Genre: SciFi, Thriller, Action

Time: 17 minutes 27 seconds – Filmmaker in attendance.

Sur’vi | USA | Short 3 | Friday, 7:50 PM 3/22/19

During a time of nomadic civilization, a woman traveling through the wilderness alone comes across a young orphaned girl and must take her to safety while fighting off marauders.

Genre: SciFi, Fantasy, Action, Adventure

Time: 12 minutes – Filmmaker in attendance.

Dark Specter II | US | Shorts 3 | Friday, 7:50 PM 3/22/19

The fiery fiend of darkness has returned to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting masses, but will responsibilities at home thwart his ambitions?

Genre: SciFi, New Media

Time: 9 minutes 31 seconds

Galactic Lineage | US | Shorts 3 | Friday, 7:50 PM 3/22/19

One man discovers his alien lineage and must mate with an extraterrestrial creature to unite a galactic kingdom and save the universe. Genre: SciFi, Comedy, Action

Time: 10 minutes 15 seconds – Filmmaker in attendance.

Meeting MacGuffin | USA | Shorts 3 | Friday, 7:50 PM 3/22/19

In a post-apocalyptic future where humanity has fallen apart, a group of scientists and an animated sign complete the construction of a new human race and meet a groundhog climatologist who prepares them for their mission to restore balance to the decimated Earth.

Genre: Sci-fi, Ecological Drama, Fantasy, Comedy

Time: 17 minutes 27 seconds – Filmmaker in attendance.

Above | Lebanon | Shorts 3 | Friday, 7:50 PM 3/22/19

An asteroid is about to head towards the Middle Eastern country of Lebanon. Two young adults, Charles and Emma, acknowledging the impending doom, decide to seek the help of Extra-terrestrials in order to escape. But first, a deal must be made. Meanwhile, the rest of society is seemingly rejoicing.

Genre: SciFi, Drama

Time: 23 minutes 23 seconds

Pandora’s Box | Australia | Microdocs | Saturday, 10:00 AM 3/23/19

Six tech enthusiasts are invited to watch and respond to the thoughts of tree AI experts about different aspects of Artificial Intelligence.

Genre: Science Documentary

Time: 17 minutes 50 seconds

The Fifth Mode | USA | Microdocs Saturday, 10:00 AM 3/23/19

A group of international college students from the University of Cincinnati has a chance to compete in the first-ever SpaceX-Hyperloop Competition. To become one of the coveted 30 finalists, they will spend over 18 months competing against 1200 teams

Genre: Science Documentary

Time: 26 minutes 46 seconds

Postcards from Miss Universe | USA | Microdocs | Saturday, 10:00 AM 3/23/19

A reading of NASA’s ‘Pioneer Odyssey’ 1972 mission report provides the starting point for this reflection on interstellar communication, mutant genitalia, the battle of the sexes, and the power of diagrams.

Genre: Science Documentary

Time: 17 minutes 27 seconds – Filmmaker in attendance.

LOBISOME | Spain | Saturday
Screens with Ingenium

Jorge and Iván receive a simple assignment: steal a briefcase and deliver it to their client in the bathrooms of an airport. What they did not imagine is that the briefcase contains a thousand-year curse.

Genre: Horror, SciFi

Time: 10 minutes 55 seconds

Kiss the Devil in the Dark | USA
Screens with Destroyer of Worlds

Desperate to save his dying wife, the sorcerer Marcus (Dameon Clarke) makes a dark bargain with the demon Dagon (Doug Jones) to save her soul.

Genre: Fantasy, Thriller

Time: 29 minutes 36 seconds – Filmmaker in attendance.

Virtually | USA | Saturday
Screens with Destroyer of Worlds

A woman struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland discovers a virtual-reality machine and escapes from her loneliness into a scenic virtual world, repeating the same stunning sunset over and over. In the process, she falls in love with a man inside this virtual world. But when her food and water run out, she must choose between her love and her life. Virtually is a romantic science fiction short with an unexpected ending that will stay with you long after it’s over.

Genre: SciFi, Romance

Time: 20 minutes 21 seconds – Filmmaker in attendance.

SATURN THROUGH THE TELESCOPE | SPAIN | Saturday
Screens with Cygnus – Spanish with Eng subtitles
SATURNO A TRAVÉS DEL TELESCOPIO

Max is a ten-year-old boy obsessed with insects, telescopes, and monsters. One night he decides to escape from his bed to watch a terror film on the TV. Surprised by his mother, he is returned to his bedroom. However, he is fascinated by the images he has seen, but they will give him nightmares.

Genre: SciFi, Thriller

Time: 10 minutes 53 seconds

The Bomb | UK | Friday, 6:45 PM 3/22/19

In this political climate, certain operatives are called upon to work for the Sentient Bomb Disposal Unit.

Due to the rise in technology, explosive devices and weapons of mass destruction are equipped with intelligent holographic protection units that can protect the explosive device on its discovery, and dissuade anyone trying to disarm it, by looking into the person’s memory and duplicating a character from their past. This should stop them from getting close enough to stop it counting down.

Genre: SciFi, Thriller, Action

Time: 17 minutes 27 seconds – Filmmaker in attendance.

Here & Beyond | USA |
Screens with Cygnus

A scientist diagnosed with dementia tries to use a time machine to relive his memories.

Genre: SciFi, Drama

Time: 17 minutes 5 seconds – Cast in attendance.

Do Cell Towers Dream of Morse Code? | USA |
Screens with Artist Depiction

The film offers a brief view from an observer at a unique vantage point. High above a city street, a collection of stories unfold as we experience a witness’ fixed perspective of events that occur on a supposed benign street corner. Who is the witness? And what is the witness’ connection to the lone souls below, parked in cars and affixed to their smartphones? Do Cell Towers Dream captures a linear moment in time, exploring the ideas of connectedness and isolation, detachment and engagement that sometimes occur simultaneously in our modern world.

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy

Time: 17 minutes 6 seconds

Blink | USA | Saturday 8:45 PM
Screens in the Afrofuturism Session 

The story of the first manned mission to Jupiter, and the fate of the crew who venture into the eye of the great red storm.

Genre: SciFi, Thriller

Time: 6 minutes 5 seconds

Deliver | Cuba | Saturday – First Cuban SciFi Film
Screens in the Afrofuturism Session
Spanish with Eng subtitles

In the near future. Humanity is on the edge of extinction and survival has become a perverse game. A couple travels somewhere unknown to make a trade-off. What they’ll exchange is a mystery, but, what they will receive in return could save them. What is this couple willing to sacrifice in order to survive?

Genre: SciFi, Thriller

Time: 8 minutes

KITAMBO | Kenya |
Screens in the Afrofuturism Session 

A drama set in Kenya at different points in time. It is the story of a boy, a man, their past and our future. It tells the story of a boy who overcomes long odds, a man fostering dreams of an improbable future, the obstacles in their path and with them, a nation reborn. It demonstrates the extraordinary things we can accomplish if we set our hearts and minds to it.

Genre: SciFi, Drama

Time: 23 minutes 45 seconds

Battledream Chronicles: A New Beginning | Martinique |
Screens in the Afrofuturism Session
French with Eng subtitles

Syanna, a young black Caribbean girl, wakes up amnesiac in an Afrofuturistic world where she has been enslaved by the global colonial empire of Mortemonde. Every day, she is forced to collect 500 experience points or XP for her master in the Battledream, a dangerous video game in which players die for real. With a kill switch implanted in her body and her limbs replaced by bionic parts controlled by the master, escape seems impossible. When she is offered a chance to learn in secret how to hack and control the technology used to enslave her, Syanna realizes that not everything is lost. But her master, driven by his lust for wealth and political power, is making the slave conditions harder and harder. And planning a rebellion while fulfilling her slave duty is getting more and more challenging. Will Syanna succeed in regaining her freedom?

Genre: SciFi, Comedy, Drama, Adventure

Time: 24 minutes

The Shipment | Canada |
Screens in the Shorts 4 Session 

Unable to fix his derelict ship, a struggling interplanetary transporter and his young daughter become stranded on a wretched spaceport and faced with an unscrupulous offer to escape.

Genre: SciFi, Action – Filmmaker in Attendance

Time: 27 minutes

ETERNITY | Ukraine |
Screens in the Shorts 4 Session
Ukrainian with Eng subtitles

Once upon a time in the nearest future humanity overcome death by digitizing the human’s souls. So, we will be granted with Eternity. But what happened if Eternity faced with Love?

Genre: SciFi, Suspense

Time: 23 minutes 49 seconds

ROBOT WILL PROTECT YOU | Estonia |
Screens in the Shorts 4  Session 

A sci-fi animation about a little girl’s search for meaning in a world without emotions.

Genre: SciFi, Animation

Time: 10 minutes

Devonian Fever Trip | Norway, USA |
Screens in the Shorts 4 Session
Norwegian with Eng subtitles.

Devonian Fever Trip is an acid-western where the audience is carried on a fever trip through an overwhelming heatwave and wildfire catastrophe, in a mars-like wild west landscape.

Genre: Western, Horror, SciFi

Time: 20 minutes

Bucketheads – A Star Wars Story | Canada |
Screens in the Shorts 4 Session 

A squad of stormtroopers are transporting a POW with valuable information from Yavin 4, but getting off planet will test their mettle.

Genre: SciFi, Fan Film

Time: 13 minutes 35 seconds

The Vault | Canada |
Screens with Mirrors

The Vault is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi webseries that follows a ragtag group of survivors living in an underground military bunker known as Vault 175 or the Vault. The group is led by Evelyn Pierce, a no-nonsense General in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Buried five miles beneath the Earth, this state-of-the-art facility is humanity’s only remaining home.
Outside there is only nuclear winter, a wasteland in which it is believed nothing and no one can survive…until one day when a surveying mission discovers an unconscious pilot by the name of Nathaniel Hale.

Genre: SciFi, Thriller

Time: 10 minutes

The Not So Bright Vampire  | Australia |
Screens in “When ambition is greater than the budget Session”
Starts @ 11:20 PM 

The brief tale of a not so bright but curious Vampire and his sudden awareness to pain.

Genre: Comedy, Horror, Thriller

Time: 2 minutes 36 seconds

The Transfer | USA |
Screens in “When ambition is greater than the budget Session”

The Year is 1994. Major Beaumont and is 11 marauders have secured—at great peril—a package for Genghis the Centurion. They have traveled to the outer bands of space to rendezvous with their liaison at the Lost Pilgrim…

Genre: SciFi, Retro

Time: 8 minutes

Bounty-X Minddar “Flirt”  | USA |
Screens in “When ambition is greater than the budget Session”

Bounty-X has a new incoming bounty in the dangerous dystopian cyber city of planet drox. As he investigates deeper into the dungeons of a krillian hive he finds a zacallian damsal in distress.

Genre: SciFi

Time: 6 minutes 35 seconds

Footprints | USA |
Screens in “When ambition is greater than the budget Session”

The story of Florida’s own Everglades Bigfoot and the people who have made it their life’s mission to find it.

Genre: Documentary, Comedy, Skunk Ape

Time: 20 minutes

Aurora | USA |
Screens in “When ambition is greater than the budget Session”

The true story of the first UFO encounter in American history. Written and Directed by Thomas Negovan & Aaron Shaps. Starring Jack Campbell and Robert Boulter with Genesis Breyer P-Orridge as the voice of the creature. Orchestrations by Troy Sterling Nies featuring Armen Ra and Brian Viglione.

Genre: SciFi, Thriller, Western, Retro

Time: 29 minutes 30 seconds

Portrait of a Superhero | USA |
Screens in “When ambition is greater than the budget Session”

Patroling the streets of Clearwater, FL in bright red spandex is a man known around the world as “Superhero”. He helps the homeless, provides charity to sick and disadvantaged children, aids stranded motorists, and patrols the streets to prevent crime. Using Godzilla, Star Trek, Superheroes and Science Fiction movies as his role models he overcomes a troubled childhood to become A Real Life Superhero.

Genre: Documentary

Time: 14 minutes 56 seconds

ANDROMEDA | USA |
Screens in SciFi Shorts 5 Session

ANDROMEDA is a sci fi short film about an android who, through her friendship with a little girl, becomes alive.

Genre: SciFi, Drama, Women

Time: 15 minutes

The Drone | USA |
Screens in SciFi Shorts 5 Session

Written by BAFTA Nominee John J. McLaughlin (Black Swan, Hitchcock, Carnivale, and many more), The Drone tells a story of DJ – a small quadcopter who is simply trying to fit in.

Genre: SciFi, Comedy

Time: 14 minutes 19 seconds

Paleonaut | USA |
Screens in SciFi Shorts 5 Session

A scientist studying the first human time traveler falls in love with her subject. But if her research succeeds they will become separated by eons of history. She must find a way to connect with him across the ages or lose him forever.

Genre: SciFi

Time: 16 minutes

The Cold Dark | Finland |
Screens in SciFi Shorts 5 Session

Erica wonders off into the dark to search for medicine for her wounded father. As she rummages a cabin she stumbles upon two men who grant her cover for the night. But something outside is listening.

Genre: Thriller, Horror, CQB, Women

Time: 19 minutes

Synthia | Austria |
Screens in SciFi Shorts 5 Session
German with Eng Subtitles

Vienna, near future. Every household is supported by a personal assistant robot called Synthia, built by tech giant ENYO. The robot is equipped with a neuronal network and has access to all electronic devices. Synthia listens, and she learns.

Genre: SciFi, Thriller, Women

Time: 11 minutes 40 seconds

Now | USA |
Screens in SciFi Shorts 5 Session

A computer scientist in the near future scrutinizes his girlfriends’ memories only to discover a haunting truth that he’s desperate to cover up.

Genre: Science Fiction, Mature, Adult

Time: 15 minutes 30 seconds

Faulty Father | USA |
Screens with Trash on Mars

In the near future, a young father’s morning routine is put on the fritz when he uncovers his wife’s bizarre secret, one that forces him to question his sense of self and his role in the family.

Genre: Science Fiction, Drama

Time: 10 minutes

Nectar | Canada |
Screens with Trash on Mars

A man lives out his days in a drug-induced state, prisoner to a parasitical guard, on a disturbing desert island of his own making, when he is awoken by the deep traumas of his past that he can no longer suppress.

Genre: SciFi Fantasy

Time: 20 minutes

We Are Not Alone | South Africa |
Screens in SciFi Shorts 5 Session

Tells the story of an alien who comes to earth in human form but then suffers amnesia and forgets that she’s an alien. While trying to figure out who she is, she meets Adam, a depressed loner who finds himself irresistibly drawn to this peculiar woman.

Genre: SciFi, Comedy, Romance

Time: 14 minutes 36 Seconds