After last years successful first offering, the Other Worlds Austin scifi film festival returns thisThursday, December 3 at the Galaxy Highland Theater. The three day event has grown to include 13 full length films, a secret Star Wars-related screening, and a variety of shorts. Not terribly surprising to anyone who regularly follows my writings, I’m covering the festival.

Over the next three days, I will preview the 13 features.

Boy 7

Özgür Yildirim | Germany | 110 min

Writers: Philip Delmaar, Marco van Geffen, Özgür Yildirim based on the novel by Mirjam Mous
Cast: David Kross, Emilia Schüle, Ben Münchow, Jens Harzer, Jörg Hartmann, Liv Lisa Fries

Sam wakes up in the middle of the tracks of a subway tunnel. He can’t remember his name or how he got there. When he sees himself on a wanted picture, he realizes that his life is in extreme danger and his pursuers are hot on his heels. Unexpectedly, he finds a diary written in his own handwriting, and it seems to be the key to everything. When a young woman appears, who has the same burn as him on her left hand, a dangerous journey into thepast begins. BOY 7 is a SciFi RUN LOLA RUN, an adrenaline dash through a dystopian society where juvenile delinquents are recruited by the government for their particular ‘skills.’ An adaptation of a best-selling young adult novel that made its World Premiere at Fantasia in Montreal.

(Thursday, 7:42/8:00)

Curtain

Jaron Henrie-McCrea | USA | 73 min

Writers: Carys Edwards, Jaron Henrie-McCrea
Cast: Danni Smith, Tim Lueke, Martin Monahan, Gregory Konow, Lacy Marie Meyer, Rick Zahn

Danni leaves nursing for a simpler life. But when her shower curtain keeps disappearing through a mysterious portal in her bathroom, she cannot let the investigation go. Enlisting the help of her Save-the-Whales co-worker, she dives into the unknown in an unsettling horror comedy that will flush the SciFi fan out with equal parts laughter and screams.

(Thursday, 10:15)

Reconnoiter

Neil Rowe | USA | 80 min

Writer: Neil Rowe
Cast: Ian Rowe

Scientists have perfected a way to send a vessel across the galaxy quickly, teleporting a spaceship essentially to the nearest habitable planet. When the mission goes awry and the pilot crashes on the planet, he finds a world mysteriously devoid of life… but filled with dangerous robots ready to eliminate the alien interloper. Can he survive long enough to get a message back home?

(Friday, 5:30)

No Men Beyond This Point

Mark Sawers | Canada | 80 min

Writer: Mark Sawers
Cast: Patrick Gilmore, Kristine Cofsky, Tara Pratt, Cameron McDonald, Rekha Sharma, Morgan Taylor Campbell

An alternate history deadpan mockumentary following 37-year-old Andrew Myers, the youngest man still alive. With women able to reproduce without men since 1953, they’ve stopped giving birth to male babies entirely. Working as a housekeeper for a family of women, Andrew finds himself at the center of a battle to prevent men from going extinct. Men have gathered onto reservations, and the idea of a romantic relationship with one would be laughable. is brilliant, politically-charged lm that just made its North American premiere at TIFF asks: what would the world be like if women were in charge?

(Friday 7:45/8:15 with Mark Sawers Q&A after both screenings)