Returning for an eight exciting year, Other Worlds, one of the premier SciFi Film Festivals in the US, features some of the best and unheralded genre films. Beginning on Thursday December 2 at Austin’s Galaxy Highland 10, the four day event includes over 25 feature films, a slew of shorts, a screenwriting workshop, and the Mary Shelley Award. This year also features an additional five days of virtual events.

After skipping last years virtual only event, I gladly return to the festival for another go around.

Art by Lauren Kitching

Here’s what to expect at Other Worlds 2021

Saturday, December 4

10AM

Saturday Morning – Workshop
Storytelling In The Time Of Vr And Ar With Randal Kleiser

We’ve already left the age of just watching movies and have entered the age of being inside the movie. Unlikely as it sounds, Randal Kleiser, the director of Grease and Flight of the Navigator, has been at the forefront of this new technology for years, creating one of the first multi-episode VR series Defrost, adapting Grease’s “You’re the One that I Want” into a singing and dancing AR experience, and receiving a Lumiere Award for distinguished creative and technical achievements.

Join us for our annual screenwriting workshop to hear about crafting stories in new formats.

Esluna: The Crown of Babylon

Stars: Grace Chan, Shawn O’Hara, Ariel Hack

After her mentor is abducted by a renegade monk, a relic hunter and her crew must find the Crown of Babylon, an ancient artifact rumored to have the power to bring back the dead.

11AM

A Hard Problem

Stars: Catherine Haena Kim, Johnny Berchtold, Jennifer Hasty

After the death of his mother, Ian packs up the house where he cared for her in her waning years. His strained relationship with his sister leads Ian to discover the complicated circumstances behind the life he didn’t realize he was living.

Tune into the Future

Stars: Michio Kaku, Joe Haldeman, Madeline Ashby

One hundred years before the internet, a self-declared tech guru preached the future to a flock of outsiders, predicting Skype, jetpacks, space mining and drones. Despite his 80 patents and friendship with Edison and Tesla, Hugo Gernsback is barely even remembered for his most important invention, Science Fiction.

1:30PM

Other Worlds Shorts I

Includes:

• Anomaly

Michael Jeanpert | France | 26 min

Adam is deeply in love and will do anything for Liv, even as he discovers how one-sided their relationship may truly be.

• Faces

Iván Sáinz-Pardo | Spain | 9 min

Hugo and Lua really like each other. But they’re about to be saddled with an unforgettable lesson on intimacy, trust, and the true value of physical beauty.

• Know-it-all

R.D. Womack II | US | 15 min

Sophie has refused to date ever since the world suddenly became telepathic five years ago. An online suitor may just change her tune…as long as she confronts her own thoughts instead of worrying about his.

• Red String of Fate

Lovina Yavari, Lance Fernandes | Canada | 10 min

A determined robotics engineer, along with trusty robo-sidekick Hachi, works to reanimate her fallen android lover against the backdrop of a gritty cyberpunk metropolis.

• Swiped

Edward J Douglas | Canada | 4 min

It’s a tale as old as dating apps: woman matches on dating app, man meets her at bar, man is…not what she expected.

• Yelpy – Gravity

Jonathan Martin | US | 4 min

A traveler is lost in space but ultimately redeemed for a second chance in this sweeping SciFi love story music video.

Minor Premise

Writers: Justin Moretto, Eric Schultz, Thomas Torrey

Stars: Sathya Sridharan, Paton Ashbrook, Dana Ashbrook

Attempting to surpass his father’s legacy, a reclusive neuroscientist runs a risky experiment on himself. Only able to remember a fraction of each hour, Ethan locks himself in his home with his ex-girlfriend asking her to dive headfirst into the uncharted equations of his brain.

4PM

Looker

FOUNDER’S CHOICE

Stars: Albert Finney, James Coburn, Susan Dey

Three television commercial actresses, each who had millimeter-specific cosmetic surgery done with Dr. Larry Roberts, end up dead, with Larry under suspicion for their murder. What Larry does not divulge is that the third victim came back to him asking him to undo what he did, as “they” were out to get her for being too perfect. Protecting a fourth patient, he uncovers a conspiracy of technology to measure the perception of perfection of human subjects in commercials, and the 3D computer modeling of actresses.

Hell is Empty

Writers: Jo Shaffer, Adam DeSantes

Stars: Meredith Antoian, Aya, Nia Farrell

A self-styled messiah initiates a teenage runaway into his cult of sister-wives. Her rebellious nature upends the community, triggering a bloody uprising against the patriarch.

Red Snow

Stars: Dennice Cisneros, Nico Bellamy, Laura Kennon

A struggling romance novelist who has read the Twilight series a few too many times discovers a vampire hiding in her Lake Tahoe garage. As he heals, he agrees to help her with her own vamp-lit novel, at least until his vampire friends show up and ruin their meet-cute.

6:30PM

Sight Extended
OTHER WORLDS CENTERPIECE FILM

Stars: Andrew Riddell, Nova Gaver, Phillip Andre Botello

In a future dominated by augmented-reality eyepieces, an agoraphobic young man experiences an unlikely transformation when he comes across a mysterious app that gamifies every facet of his life.

When I Consume You

Stars: Libby Ewing, Evan Dumouchel, MacLeod Andrews

A woman and her brother seek revenge against a mysterious stalker. A gritty, slow-burn urban folktale about family, damnation, and redemption.

9PM

Dark Cloud
UNDER WORLDS CENTERPIECE FILM

Writer: J.J. Kaiser

Stars: Emily Atack, Hugo Armstrong, Justen Jones

In the aftermath of a horrific accident, Chloe volunteers to try a new rehabilitation process using artificial intelligence. The smart-house-system, known as AIDA, will do anything to keep Chloe safe.

Lingering Visions Shorts

Encore presentation. Originally screened on Friday, December 5 4:30PM

11:30PM

Ultrasound

Writer: Conor Stechschulte

Stars: Vincent Kartheiser, Chelsea Lopez. Breeda Wool

After a strange sexual encounter, Glen and Cyndi become unwitting test subjects in a mind control experiment. They search for answers as their own memories become tools for manipulation. Based on the graphic novel ‘Generous Bosom’ by Conor Stechschulte.

(also screens on Sunday, December 5 7:30PM)

Wicked Games

Stars: Jody Matzer, Michael Shenefelt, Markus Silbiger

When Harley joins her new boyfriend for a long Halloween weekend at his country estate, they’re invaded by a band of masked freaks. Forced to take part in some sort of human hunting game, Harley surprises everyone when her history proves to have prepared her with enough tricks to even her odds.

(also screens on Sunday, December 5 5PM)

Keeping Company

Encore presentation. Originally screened on Friday, December 5 4:30PM