Do androids dream of Village East?
Fest brings Philip K. Dick’s themes to the screen
COURTESY THE FILMMAKERS
The Mongolian Emperor becomes obsessed with the Sea of Tranquility in “Genghis Kahn Conquers the Moon.”
BY SEAN EGAN
W
hile most may only know Philip K. Dick for the plethora of big-budget spectacles based on his writings — often loosely, and inconsistent in quality (see “Blade Runner,” “Minority Report” and both versions of “Total Recall”) — he has long been a titan among science fiction fans, and for good reason. “I was absolutely taken aback,” Daniel Abella recalls of his first time reading Dick’s work. “Something about Philip K. Dick almost hit me as sort of a gnostic sci-fi writer, someone trying to answer the funEastVillagerNews.com
damental questions that, basically, many western philosophers have tried to deal with for all these thousands of years.” After Abella’s fandom inspired the organization of a small screening in 2011 that was very warmly received, and after he realized Hollywood adaptations never quite captured the heart and themes of the author’s work, he recalls thinking, “Well this is an opportunity to show the other side of Philip K. Dick.” The result was the Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival, of which Abella serves as Festival Director. Now in its fourth year, the four-day fest boasts 80 films from all over the world. While the con-
tent and format of these features, shorts and documentaries vary wildly, there’s an underlying ideology to the selections. “We like films that are not just splashy and visually attractive,” says Abella, “but with a story — particularly, stories that really challenge and ask who we are as humans, where we’re going. It’s not just about action films, and Tom Cruise jumping from rooftop to rooftop. It’s about something more interior, more internal, a little bit less dramatic, but nevertheless very important. This is what really gives us a sense of purpose.” This much is clear in a number of short films on the schedule. “The Fu-
ture Perfect,” a time-travel narrative, is able to prod at questions about love and the value of human life by using little more than one on-screen actor, a sparse, futuristic set, and the disembodied voice of Zachary Quinto (putting his Spock monotone to good use). The central figure in “Requiem for a Robot” is a robot constructed primarily from cardboard boxes, but manages to consider artificial intelligence and interpersonal relationships seriously. Meanwhile, even those that have more of an emphasis on visual effects use them as an aid to exploring headier ideas, as is the case in FEST continued on p.16 January 7, 2016
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