From November 3 to 8, Trieste hosts the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival, the most important Italian event devoted to all facets of the fantastical. Organized by the research and experimentation center for cinema and audiovisual La Cappella Underground, it shines a new light on grand science fiction cinema with over 60 world, international and national premieres in the presence of directors, actors and authors from around the world. The festival venues are the Politeama Rossetti, which will host the competition films and the traditional out-of-competition premieres, and the Cinema Ariston, offering a program that ranges from shorts to documentaries to restored classics, midnight films, and a lineup of more experimental works. At the Sci-Fi Dome, in Piazza della Borsa, the festival’s extra events will take place, while Sala Xenia will host gatherings related to genre literature, board games and comics.
Regarding the new edition of the festival and the science fiction genre, the artistic director of the Festival Alan Jones stated:
In the centenary of the coinage of the term ‘science fiction’, coined by pioneer Hugo Gernsback on the occasion of the launch of the Amazing Stories magazine, the fantastical genre has definitively exploded into the mainstream, winning Oscars and the most prestigious international recognitions thanks to record-breaking independent films. And the blockbuster horror phenomenon ‘Backrooms’ represents further confirmation of how a new generation of authors is charting innovative courses toward success, finding ever-new ways to reach an ever-broadening audience. But while the rest of the cinematic cosmos has progressively aligned with this vision, the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival has always known it. Always, in fact, it has promoted new talents, original works and experimental formats, transforming its emblematic venues into true beacons of intergalactic emotion and boundless wonder. Throughout its extraordinary history, the festival has played a fundamental role in valuing and redefining the perception of the science fiction genre. Also this year the festival will offer its diverse audience a selection of thrilling and still relatively little-known titles, works destined to reach a much wider audience thanks to the prestigious mark of quality represented by the Trieste Science+Fiction selection. We look forward to an even bigger, better 2026, rich in new, extraordinary revelations.
The program for the 26th edition of the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival unfolds with more than 60 film premieres, including shorts and feature-length works selected from the global panorama, and with three main competitions: The Asteroid Prize, recognition for the best film by emerging directors in the sci-fi, horror and fantasy genres, and the two competitions reserved for European productions, Méliès d’argent of the MIFF (Méliès International Festivals Federation), the European federation of fantasy film festivals. Also present is The Critics’ Prize Stars War for debut works and The Audience Prize reserved for feature-length fiction in the Neon section and awarded to the film that receives the most votes from the audience in the cinema. Confirmed also is the Event Horizon Prize, a recognition with which the National Institute of Astrophysics honors the festival’s feature film that best addresses with cinematic effectiveness engaging narrative devices, particularly relevant and innovative themes in the field of science, and the Award awarded by Rai 4, the festival’s media partner.
Turning to the feature films that the festival audience will be able to see, here are the titles:
- The Squirrel by Markus Lehmusruusu
- Species (Sanguine) by Marion Le Coroller
- Serena by Rob Alicea
- Welcome to G-Town by Nathan and Ben McQuaid
- Bunny Rabbit by James Branson
- Light Pillar by Xu Zao
- Sanctuary by Filip Kovačević
- ZsaZsa Zaturnnah by Avid Liongoren
- Another by Andy Chen
- Grind by Ed Dougherty, Brea Grant and Chelsea Stardust
- The Alice Paradox by William Brooke
- Imposters by Caleb Phillips
- Colony by Yeon Sang-ho
- Nella morsa del ghiaccio (Frostbite) by Lukas Rinker
- Terrestrial by Steve Pink
- The Renaissance of Oddity Todd by Noah Marks
- DreamQuil by Alex Prager
- Saligia by Petar Ristovski
- Yellow Cake by Tiago Melo
- Exit 8 by Genki Kawamura
- Celeste among the Stars by Kid Koala
- 5 More Minutes by Javier Ruiz Caldera
- Freaks Part II by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein
- Home Bodies by Casey Walker
- Trauma, or Monsters All by Larry Fessenden
- Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant by the collective THUNDERLIPS
- BlackFlag by Marco Bolognesi
- You Are the Film by Makoto Ueda
- Arachnid – Ragnatela letale (Crawlers) by Ángel Gómez Hernández
On Sunday, November 8, the Festival will conclude in the evening with the traditional awards ceremony, followed by the screening of Werner Herzog’s new film Bucking Fastard, starring Kate Mara, Rooney Mara, Orlando Bloom and Domhnall Gleeson. Finally, the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival pays homage to the centenary of the birth of Roger Corman, one of the most prolific and influential figures in cinema history, with a grand tribute spanning his work as a director, producer and formidable talent scout. A selection of films will be presented, chosen to reflect the multiple souls of a filmmaker who has moved with absolute freedom between science fiction, horror, Gothic cinema and counterculture.
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