Winners of the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival 23rd edition

The 23rd edition of the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival, Italy’s leading event dedicated to science fiction, ended with an awards ceremony at the Politeama Rossetti on Wednesday, November 1. The 2023 edition was attended by more than 10,000 spectators confirming the success of the Italian festival that each year brings the best of world science fiction to the big screen.

“”I am thrilled and delighted to report that this anniversary of the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival has been a record-breaker in terms of the number of movies shown, ever-growing audience attendance and increasing ticket sales” – said the artistic director Alan Jones – What an absolutely fantastic way to end our celebration knowing we provided a wide-ranging selection of entertainment to appeal to everyone and the major events that have taken place all over the city have provided unanimous enjoyment. The prize-winning movies couldn’t be a better reflection of the health of the contemporary science fiction genre. And for those who thought our opening ceremony was truly spectacular, I have just one thing to say… Wait until you see what we have planned for 2024 when the shining star that is the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival will EXPLORE THE MEGAFUTURE”. –

WINNERS OF THE TRIESTE SCIENCE+FICTION FESTIVAL 23RD EDITION

Asteroid Award
The international competition for the best science fiction, horror and fantasy film is reserved for the first, second or third works by emerging directors. The prize is awarded by an international jury composed by Dottor Pira, Mark Kermode and Sara Lopo.

TS+FF 2023 Asteroide Award winner
“MARS EXPRESS” by Jérémie Périn (France, 2023)

Statement
A film with striking visuals and stylish animation, whose tone doesn’t limit the narrative to one genre and tackles timely subjects such as the evolution of mankind and the use of artificial intelligence without passing judgment.

Premio Méliès d’argent – Feature Films
The competition is organized in collaboration with the Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF) and is reserved for European fantastic feature films. The prize is awarded by an international jury composed by Hedda Archbold, Paul Sophocli and Linda Ruth Williams

Méliès d’argent Award – Short Films
“THE LAST SPARK OF HOPE” by Piotr Biedroń (Poland, 2023)

Statement
The jury unanimously agreed on the winning film. It kept us on the edge of our seats throughout. We loved the warmth and humanity of the relationship between the central characters. It gave us pause for thought on the challenging issues that face us: the climate and ecological crises, the spectre of a global pandemic, the refugee crisis, the inhumanity of Kafkaesque bureaucracy, and the complex ways in which artificial intelligence affect us. Despite all of this, the film is moving and very funny. It finds the comedic even in the despair – and it is essentially a film about hope.

Méliès d’argent Award – Short Films
The competition is organized in collaboration with the Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF) and the award goes to the best European short film. The winner of the competition is chosen by the theatre audience votes and also wins the nomination to the Méliès d’or annual competition.

TS+FF2023 Méliès d’argent Award winner – Short Films
“WHAT-IF-I” by Lavinia Tommasoli, Pietro Traversa (Italia, 2023)

Premio Wonderland – Rai4
The award is given by the Rai 4 channel of Italian television, media partner of the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival, to one of the movies of the Neon section.

TS+FF2023 Rai 4 Award winner
“MARS EXPRESS” by Jérémie Périn (France, 2023)

Statement

For the astonishing tale of an imaginative but very possible future, with a masterful Chandler-like plot packed with action scenes and small details giving the sense of an oblique gaze overcoming the mainstream vision. For the accomplishment to provide entertainment and author artistry, philosophical insight and action at the same time, wrapped in a parcel of elegant visuals, the 2023 Wonderland – Rai4 Award goes to… Mars Express

Italian Critic Award SNCCI – Sindacato Nazionale Critici Cinematografici Italiani
The competition is reserved for debut films. The award is given by a jury composed of three critics from the Italian National Union of Film Critics: Enrico Azzano, Marco Romagna, and Silvana Silvestri.

TS+FF2023 SNCCI winner
“MARS EXPRESS” by Jérémie Périn (France, 2023)

Statement
For the very high production quality, for the ability to entertain by weaving different genres between science fiction and noir, but most of all for the ability to know how to lower us into a future populated by artificial intelligences, preferring to definitive answers a series of dilemmas already at the heart of our society.

Premio Event Horizon – INAF
The National Institute of Astrophysics assigns the prize to a feature films for its cinematic power and engaging narrative expedients in displaying notably relevant and innovative issues in the field of science.

Event Horizon – INAF TS+FF2023
“RESTORE POINT” by Robert Hloz (Repubblica Ceca, Slovacchia, Polonia, Serbia, 2023)

Statement
Event Horizon INAF award for scientific achievements
The National Institute of Astrophysics awards the prize to one of the feature films (excluding special events) of the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival that has dealt with filmic effectiveness and engaging narrative expedients, particularly relevant and innovative issues in the field of science.

Premio CineLab Spazio Corto
The award is reserved to the best Italian short film presented in the Spazio Corto programme. The prize is awarded by a jury composed of students of DAMS (Arts, Music and Entertainment Disciplines), an intra-university degree by the University of Udine and the University of Trieste.

Vincitore Premio CineLab Spazio Corto TS+FF2023
“STARR” di Riccardo Grippo (Italia, 2023)

Motivazione
A short film that presents itself on screen as a tragicomic denunciation of the spectacularization of the individual and the consequent loss of self, to meet the demands of a dehumanizing audience that demands increasingly extreme entertainment. Grotesque, splatter violence goes hand in hand with slapstick comedy, in a mix of blood and laughter, blades and smiles.

Audience Award
This competition is reserved to fiction feature films in Neon and Spazio Italia programmes. The prize is awarded to the film which receives the most votes from the audience.