2122. Ellen Ripley and her fellow travellers are covering light years on board the spaceship Nostromo. Destination: Earth. They pick up a distress call coming from planet LV-426, the spaceship changes course and…The rest is history. Film history.
In the year of Alien’s 40th anniversary, the Futurologia meetings take off from Ridley Scott’s iconic movie to explore the origin of a masterpiece defining the science-horror genre. But they will also give fans the chance to get to know the science of hyper-sleep.
Captain Dallas and the rest of the crew are hibernated in order to be able to survive the long space journey.
But can hibernation be the solution for future interplanetary exploration? The European Space Agency and Nasa are working on it because they see its future possibilities. Meanwhile, we will hear how Saturnino, an alien coming from planet Earth, hibernates in order to travel to Drakon and save himself from the end of the world. Saturnino is a space migrant. Will we all become migrants to run from Earth on fire?
Once again the TS+FF morning talks will explore the borders between science and science fiction and the short circuit between fiction and reality. So, among docs & talks, we will inquire about the future of our species by intercepting signs from the present.
We will talk about forced migrations as a consequence of climate change, of the excessive amount of plastic suffocating our planet, but also of the energy transition necessary to mitigate global warming and its catastrophic consequences after the carbon, oil and gas bender we all embarked in, because even though no social and technological progress would have been possible without these resources, today we can safely state that they are no longer sustainable.
We will also examine the development of artificial intelligence and its effects on our lives: a recurring theme in many of the films of the 2019 edition of the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival. What would, for example, be the impact of robots able to tell jokes, talk about music, films and books, cook, clean the house, look after children and elderly people, and have sex, too? No longer science fiction, but already a reality, because sex robots are already amongst us and stirring debate.
Free entry to all the events and in Italian.
THE PROGRAM (Ridottino Miela)
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 30TH
10.00 – Alien: the origins
Two critics and a director engage in a conversation around a cult film which, 40 years after its release, still shapes the collective imaginary of the audience and which has marked a turning point within science fiction cinema.
with
Boris Battaglia, author of Alien. Nascita di un nuovo immaginario
Stefano Cocci, author of Alien. Misteri, inquietudini e segreti del film cult di Ridely Scott
Alexandre O. Philippe, director of Memory: The Origins of Aliens
moderator
Lorenzo Del Porto, Nocturno Cinema
Film:
Alien 29/10, ore 17:00 – Il Rossetti
Memory: The Origins of Alien 30/10, ore 17:00 – Il Rossetti
11.00 – The misfortunes of the tram of Opcina
Trieste, 2052. The city is under the dominion of the Friulians. But there’s hope: an ancient prophecy, five teenagers, a tramway, and an adventurous trip which will take them down to Trieste’s circles of hell.
with
Diego Manna, writer
moderator
Ivan Lo Vullo, biketraveller
12.00 – The first border, looking beyond the weird
21 short stories written by authors of the fantastic genre (with two guest stars the likes of Bruce Sterling and Danilo Arona) intensely exploring what can happen in worlds far beyond the human, past the border of weird.
with
Sandro Battisti, curator
Roberto Furlani, author
Ksenja Laginja, illustrator and author
Alex Tonelli, author
THURSDAY OCTOBER 31ST
10.00 – From inflatable dolls to sex robots: AI and sex industry
Waiters, caregivers, but not only. Sex robots are already among us and at the centre of discussion. At the centre of the stage there is technology, but ethics as well. Are these the new sex slaves? Do they symbolise a further drift of the dehumanisation of human relations?
with
Paolo Gallina, Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Trieste
Stefania Operto, School of Robotics, Genua
moderator
Simona Regina, scientific journalist
11.00 – Sci-Fi daydream or clinical miracle? The emerging world of brain-computer interfaces
From solving disease to inciting a cognitive revolution, the emerging field of brain-computer interfaces offers hope to those in need of clinical solutions but could challenge the very essence of what it means to be human. The panel will discuss the complexities, real world possibilities and imminent implications of the brain-computer interfaces.
with
Tracy Laabs, Deputy Director of Wyss Center for Bioengineering and Neuroengineering
moderator
Fabio Pagan, scientific journalist
12.00 – The literary ordnance: when the writer is an artificial intelligence
The latest discoveries in the field of the Natural Language Processing have produced artificial intelligence machines that have become co-authors of narrative works, essays and theatre scripts. Three scientists and a humanist discuss the exploitation of AI in literature.
with
Felice Dell’Orletta e Giulia Venturi, ItaliaNLP Lab at ILC-CNR Pisa
Gabriele Sarti, University of Trieste
moderator
Cristina Fenu, Public Library Attilio Hortis of Trieste
curated by LETS – Trieste Città della Letteratura Candidata 2019 Città Creativa UNESCO
Film:
Hi, AI 30/10, ore 17.30 – Teatro Miela
Blood Machines 30/10, ore 20.00 – Teatro Miela
Terminator: Dark Fate 30/10, ore 22.00 – Il Rossetti
I Am Human 31/10, ore 17.30 – Teatro Miela
I Am REN 01/11, ore 17.00 – Il Rossetti
Moon 01/11, ore 22.00 – Teatro Miela
L’umanoide 02/11, ore 20.00 – Teatro Miela
The Matrix 03/11, ore 11.00 – Il Rossetti
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 1ST
10.00 – The space cabinet of curiosities
Transformation and evolution, in the course of history, of man’s relation with the Cosmos and with the Moon. Common thread of the meeting: amazement.
with
Luca Cableri, director of the art gallery Theatrum Mundi and curator of the catalogue
Ivan Cenzi, esplorator of what is disturbing and collector of curiosities
moderator
Luca Luisa, Trieste Science+Fiction Festival
11.00 – FANTAROCK + SOS (Soniche Oblique Strategie)
A space journey in the history of rock music, following the route along the contact points with the fantastic imaginary, from Asimov and Bradbury, Dick and Ballard, to cyberpunk and post modern contaminations
with
Mario Gazzola, writer, journalist, and blogger
Alessandro Mezzena Lona, journalist
12.00 – Re-elaborating the matrix: quotes, declinations and reversals in the independent video game industry
Is it possible to re-programme reality in order to achieve the new from the old? Let’s find out following two utterly different routes, totally emblematic of the present turmoil within the microcosm of the video ludic universe.
with
Michele “Hiki” Falcone, Plague Labs
Nicola Piovesan, Encodya
moderator
Andrea Dresseno, IVIPRO
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 2ND
10.00 – To dinner with… micro plastics
Where do those tiny fragments of plastic which pollute oceans and seas all over the world come from? What impact do they have on the marine environment and on our health? What can we do to avoid the micro plastics from finishing into our plates?
with
Francesco Cumani, ARPA FVG, Qualità delle Acque Marine e di Transizione
moderator
Simona Regina, scientific journalist
Film:
Breakpoint 01/11, ore 17.30 – Teatro Miela
10.45 – Eulogy of oil: energy and inequality from mammoths to electric cars
It has shocked the world and our life style. Today, it appears clear that the environmental risk caused by oil strongly advises us to be done with it before it is done with us. However, the energetic transaction is no free meal. Let’s find out why.
with
Massimo Nicolazzi, Economy of energy resources, University of Turin, author of “Elogio del petrolio”
moderator
Paolo Fedrigo, ARPA FVG
Film:
Steampunk Connection 30/10 ore 15.30 – Teatro Miela
Last Sunrise 01/11, ore 15.00 – Il Rossetti
Breakpoint 01/11, ore 17.30 – Teatro Miela
Moon 01/11, ore 22.00 – Teatro Miela
Matrix 03/11, ore 11.00 – Il Rossetti
The Prince’s Voyage 03/11, ore 15.00 – Il Rossetti
11.30 – FantaLippi. From Earth to the stars
A choral affectionate remembrance of Giuseppe Lippi, almost a year after his sudden departure. Editor of “Urania” for almost three decades, essayist, translator. But most of all, an unforgettable friend of our Festival.
with
Lorenzo Codelli, La cineteca del Friuli
Fabio Pagan, scientific journalist
Luigi Cozzi, Profondo Rosso Store
Francesco Frigione, writer
Gianfranco de Turris, journalist and essayist
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 3RD
10.00 – Space Immigrants: will climate changes force us to reach other universes?
A scientist and a versatile author (together with Simone Cristicchi he is the author of the song «Abbi cura di me») will engage in a discussion over an extremely hot issue: climate is changing and, together with wars and poverty, it forces men to leave their own “world”, which has become inhabitable.
with
Nicola Brunialti, writer, author of “Saturnino”
Erika Coppola, ICTP
moderator
Simona Regina, scientific journalist
Film:
Iron Sky: The Coming Race 31/10, ore 20.00 – Il Rossetti
Star Trek 01/11, ore 11.00 – Il Rossetti
Aniara 02/11, ore 22.00 – Il Rossetti
11.00 – Hibernated in space: how hyper sleep can become a resource to cover sidereal distances
Towards Mars and beyond. Not merely science fiction. An excursus of the most recent scientific discoveries involving hibernation, which open the way to extraordinary possibilities for the exploration of the solar system.
with
Matteo Cerri, Department of biomedical and neuromotor science, University of Bologna, author of “La cura del freddo”
moderator
Simona Regina, scientific journalist
Film:
Alien 29/10, ore 17.00 – Il Rossetti
12.00 – Parallel universes and imagined borders
The directors of Spazio Corto discuss their perception of the boundaries of reality.
with
the directors of Spazio Corto
moderator
Luca Luisa, Trieste Science+Fiction Festival
