Hooligans on Space Mission: High Life to IFFK

Science-Fiction / Fantasy films have always been festival favourites at the IFFK. The 23rd edition brings with it, a handful of flicks that have engaged and entertained cinephiles and critics worldwide.

Locarno International Film Festival Golden Leopard winning French film director and writer Claire Denis’s 2018 science fiction horror ‘High Life’, had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film is a tale of a group of criminals, who promised to be freed, who go in a mission to space towards a black hole in search of alternate energy sources. It questions what really resides beneath thousands of years of human progress, and canvasses the nuances of human life at the brink of an apocalypse.

Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard award winner ‘Border’ is a Swedish fantasy based on Ajvide Lindqvist’s short story of the same name. Directed by Ali Abbasi, the film portrays a character with an extra-ordinary ability – she can sniff out guilt and shame. It was selected as the Swedish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Oscar Awards.

French director Quarxx’s ‘All The Gods In The Sky’, is the feature length version of his short ‘A Nearly Perfect Blue Sky’ which was selected at Sundance in 2017 and garnered awards all over the world. It is the tale of a woman who is severely disabled thanks to childhood game-turned-disaster, and her brother who takes care of her. Brotherly love, paranoia, unsettling burden of responsibility – the dark sci-fi drama, touches down on a wide range of themes.

‘High Life’ will be screened on 7th December at 03:00 PM at the Dhanya theatre, while ‘Border’ on 7th December at 02:15 PM at the Tagore theatre. ‘All The Gods In The Sky’ will have its Indian premiere at the fete on 8th December at 12:15 PM at the New Theatre Screen 3.