Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival to Celebrate 50th Anniversary
The Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival, recognized as Boston’s oldest and America’s longest-running genre film festival, returns for its 50th anniversary year. The annual event runs from Feb. 12 to 17 at the Somerville Theatre and various venues in Davis Square.
Ten feature-length films and seven shorts will be featured during the festival. According to a report by The Somerville Times, several films selected for the annual event explore the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the need for community and connection.
Highlights of the film festival include the following:
- “It Came from the Orson Welles” delivers a 24-hour marathon of sci-fi features, contests, and more programs that kick off on Sunday, Feb. 16, at noon.
- “I’m Not a Robot” gives filmmaker Victoria Warmerdam an opportunity to question her humanity following several failed CAPTCHA tests. The film has been shortlisted for a 2025 Oscar nomination for Best Live Action Short.
- “U Are the Universe” details filmmaker Pavlo Ostrikov’s tale about a space trucker occupying a radioactive world while investigating the universal human feelings of loneliness and love.
Loyal festival attendees like Suzzanne Cromwell have been attending the event since the 1980s, attracted by the “magnetic sense of community. If you are someone who feels marginalized or feels like you don’t fit in … you will be able to make those friends, and you will feel like you belong,” she told WBUR in an interview.
Festival founder and director Garen Daly, who will retire after this year’s festival, said that the family feeling the festival creates is part of the event’s allure and charm. “Every year, out of the mists of the snow and the miserable New England weather, we get together to have a warm, lovely village.”
View the full Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival schedule online.
