Organiser Masoud Varjavandi credited Star Trek with saving his life as a young refugee fleeing Iran. Photo: SFC Festival.
After a hiatus in 2024, the Space Faring Civilisations Film Festival is returning to Canberra for National Science Week in August.
Now in its fourth year, the festival aims to fill a hole in what organiser Masoud Varjavandi believes is overlooked in the genre, positive science fiction space films.
Science fiction has a special significance for Mr Varjavandi, who used the genre as a form of escapism after his family fled persecution in Iran in the 1980s.
“I didn’t have the language for it then, but I was afraid and confused. What helped me survive emotionally were the shows I escaped into, Star Trek, Doctor Who, later Carl Sagan’s Cosmos,” he said.
Mr Varjavandi started the short film festival in 2021. It’s not for Alien-style horror movies, rather the films aim to reflect the optimism and possibility of the future, through stories of growth and redemption.
After fleeing Iran, Mr Varjavandi and his family moved to Sri Lanka for three years, also a country in the middle of its own civil war.
As a child he remembers seeing burned buses and bodies in the street. He said for him, science fiction wasn’t just an escape, it was the possibilities of a better world.
“These weren’t just entertainment. They were windows into a different world – one where people of all backgrounds worked together with wisdom, compassion, and science,” he said.
His family migrated to Australia in 1983 and he went on to study IT.
The festival accepts films that are a maximum of 15 minutes in length and can be either fiction or documentary.
To enter, filmmakers have to demonstrate that their films meet the themes of space exploration, building a better future and science.
Prize money is on offer for the best documentary, futuristic Sci-Fi film, thematic usage and best positive space film.
There is also a People’s Choice Award and an SFC Film Award for a film that demonstrates exceptional power to inspire real-world change.
Mr Varjavandi believes that inspiring movies can spark real change in the world.
“This isn’t escapism. It’s a reminder, through science and storytelling, that peace, progress and unity are achievable.
“But first, we have to be able to imagine them,” he said.
The SFC film festival will be held at Dendy Cinema Canberra, on Saturday 9 August. Tickets are available via humanitix.
