Science Fiction Against the Margins explores what happens when the science fiction genre extends outside of Hollywood and into independent and international filmmaking productions that illuminate cultural difference, political injustice, and social inequality. Sci-fi films are typically dominated by Hollywood’s action-driven melodramas and state-of-the-art spectacles featuring a heteronormative star who will restore social order, whether on Earth or in space. Science Fiction Against the Margins challenges these conventions by considering how filmmakers have repurposed established tropes to privilege alternative representations of race and ethnicity, gender politics, and national identity. The 12-night film series brings together films, narrative shorts, and television programs from around the globe, complemented by conversations and Q&As with filmmakers, academics, and critics. Highlights include Alex Rivera’s Sleep Dealer (US/Mexico, 2008), Neptune Frost by Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman (2021), and the work of Palestinian video artist Larissa Sansour.

Screenings:

• October 4 – Afrofuturism: The Last Angel of History / Space is the Place
• October 5 – Moon Landings: The Science of Fictions
• October 12 – Post-Apocalyptic Love Triangles: The World, the Flesh and the Devil / The Quiet Earth
• October 18 – Time Travel: The Sticky Fingers of Time
• October 19 – Tech Decay: Neptune Frost
• October 27 – Contested Space(s): Cathode-Ray Tube Afrofuturism
• November 3 – Labor: Sleep Dealer / Advantageous
• November 9 – Is He or Isn’t He?: Man Facing Southeast / The Brother From Another Planet
• November 15 – Seeing Is Not Believing: Tribulation 99 / Save the Green Planet!
• November 22 – Dystopian Futures: Night Raiders
• December 6 – Earthly Visions: The Tree House
• December 14 – An Evening with Larissa Sansour

Science Fiction Against the Margins Higher Education Curricular Resource