The theme of the 7th edition was Cyber Revolution. The golden era of cyberpunk may be over, but its influence remains - can you imagine sci-fi without implants, hackers, artificial intelligence and megacorporations?
But today's world is becoming uncomfortably similar to cyberpunk. Punk may be on the wane, but cybernetic dystopia seems to be in sight. Neural networks that know more about us than we know ourselves, fake news, cameras that recognise your face, warring drones, multinational corporations ruthlessly plundering the planet and society, all seem like dark clouds on the horizon. But what seems like an imminent threat to us, some people are already living it. The digital dystopia that certain totalitarian countries are massively exporting is one of the greatest threats of our time. Let us therefore keep our fingers crossed for the protesters in Hong Kong. They are the ones who form the barrier between us and cyber-totalitarianism. Fortunately, there is a vaccine against authoritarianism, and that is education. That's why we are presenting school screenings at the seventh edition of Future Gate. The festival thus becomes a tool for media education, drawing attention to pressing issues of our time such as cyberbullying and other problems in the online world. We would also like to thank our main partners, because without them the festival would not be possible: JRC, ESA BIC Prague, Microsoft, Sebastian Professional, Atomic Drink, Wacom, Živé firmy, Zážitky. cz, MindMaze Prague, Figures.cz, Fun Arena, Stardust Production and last but not least Prusa Research. A big thank you also goes to the institutions and cities that financially supported the festival: the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, Prague, Brno and Plzeň. Zdeněk Hřib of Prague and Markéta Vaňková, Mayor of the Statutory City of Brno.
Festival competition
The 7th edition marked the beginning of the competition of feature-length sci-fi films at the Future Gate festival. 6 genre-diverse films competed for the Best Film Award: The Colour from Space, H0us3, Little Joe, Last Dawn, Synchronic and Vivarium. The Best Film winner was chosen by a three-member international jury. The awards were thematically produced by 3D printing company Prusa Research. Main festival competition: Best Film: The Last Sunsire (dir. Wen Ren) Audience Award: H0us3 (dir. Manolo Munguia)
Chips Hardy
Paradox, dysfunction and the quest for redemption are ever-present themes for screenwriter, playwright and novelist Chips Hardy. The culmination of which was hit BBC1 and FX drama series "Taboo", which he created, wrote and produced with his son Tom Hardy. Taboo won him, among other awards, the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for Best Serial Drama. He is currently working on a film adaptation of Capek's dystopian masterpiece "War with the Newts". The lecture will be in English.
Andrea Slováková
She received her PhD in Film Studies at the Faculty of Arts and Media Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University, studied documentary filmmaking at FAMU and strategic management at Cambridge Business School. She teaches theory and history of documentary and experimental film at Czech universities. She has served on the board of the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival and still works as a dramaturge. From May 2020, she will be the Dean of FAMU.
Benjamin Slavík
Graduate of Film Studies at the Charles University. Now he is studying aesthetics at the same faculty. His research focuses on the overlaps and relations between contemporary philosophy, literature, visual arts and film. He specializes mainly in the French language area. He has previously published texts on film in the journal Živel. He currently contributes to Film and Time, A2, and Deník N.
Foreing guests
Manolo Munguia
After graduating in Telecommunications Engineering in Santander (Spain) and Film Directing in Barcelona (Spain), Manolo worked as Head of Photography on short films such as "Colmillos de Felpa" or "Envidia" and directed two short films that were screened at the international film festivals "GOW" and "ROTA". "H0US3" is his feature directorial debut.
Miguel Llansó
Miguel Llansó, a big fan of experimental punk music and films, studied philosophy and film before embarking on his many adventures with the likes of Jean Rouch and Werner Herzog. For him, filmmaking is friendship, risk, provocation, subversion and freedom. Jesus Will Show You the Way...to the Highway (2019) - a sci-fi political satire shot between Ethiopia, Estonia, Latvia and Spain - is Miguel's second feature film, which premiered at Fantasia and the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival.
Valeri Milev and Timur Turisbekov
The film Bullets of Justice will be represented by the director Valeri Milev and the producer and lead actor Timur Turisbekov. This likeable duo is behind the creation of this post-apocalyptic film, which has been loved by audiences at genre festivals around the world. Bullets of Justice will become a cult classic!
Jozef van Wissem
The sound of the lute is inherently linked to ancient times, but in his work, the American-born Dutchman Jozef van Wissem opens up new horizons for this traditional instrument. Jozef van Wissem made his mark on the minds of listeners thanks to the soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch's film Only Lovers Survive. He will present his new album Ex Mortis at concerts in Prague and Brno.
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