Trieste Science+Fiction Festival Blasts Off for its 25th Anniversary

The Trieste Science+Fiction Festival returns this month with a galaxy of premieres and guests to celebrate its 25th anniversary, transforming Italy’s coastal city into a European capital of imagination from 28 October to 2 November. Organised by La Cappella Underground, this milestone edition promises a vibrant fusion of cinema, technology, literature and art, with more than 50 international films premiering across six days of screenings and events.

Festival Director Alan Jones, who has helmed the event since 2019, described this year’s edition as a celebration of creativity and curiosity. He emphasised the festival’s mission to “innovate, challenge, thrill, amaze and entertain” while spotlighting the ways science fiction continues to reflect the anxieties and hopes of the modern world.

The line-up includes a mix of world, international and Italian premieres, spanning genres from speculative drama to horror, animation and dystopian adventure. The festival opens with L’Homme qui rétrécit (The Shrinking Man) from Jan Kounen, a modern adaptation of Richard Matheson’s classic novel, starring Jean Dujardin as a man struggling to survive as he shrinks into microscopic insignificance. The director will attend the Italian premiere at the Politeama Rossetti on 28 October.

That same night, Emilie Blichfeldt’s The Ugly Stepsister, a dark reimagining of Cinderella through the lens of body horror, follows as part of a late-night double bill in partnership with I Wonder Pictures. Other major highlights include Ben Wheatley’s Bulk (UK), a high-octane sci-fi horror loaded with car chases and chaos; Egghead Republic from Swedish duo Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja, envisioning a world frozen in Cold War paranoia; and Jaco Bouwer’s Orion, an intense psychological thriller about space, memory and conspiracy.

On 1 November, Ugo Bienvenu’s Arco brings a more poetic touch, telling the story of a young girl helping a mysterious “rainbow boy” return home. The festival closes on 2 November with Chien 51 from Cédric Jimenez, a dystopian crime drama set in a divided future Paris, where a detective investigates the murder of an artificial intelligence pioneer.

The 25th edition also features an impressive documentary programme. Among the highlights is John Lilly and the Earth Coincidence Control Office, directed by Michael Almereyda, which delves into the extraordinary experiments of the scientist who communicated with dolphins and explored consciousness through psychedelics. Raoul Peck’s Orwell 2+2=5, produced by Oscar-winner Alex Gibney, delivers a timely meditation on surveillance and authoritarianism in the digital age.

This year’s guests of honour include celebrated Italian filmmaker Gabriele Mainetti (Freaks Out, They Call Me Jeeg Robot), who presides over the Asteroide Award jury, and acclaimed writer Ted Chiang, whose novella Story of Your Life inspired Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival. Chiang will take part in special screenings and discussions exploring artificial intelligence and the philosophical boundaries of science fiction.

Classic screenings will also celebrate the festival’s legacy, with restorations of The Fly (1986), Things to Come (1936), and Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 (2009), alongside a rare presentation of Captured Souls: In Conversation with Graham Humphreys, directed by Chris Collier.

Over its 25-year history, the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival has grown from a small genre showcase into one of Europe’s foremost celebrations of speculative storytelling. With its mix of premieres, retrospectives and multidisciplinary programming, this anniversary edition promises to honour that legacy while pointing firmly toward the future of the fantastic.

The Trieste Science+Fiction Festival runs from 28 October to 2 November at the Politeama Rossetti and other venues across the city. Full programme details are available at sciencefictionfestival.org