Screenings and Panels Held in Honor of the Prolific Sci-Fi Writer
‘Past Lives’ starring Jeremy Piven To Close Two-Day Event
The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival returns for its 13th season from March 13-14, 2026, featuring a comprehensive lineup of screenings, post-film discussions, and screenwriting competitions. The festival honors the legacy of the prolific sci-fi writer by showcasing independent storytelling that explores the intersection of technology and reality. Passes and access to competitions are available at https://www.thephilipkdickfilmfestival.com.
“PKD, more than any of the writers of his era, foresaw the disorienting and dehumanizing aspect of techno-reality,” said festival founder and director Daniel Abella. “He left us clues in his writing as to how to fight the invasion, and this year, numerous films on our lineup represent his prophetic message.”
Friday, March 13, 2026
The Producers Club (358 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036)
Sci-Fi Feature
11:00am-12:30pm
Volume 7
Directors Panos Pappas, Despina Charalampous
Greece
In an isolated City-Building marked 7, where human knowledge is preserved in the minds of the gifted and time loops through memory, an ageless man reappears across lifetimes, challenging love, rebellion, and the illusion of escape.
Sci-Fi Feature
12:30pm-2:30pm EST
The Uncertainty Principle
Director Sebastian Badarau
Romania
Three scientists are on the verge of a major breakthrough in quantum mechanics only to find themselves in conflict over what the discovery actually means.
Documentary Feature
2:30pm-4:30pm EST
Saucers, Spooks and Kooks
Director Christopher L Graybill
United States
Saucers, Spooks and Kooks is a journey through the lesser known history of the UFO narrative, exploring its origins, and evolution, which still to this day reverberates in how we look at the current UFO phenomenon.
Sci-Fi Feature
4:30pm-6:00pm EST
The Alice Paradox
Director William Brooke
United Kingdom
Depicting a famous thought experiment in Quantum Mechanics, Alice travels back in time, and is transported into an alternate version of the recent past. Trapped in a world which prizes collectivism over individuality, Alice is forced to confront her life choices, grappling with profound questions about identity, fate, and the search for meaning.
Best of PKD Shorts
6:00pm-8:00pm EST
Beyond the Door
Directors Gregory Klino, MJ Palo
United States
When a man buys a cuckoo clock for his wife, he discovers that there is more behind the cuckoo’s door than just the cuckoo.
Attenuator
Director Rob Graydon
United States
A paralyzed man relives his worst day over and over.
UBIK: Ontological Decay and Maintenance of Reality Fields AI
Director Dalibor Barić
Croatia
This experimental docu-fiction essay connects Ubik’s “ontological economy” with the idea that existence has a cost of maintenance, and that the characters themselves are the process of preserving the failure in which they live. In the end, Ubik is recognized as an early informatics theology: God is not the creator, but the debugger of reality
The Gun
Director Randall Christopher
United States
On a distant planet all life has been annihilated through war, but when a team of scientists arrive they discover a terrifying weapon that still functions. Based on the short story by Philip K. Dick.
It Comes in Waves
Directors Jaiver Fuentes, Michael O’Brie
United States
A man is desolate and obsessed with a mysterious transmission from another place and he will desperately tune through the static until he finds it again. Or it finds him.
The Last Horse
Director Farah Dinga
United States, 9 minutes
Against the backdrop of an apocalyptic future, two parents, wrung out by recent catastrophic events, are haunted by their only daughter.
The Light of Dead Stars
Director Matthew Camfield
United Kingdom
A cerebral, sci-fi thriller, set in a near future cyberpunk dystopia. Agent Link (Gwilym Lloyd) a tired cop obsessed with his investigation of a string of unexplained murders, is thrown in with Jed (Medhi Duman), possessed by some form of entity, parasite, VALIS. Jed’s strange consciousness threatens the very existence of Links reality forcing him to face his own existential crisis.
International Sci-Fi
8:00pm-10:00pm EST
Céremony
Director Mark Wachholz
Germany
Girl who is virtual shows up in the world.
Superconscious
Director Christianne Hedtke
United States
Set in 1973, against the height of the energy crisis, a simmering Cold War, and the dawn of the Age of Aquarius, CYBIL G. journeys to a far-flung human potential center to join the REMOTE VIEWING PROGRAM, a scientific study on so-called “psi energy.
The Babysitter Murders: Timing’s Off
Director Orin Black
United States
A babysitter experiencing time distortions sees a news report of her own murder.
Lost in Your Thoughts, EMDR
Director Marshall Leigh George
Canada
A woman undergoes EMDR therapy and enters a physical manifestation of her memories looking for her lost sister.
The Usual
Director Ion Adrian
Netherlands
During a global pandemic, a troubled man’s grip on reality begins to slip as he finds himself living his worst nightmare.
Some Dark Matter
Director Molly Fisher
United States
Following the sudden passing of her father, Chiara (Oona Roche) navigates a series of mysterious, alarming events.
First & Last
Director Alexander Nonaka Galant
Canada
At a showing of a rental apartment, a young woman stumbles upon a gruesome mystery while taking pictures with her phone.
Phobos (Sub Eng)
Director Pietro Crozza Signoris
Italy
In a remote observatory, a physicist and a philosopher confront their ideas. When the telescope autonomously points toward the sky, something changes. A psychological journey where rationality breaks down and fear manifests. Nothing can be controlled anymore.
Watching Over You
Director Stephen Nage
South Africa
Isabelle, a stubborn young doctor is determined to save every patient after her mother is taken away from her by the Angel of Death himself, Azrael. After losing many more patients in the years thereafter, she is ready to give up on life, but is visited again by Azrael who takes her on a journey to explore the meaning of life – and death.
Anomaly
Director Andy Webb
Australia, United States
Austin (Evan Evagora, Star Trek: Picard), an artist obsessed with UFO theories, spends his nights searching the skies for proof of extraterrestrial life. Isolated and struggling after a breakup, he retreats further into his world.
16 Rachels Season 2 (Episode 1)
Director Keaton Smith
United States
Planet Earth was purchased by one of the wealthiest mining companies in the universe—forcing the entire human race to migrate elsewhere in the cosmos. Emotionally intelligent androids were hired to facilitate mass exodus and prepare Earth for demolition. A lone employee, Joon, stays behind to manage demolition code synthesized within Earth’s water molecules. This mysterious process reveals a cache of video diaries by sixteen women with the same name.
Saturni
Director Paul B. Frieling
United States
A pregnant artist retreats to a secluded residency run by a mysterious gallery, only to discover that her unborn child is a key to awakening an ancient Saturnian consciousness.
Dreamwalker
Directors Luca Schenato, Sinem Vardarli
United Kingdom
A sci-fi drama about a shaman who embarks on a quest to save his village from certain extinction. Through an altered state of consciousness, he connects with the mind of a scientist from another time who is conducting research to save her civilization. The film delves into the structure of reality, exploring how time and space can be traversed, ultimately intertwining the destinies of the two protagonist.
Spirit Slayer: Rise of the Apprentice
Director Joel Lim
Singapore/China
Wen Li, the lazy but talented grandson of two spirit slayers, is sent on an errand during a rare blood moon. When he carelessly botches a talisman ritual at the sacred Spirit Tree, a forbidden seal breaks , releasing Ling Yan, a seductive and vengeful fox spirit once imprisoned by his grandfather, Master Liu.
Horror Sci-Fi Feature
10:00pm-11:30pm EST
Blockhead
Director Matt Harlock
United Kingdom
A failing novelist thinks his muse appears to inspire him. Instead his life spirals into chaos and murder – but just possibly, genius.
Saturday, March 14, 2026
Village East Cinema by Angelika (181-189 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003)
International Sci-Fi Shorts
5:00pm-7:00pm EST
NEOSHIN – EPISODE 03: DISTANT LOVE
Director Sebastian Selg
Germany
After the invention of CRYONIC REALITY (CR) by EDEN Association, world leaders chose to discontinue the counting of time in 2073 and proclaimed the final year 2073X. CR is a virtual world of utopia that people can access to escape the bleak reality.
EDGAR: Enhanced Data Gathering Analysis Robot
Director Virginia de Witt
United States
In a near-future desert-scape, a suicidal woman discusses life, love and loss with an AI Android which resembles her estranged father, meanwhile her neighbor focuses on his passion for tap dancing.
Music of the Storm
Director River Rainbow O’Mahoney Hagg
United States
Music of the Storm is a three-minute experimental short by Hawaiian filmmaker and combat veteran River Rainbow O’Mahoney Hagg. The film blends poetic voiceover, symbolic imagery, and immersive sound design to explore the long shadow of war and the rhythm of recovery.
Don’t Watch This
Director Daniel Pineros
United States
A woman slowly realizes she’s a character in a movie. As she spirals in terror, everyone around her dismisses her as delusional-unaware that she’s the only one who knows we are watching.
Lawyered Up
Director Tatiana Blackington James
United States
A betrayed woman hires a divorce lawyer, who seems to be the perfect man. Is he too good to be true?
Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting
Director Alexander Thompson
United States
An allegorical 1930s-set coming-of-age fable about mothers, daughters and the beasts they hunt.
Hide
Director Brenden Hubbard
United States
Still reeling from an incredible loss, a father (Shakey Graves) and daughter cling to a bedtime routine keeping them safe in a town where an unfathomable horror visits its inhabitants night after night.
Hyperburn
Director Travis Dubridge
United States
In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a comedic, action-packed sci-fi unfolds as our reluctant hero teams up with his newly implanted A.I. companion. Together, they embark on a quest across the unforgiving desert.
Are you a human being?
Director Matthieu Moerlen
France, Switzerland
Lucie and Jean-Michel are grappling with an existential crisis and a computer crash. In this dark comedy blending poetry and artificial intelligence. They search for the meaning of their lives!
Treasure Imagination
Director Scott Rice
United States
A city boy is distraught when his beloved tablet is taken away by his mom. But when he finds a mysterious fedora left on a park bench, his temptation to place it on his head leads to adventure.
International Feature Presentation
7:00pm-9:00pm EST
Past Life
Director Simeon Halligan
United Kingdom
Jason (Aneurin Barnard), a journalist traumatized by his time in the middle east, is dragged to a TV show by his pregnant wife Claira (Pixie Lott). A celebrity Hypnotist (Jeremy Piven), is making audience members experience their glamorous past lives. Skeptical Jason thinks it’s all a con, until Tim, the hypnotist, takes Jason under with a click of his fingers, and he experiences the world through the eyes of a 1980s serial killer. Followed by a Q&A with director and lead actors, and a panel on past life regression.
Festival Passes:
Passes to the event are available at https://www.thephilipkdickfilmfestival.com. Note the schedule is subject to change.
About The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival:
“The core of my writing is not art but truth.” – Philip K. Dick
The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival, which launched in 2012 as New York City’s first festival of its kind, honors the legacy of novelist Philip K. Dick. His enormously effective works composed of fictional universes, virtual realities, dystopian worlds, and human mutation served as a significant observation into the current state of society. The festival embraces original concepts and alternative approaches to storytelling, and since 2013, additional gatherings have been held in France, Germany, Poland, Rotterdam, and Los Angeles. The event was named one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World” by MovieMaker Magazine in 2022.
Connect:
Website: https://www.thephilipkdickfilmfestival.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePhilipKDickFilmFestival
X: https://x.com/philipkdickfest
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philipkdickfest
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