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Thirteen to Centaurus (Peter Potter, 1965)
May
4
Star Wars Day
Dr Francis (Donald Houston) and Abel (James Hunter). DP: tbd.
Intergalactic travel on Star Wars Day. May the Fourth be with you.
“Our grandfathers always lived on Earth, and we are the first people ever to undertake such a journey. You can be proud that you’re here. Your grandfather, who volunteered to come, was a great man, and we’ve got to do everything to make sure that the Station keeps running.”
– Dr Francis (from Thirteen to Centaurus, J.G. Ballard, 1962)
A ship travels the universe, on its way to Centaurus. On board is a group of people, fourteen in total, one of them a teenager named Abel. His recurring nightmare about a glowing disc prompts to sessions with the on-board psychologist, and the only one with knowledge of Earth, Dr Francis.
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Willi Tobler und der Untergang der 6. Flotte [Willi Tobler and the Decline of the 6th Fleet] (Alexander Kluge, 1969)
Apr
27
One of many many handmade, overly complicated title cards. The date is May/June 42. DPs: Dietrich Lohmann, Thomas Mauch & Alfred Tichawsky.
And November 9, January 14, and January 21.
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Krakatit (Otakar Vávra, 1948)
Apr
26
International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day
A man on a darkened, concrete runway, running towards a man-made structure, a mirage. DP: Václav Hanuš.
With the experience of yet another world war, and two devastating applications of science biggest terror, Karel Čapek's 1922 novel Krakatit [“Krakatoa”] anticipated and moulded the decades to come.
And R.U.R. is now, just around the corner.
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Memoirs of a Survivor (David Gladwell, 1981)
Apr
20
Easter Sunday
A Victorian family, all dressed in white, marvel at an enormous egg in an ornate room. DP: Walter Lassally.
Eggs for Easter Sunday.
“The walls of the room seemed to hold stories untold, whispering in the quiet.”
– Doris Lessing, The Memoirs of a Survivor (1974)
In a dystopian Britain, D (Julie Christie) survives while taking care of a sullen teenage girl, and visiting a mirage behind the walls.
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Test pilota Pirxa [Pilot Pirx's Inquest] (Marek Piestrak, 1979)
Apr
12
International Day of Human Space Flight
Men and nonlinears to board the ship set for Saturn's Cassini Division. DP: Janusz Pawłowski.
“He began thinking about the innocence of machines, about how man had endowed them with intelligence and, in doing so, had made them an accomplice of his mad adventures. About how the myth of the golem — the machine that rebelled against its creator — was a lie, a fiction invented by the guilty for the sake of self-exoneration.”
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1. April 2000 [April 1, 2000] (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1952)
Apr
1
2000
The President of the Global Union (Hilde Krahl) stepping out of her spaceship. DPs: Sepp Ketterer, Karl Löb & Fritz Arno Wagner.
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The Bed Sitting Room (Richard Lester, 1969)
Mar
22
National Goof-off Day
The BBC (Frank Thornton) bringing you the news (still via). DP: David Watkin.
“I am the BBC as you can see, and here was the last news.”
– The BBC
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Grauzone [Zones] (Fredi M. Murer, 1979)
Mar
21
1976
The anonymous, urgent newspaper announcement referencing the oath of secrecy considering a mysterious epidemic, starting March 21, 1976. It lists all the symptoms. DP: Hans Liechti.
Eine mysteriöse EPIDEMIE ist ausgebrochen.
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Baron Prášil [The Fabulous Baron Munchausen] (Karel Zeman, 1962)
Mar
14
Under the Skin – 2013
A weird of quirky sci-fi film on the date Under the Skin (2013) was released in the UK.
“I cast my hat out into the universe, let it greet those who are on their way from Earth. From this day forward, the Moon is no longer a dream.”
– Cyrano de Bergerac
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Invasión [Invasion] (Hugo Santiago, 1969)
Mar
9
Bobby Fischer – 1943
Don Porfirio (Juan Carlos Paz) in front of a map of Aquileia. DP: Ricardo Aronovich.
Strategy for Bobby Fischer's birthday (1943).
People meticulously plan, move, and countermove in response to an invasion.