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Science Fiction

Original title: Science Fiction
German title: Science Fiction
Belgium, 2002

Director: Deprez, Dany
Production company: A Private View, Gent
Age recommendation: 10 years and up

Synopsis:
Ten year old Andreas is the new kid in town. He tells his class that he has lived all over the world on account of his parents being top scientific researchers. Tomboyish Vero lives just next door to Andreas and makes friends with him. She finds his parents really weird. She asks Andreas what they do and who they work for exactly. Andreas doesn't really know except that it has something to do with microbiology and that they work for a multinational company. Vero suggests to spy on them to find out. It'll be fun.

Andreas plants a baby-phone walkie-talkie under the living-room cupboard. He goes to Vero's who has invited some classmates. What the children hear through the baby-phone receiver fires their imagination. It appears that Mum and Dad's years of research are finally paying off. They are on the verge, so they say, of conquering the world and becoming leaders, masters of the universe. They talk about going away with Andreas beyond the stars. The children are perplexed. There can be only one conclusion: Andreas's parents are aliens.

Serious-minded Kasper is certain that his parents' conversation shouldn't be interpreted so
literally. Andreas can't really believe it either. If his parents are aliens, he would have noticed. Still, he might find some answers in the attic. That's the place where his Dad works and that's where he's not allowed to come. Vero invents an intricate scheme to lure the parents away from home. While Mum and Dad are away, the children break into the attic and are astonished to find computer screens with incomprehensible chemical data and a mysterious project called LINEA. And if you switch the order of the letters the project reads ALIEN.

To Kasper, it's just a coincidence. To Vero, it's hard proof. She tells Andreas he can't be his parents' son. He is human. They are not. Meanwhile, Dad finds out that Andreas has been in the attic and reprimands him. Andreas begs him to tell him what he and Mum are doing. They assure him that they're just doing research in their greenhouse and work on the data in the attic. They have a deadline and are very, very busy.

Andreas repeats their explanation to his friends but Vero remains unconvinced. If they really are his parents, he should find proof. That night, Andreas searches the living-room cupboard. He reports his search live to Vero on the walkie-talkie. He finds three photo-albums. The first album is recent and shows photos of Andreas and his parents in different cities. The next one is less recent and similar. The last album dates back from Andreas's first year and his parents are nowhere to be seen...

"Science Fiction" is a thriller told from the point of view of a ten year old boy who feels so unloved that he imagines his parents to be monsters. Or does he? (Source: www.sciencefictionmovie.nl)

Comments:
A thriller for children.

"Good action, mystery thriller. The gripping tension meant that it would be best for older children and also it has quite a complex plot with lots of things happening at the same time.
(Young People's Jury at Leeds Children's Film Festival 2003)

Festivals:
Gent 2002, Cinekid Amsterdam 2002, Antwerp 2003, Golden Sparrow Erfurt/Gera 2003, Munich 2003, Stuttgart 2003, Zlin 2003 (awarded), Giffoni 2003, Buster Copenhagen 2003, Duesseldorf 2003, Münster 2003, Oulu 2003, Cinemagic Belfast 2003, Istanbul 2003, Montreal 2003 (awarded), Vancouver/Cabada 2004 (awarded), Vilnius 2005, Cinema Infantil Brazil 2004

Website: www.sciencefictionmovie.nl

World sales address/es:
TFI Studio (F)
TrustNordisk Int. Sales (DK)

Sold to:
CinéArt (BE)
A-Film (NL)
MFA+-Filmverleih (D)
Kinderkanal (D)