© Franco Brambilla, “More Than Real” (2008)
Required short film and TV episode viewing
• Chris Marker, La Jetée (France, 1962; 28m) on digital reserve here
• R. Bare and D. Knight, To Serve Man [S3E24 of The Twilight Zone] (USA, 1962; 24m) BB (and Netflix)
• Wanuri Kahiu, Pumzi (Kenya, 2009; 23m) Youtube
• Lisa Jackson, The Visit (Anishinaabe, 2009; 4m) here
• Giacomo Cimini, The City in the Sky (Italy-England, 2009; 27 mins) Vimeo
• Kim Jee-woon The Heavenly Creature in Doomsday Book (Korea, 2012; 30mins) Netflix and on digital reserve
• Nanobah Becker, The 6th World (Navajo, 2012; 15m) Youtube
• Kibwe Tavares, Robots of Brixton (England, 2012; 5m) Youtube
• Don Hertzfeldt, World of Tomorrow 1, 2, & 3 (USA, 2015-2020; 16-20m each) BB
• Antoine Caëcke & Hélène Jeudy, Anvil (Japan/Belgium, 2017) Vimeo
• Helen Haig-Brown, The Cave (Tsilhqot’in, 2018) Youtube
• Robert Valley, Zima Blue [Episode 14 of Love, Death, and Robots] (Canada, 2019;10m) Netflix and BB
• a brief list of basic film criticism terminology here
• a bit more in-depth one here
• an even more in-depth one here
Highly recommended feature-length film viewing (not required, but if you can see one or more during the semester, great!)
Fritz Lang, Metropolis (Germany, 1927; 3h 30m)
Ishiro Honda, Godzilla (Japan, 1954; 96m)
Mario Bava, Planet of the Vampires (Italy, 1965; 88m)
Elio Petri, The 10th Victim (Italy, 1965; 1h 33m)
Andrei Tarkovski, Solaris (Russia, 1972; 2h 70m)
René Laloux, The Fantastic Planet (France, 1973; 71m)
R.W. Fassbinder, World on a Wire (Germany, 1973; 3h)
Nicolas Roeg, The Man Who Fell to Earth (UK, 1976; 2h)
Andrei Tarkovski, Stalker (Russia, 1979; 2h 30m)
Piotr Kamler, Chronopolis (Poland, 1982; 65m)
Terry Gilliam, Brazil (UK, 1985; 2h)
Geoff Murphy, The Quiet Earth (New Zealand, 1985; 91m)
Eliseo Subiela, Man Facing Southeast (Argentina, 1986; 1h 45m)
Vincent Ward, The Navigator (Australia-New Zealand, 1988; 93m)
Mamoru Oshii, Ghost in the Shell (Japan, 1995; 82m)
Luc Besson, The Fifth Element (France, 1997; 2h)
Gabriele Salvatores, Nirvana (Italy, 1997; 1h 51m)
Moon-saeng Kim, Wonderful Days / Sky Blue (Korea, 2003; 1h 26m)
Satoshi Kon, Paprika (Japan, 2006; 1h 30min)
Konstantin Lopushansky, Ugly Swans (Russia, 2006; 1h 49m)
Nacho Vigalondo, Timecrimes (Spain, 2007; 1h 28m)
Alex Rivera, Sleep Dealer (Mexico, 2008; 1h 30m)
Tarik Saleg, Metropia (Sweden, 2009; 1h 26m)
John Cabrera and Cosimo De Tommaso, H+: The Digital Series (world, 2012; 4h)
Ari Folman, The Congress (Israel, 2013; 2h)
Some recommended short films (not required)
Carl E. Rinsch, The Gift (UK, 2010) Vimeo
Zaramella, Viaje a Marte (Voyage to Mars) (Argentina, 2012?) Vimeo, more
Factory Fifteen, Gamma (Ukraine and Kazakhstan, 2012) Vimeo
Josh Tanner, The Landing (USA, 2013) Vimeo
Supamonks Studio, Voyager (France, 2015) Vimeo
The Brother Lynch, The Trial (UK, 2016) Vimeo
Giacomo Cimini, The Nostalgist (UK, 2016) Youtube
Oats Studios, God: Serengeti (USA, 2017) Youtube
Brett Foxwell, Fabricated (USA, 2017; 20m) Vimeo
The Brother Lynch, Dust (UK, 2019) here
Native SF films and trailers, here
Optimistic SF short films, Better Worlds. here
Some highly recommended TV series (not required)
The Twilight Zone (USA,1959-64)
Doctor Who (UK, 1963-)
The Stranger (Australia, 1964-65)
The Outer Limits (USA, 1963-65)
Star Trek: Original Series (USA, 1966-69)
The Prisoner (England, 1967-68)
A come Andromeda (Italy, 1971)
Quatermass (England, 1979)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (USA, 1987-1994)
Star Trek: Voyager (USA, 1995-2001)
Star Trek: Enterprise (USA, 2001-2005)
Firefly (USA, 2002)
Battlestar Galattica (USA, 2004-2009)
Steven Hawking’s Sci-Fi Masters (USA, 2007)
Black Mirror (England, 2011-)
H+ (all over the place, 2012) Youtube
Real Humans (Sweden, 2012-)
Continuum (Canada, 2012-15)
Orphan Black (USA 2013-)
Sense8 (USA, 2015-)
The Expanse (USA, 2015-)
Colony (USA, 2015-)
Westworld (USA, 2016-)
Dark (Germany, 2017-)
Star Trek: Discovery (USA, 2017-)
Legion (USA, 2017-2019)
Star Trek: Picard (USA, 2020-)
Foundation (USA, 2021-)
Station 11 (USA, 2021-)
An ever-growing collection of recommended, non-USA SF films.
Most of the films listed are available with English subtitles or dubbing.
**Recommendations are welcome and can be sent to [email protected] **
Argentina
Hugo Santiago, Invasion (1969)
Eliseo Subiela, Man Facing Southeast (1986)
Gustavo Mosquera, Things to Come (1988)
Fernando Spiner, The Sleepwalker (1988)
Gustavo Mosquera, Moebius (1996)
Esteban Sapir, The Aerial (2007)
Nicolas Goldbart, Phase 7 (2010)
Fermín Acosta, Romina Ballester, Sol Bolloqui, Matías Revello & Lucía Salas, Implantación (2011)
Federico Heller, Uncanny Valley (2015) Vimeo
Australia
Stanley Kramer, On the Beach (1959)
George Miller, Mad Max (1980)
Vincent Ward, The Navigator (1988)
Alexandros Proyas, Dark City (1998)
Peter Spierig, Daybreakers (2009)
Austria
Robert Wiene, The Hands of Orlac (1924) Netflix
Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1. April 2000 (1952)
Belgium
Jaco Van Dormael, Mr. Nobody (2009) Netflix
Mateo Gil, Realive (2017)
Brazil
Alberto Pieralisi, O Quinto Poder (1962)
roberto Farias, Roberto Carlos at the Rhythm of Adventure (1968)
J.B. Tanko, The Goofies on the Apes’s Plateau (1976)
Clovis Veira, Cassiopeia (1996)
Fernando Meirelles, Blindness (2008) [also Japan and Canada]
Wagner de Assis, Our Home (2010)
Gerson Sanginitto, Area Q (2011)
Bulgaria
Herrmann Zschoche, Eolomea (1972) [also East Germany and Russia]
Ivanka Grybcheva, Berserk (1981)
Cameroon
Jean-Pierre Bekolo, The Bloodiest (2005) Youtube
Canada
David Cronenberg, Crimes of the Future (1970)
David Cronenberg, Scanners (1981) Youtube
David Cronenberg, The Dead Zone (1983)
Vicenzo Natali, The Cube (1997)
David Cronenberg, eXistenZ (1999) Netflix
Vincenzo Natali, Splice (2009)
China
Wong Kar-wai, 2046 (2004)
Stephen Chow, CJ7 (2008)
Xiaolu Guo, UFO in Her Eyes (2011)
Czech Republic
Karel Zeman, The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (1955) Youtube
Karel Zeman, Fred Ladd, Journey to the Beginning of Time (1955)
Karel Zeman, The Great Baron (1962)
Oldrich Lipsky, Man in Outer Space (1962)
Jindřich Polák, Voyage to the End of the Universe/Ikarie XB 1 (1963)
Jan Schmidt, The End of August at the Hotel Ozone (1967)
Karel Zeman, The Comet (1970)
René Laloux, The Fantastic Planet (1973) [also French]
Denmark
Sidney Pink, Reptilicus (1961)
Sidney Pink, Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962) Netflix Youtube
Jannik Hstrup, Dreaming of Paradise (1987)
Christoffer Boe, Allegro (2005)
Craig Frank, Journey to Saturn (2008)
Egypt
Helmy Rafla, Voice From the Past (1957)
Hamada Abdel Wahab, Journey to the Moon (1959)
Finland
Timo Vuorensola, Iron Sky (2012) Netflix
France
Georges Melies, A trip to the Moon (1902)
Marcel L’Herbier, L’inhumaine (1924)
Chris Marker, La jetée (1962)
Jean-Luc Godard, Alphaville (1965)
Roger Vadim, Barbarella (1968) Netflix
Alain Resnais, Je T’aime, Je T’aime (1968)
René Laloux, The Fantastic Planet (1973) [also Czech]
Luc Besson, The Last Battle (1983)
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Delicatessen (1991)
Marc Caro and J-P Jeunet, City of Lost Children (1995) Netflix
Luc Besson, Fifth Element (1997) Netflix
Enki Bilal, Immortel (2004)
Christian Volckmann, Renaissance (2006)
Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci, April and the Extraordinary World (2015)
Germany
Fritz Lang, Metropolis (1927) Netflix
Fritz Lang, Woman in the Moon (1929) Netflix Youtube
Kurt Maetzig, Silent Star (1960)
Herrmann Zschoche, Eolomea (1972)
Rainer Werner Fassbinder, World on a Wire (1973)
Gottfried Kolditz, In the Dust of the Stars (1976)
Wim Wenders, Until the End of the World (1991)
Tom Tykwer, Run Lola Run (1998) Youtube
Rolf Schübel, Blueprint (2003)
Benedek Fliegauf, Womb/Clone (2010)
Damir Lukacevic, Transfer (2010)
Tim Fehlbaum, Hell (2011) Netflix
Greece
Mihalis Kakogiannis, The Day the Fish Came Out (1967)
Nikos Nikolaidis, Morning Patrol (1987)
Vladimiros Kiriakidis and Efi Mouriki, Straight Story (2006) Youtube
Papaioannou, Super Demetrios (2011)
Manos Cizek, Red City (2012)
Yorgos Lanthimos, The Lobster (2015)
Hungary
René Laloux, Time Masters (1982)
Balazs Hatvani, Thelomeris (2011)
Zoltan Sostai, Cycle (2012)
Iceland
Valur Zophoniasson, 1991 (2010)
India
Bharat Ratna and Satyajit Ray, The Alien (1967)
Shekhar Kapoor, Mr. India (1987)
Rakesh Roshan Koi… Mil Gaya (2003)
Abhijit Choudhury, Patalghar (2003) Youtube
Rakesh Roshan, Krrish (2006)
Harry Baweja, Love Story 2050 (2008) Youtube
Shankar, Enthiran (2010)
Anubhav Sinha, Ra.One (2011)
Iran
Vahid Vakillifar, Taboor (2012)
Ireland
Martin Duffy, The Boy From Mercury (1996)
Enda Hughes, Flying Saucer Rock and Roll (1998)
Martin Duffy, The Summer of the Flying Saucer (2008)
Jon Wright, Grabbers (2012) Netflix Youtube
Alan Brennan, Earthbound (2013)
Ruairí Robinsoon, The Last Days on Mars (2013) Netflix
Israel
Mattan Harel-Fisch and Gill Weinstein, Zika (2008) Youtube
Shmuel Hoffman, The A.R.K. Report – Secret for the Century (2013)
Ari Folman, The Congress (2013)
Italy
Paolo Heusch, The Day the Sky Exploded (1958)
Anthony Daisies, Assignment Outer Space (1960)
Ugo Gregoretti, Omicron (1963)
Tinto Brass, Il disco volante (1964)
Antonio Margheriti, Wild Wild Planet (1965)
Mario Bava, Planet of the Vampires (1965)
Elio Petri, The 10th Victim (1965)
Luigi Cozzi, Starcrash (1978) Netflix Youtube
Gabriele Salvatores, Nirvana (1997) Netflix
Corrado Guzzanti and Igor Skofic, Fascists on Mars (2006)
Angelo Licata, Dark Resurrection (2007) Youtube
Giacomo Cimini, The City in the Sky (2009) Youtube
Varo Venturi, 6 giorni sulla terra (2011)
Gian Alfonso Pacinotti, L’ultimo terrestre (2011)
Antonio Manetti and Marco Manetti, L’arrivo di Wang (2011)
Claudio Di Biagio and Luca Vecchi, Vittima degli eventi (2014) Youtube
Francesco Cinquemani, Andròn (2015)
Japan
Ishirō Honda, Godzilla (1954)
Ishirō Honda, The Mysterians (1957)
Horishi Teshigahara, The Face of Another (1966) Youtube
Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira (1988)
Shinya Tsukamoto, Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
Mamoru Oshii, Ghost in the Shell (1995)
Kinji Fukasaku, Battle Royale (2000)
Mamoru Oshii, Avalon (2001) Netflix
Takashi Yamazaki, The Returner (2002)
Mamoru Hosoda, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) Youtube
Satoshi Kon, Paprika (2006)
Kazuaki Kiriya, Casshern (2007)
Kanji Nakajima, The Clone Returns Home (2008) Youtube
Yoshiura, Yasuhiro, Patema Inverted (2012)
Jordan
Ahmad Alyaseer, When Time Becomes a Woman (2012)
Kenya
Wanuri Kahiu, Pumzi (2009) Youtube
Korea
Jang Joon-hwan, Save the Green Planet (2003)
Min Byeong-cheon, Natural City (2003) Youtube
Kim Moon-Saeng, Wonderful Days / Blue Sky (2003) Youtube
Bong Joon Ho, The Host (2006) Netflix
Kim Jee-woon and Yim Pil-sung, Doomsday Book (2012) Netflix
Bong Joon Ho, Snowpiercer (2013)
Mexico
Felipe Cazals, El año de la peste (1978) [no known English version as of yet]
Guillermo del Toro, Cronos (1993)
Alex Rivera, Sleep Dealer (2008)
Rodrigo Ordonez, Despositarios (2010)
The Netherlands
Dick Maas, The Lift (1983)
Ian Hubert, Tears of Steel (2012)
Richard Raaphorst, Frankenstein’s Army (2013) Netflix
New Zealand
Geoff Murphy, The Quiet Earth (1985)
Norway
Ovredal André, Troll Hunter (2010) Netflix
Peru
Ricardo de Montreuil, The Raven (2010) Vimeo Youtube
Poland
Wojciech Has, The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)
Marek Piestrak, Inquest of Pilot Pirx (1979)
Piotr Kamler, Chronopolis (1982) Youtube
Juliusz Machulski, Sexmission (1984)
Juliusz Machulski, Kingsize (1987)
Andrezej Zulawski, On the Silver Globe (1988)
Portugal
Tino Navarro and David Rebordao, Real Playing Game (2013)
Qatar
Mohammed Alibrahim and Ahmed Al Baker, Lockdown: Red Moon Escape (2012)
Romania
Ion Popescu-Gopo, A Bomb Was Stolen (1961)
Ion Popescu-Gopo, Fantastic Comedy (1975)
Ion Popescu-Gopo, The Story of Love (1976)
Victor Antonescu and Mircea Tola, Delta Space Mission (1984) (animation, little dialogue)
Sergiu Lupse, Trace/Shadow (2005) (no dialogue)
Sergiu Lupse, Labyrinth (2002) (no dialogue)
Sergiu Lupse, Time Lapse (2003) (no dialogue)
Sergiu Lupse, Glow (2006) (no dialogue)
Russia
Yakov Protazanov, Aelita: Queen of Mars (1924) Youtube
Pavel Klushantsev, Planet of Storms (1962)
Andrey Tarkovsky, Solaris (1972)
Leonid Gaidai, Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future (1973)
Andrey Tarkovsky, Stalker (1979)
Timur Bekmambetov, Night Watch (2004) Netflix
Konstantin Lopushansky, Ugly Swans (2006) Youtube
Aleksei German, Hard to Be A God (2013)
Senegal
Mark Aerial Waller, Superpower – Dakar Chapter (2004)
South Africa
Neill Blomkamp, District 9 (2009)
Spain
El Topo (1970)
Alejandro Amenábar, Open Your Eyes/Abre los ojos (1997)
Nacho Vigalondo, Time Crimes (2007)
Nacho Vigalondo, Extraterrestrial (2011)
Kike Maíllo, Eva (2011)
Sweden
Tarik Saleh, Metropia (2009)
Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja, Aniara (2018)
Switzerland
Ivan Engler, Cargo (2009)
Taiwan
Yen-ping Chu, The Treasure Hunter (2009) Netflix
Thailand
Wisit Sasanatieng, The Red Eagle (2010)
Prapas Cholsaranont, The Giant King (2012)
Turkey
Hulki Saner, Ömer the Tourist in Star Trek (1973) Youtube
UK
Freddie Francis, Steve Sekely, Day of the Triffids (1962) Youtube
Robert Fuest, Final Programme (1973)
Nicolas Roeg, The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Terry Gilliam, Brazil (1985)
Michael Winterbottom, Code 46 (2003)
Alfonso Cuarón, Children of Men (2006)
Danny Boyle, Sunshine (2007)
Duncan Jones, Moon (2009)
Gareth Edwards, Monsters (2010) Netflix
Uruguay
Alvarez, Fede, Panic Attack (2009) Youtube
Venezuela
Frank Marshall, Arachnophobia (1990)
Alejandro Hernández, Alt (2013)
Vietnam
Nguyen Vo Nghiem Minh, Water 2030 (2014)
**Recommendations are welcome and can be sent to [email protected] **
The information on this website is licensed under Creative Commons 4.0.
The images are © Franco Brambilla.