“Honorary Space Station” of the Third Blue Planet Science Fiction Film Festival Docks Successfully in Niushou Mountain, Nanjing, China

NANJING, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The “Honorary Space Station” event of the Third Blue Planet Science Fiction Film Festival, China’s first and only film festival dedicated to the sci-fi genre, was held on December 28, 2021 in the scenic Niushou Mountain area of Nanjing.

Since its debut in November 2019, more than 40% of the projects supported by the festival’s venture initiative have secured contracts with top-tier companies in China. Niushou Mountain Cultural Tourism Zone, which plays host to the Blue Planet Festival, has emerged as a base of sci-fi cluster in Nanjing, helping to attract sci-fi film talents, new projects, technologies, and investment from around the world.

This year’s event, themed “Migrating”, features four sections: From the New World, The Mission of Science and Technology, The Honor of Film, and The Migration of Civilization, covering various aspects of the sci-fi world, from space travel and film technology to industry and civilization.

The festival opened with the pilot film “Let There Be Light,” which looked back at the trials and tribulations that the sci-fi film industry and wider society have been through since the start of the pandemic. From a total of 254 works submitted from around the world, the top 12 works selected at this year’s festival reflected the diversity of the sci-fi film world, tackling themes from time travel to human civilization and extra-terrestrial species. Top awards went to Green Food (Best Sci-Fi Film), Yitong Ling (Best Sci-Fi Director for Triffin Dilemma), Double Helix (Best Sci-Fi Performance), Orogenèse (Best Visual Imagination), and Out of Darkness (Best Sci-Fi Animation & Script). Out of Darkness also won the Blue Planet STAR award, which was awarded based on audience emotional reception as gauged with special biosensing technology.

This year’s program also featured a special section of six sci-fi films from Russia, a country with a long and storied history of sci-fi works, ranging from Soviet-era classics to contemporary releases. In addition, a special planning and observation program, focused on sci-fi film and animation works released or broadcast since November 2020, was created, where experts provided analysis and insights to highlight the progress of China’s sci-fi sector, obstacles to further development, and possible solutions to promote the all-around growth of the industry.