The 47th Annual Boston SciFi Film Festival & Marathon Sets Dates

The Boston SciFi Film Festival & Marathon, the longest-running genre festival in the U.S., returns as a hybrid event for its 47th year (SF47). SF47 will take place February 16 - 21, 2022 in person at the Somerville Theatre and virtually streaming. The festival received submissions from 30 countries and will announce its schedule of events in January 2022.

Festival passes can be purchased here.

Born at the legendary Orson Welles Cinema just outside of Harvard Square in Cambridge MA, Boston SciFi aims to celebrate science fiction storytelling. Over the course of 6 days, SF47 will present over 70 shorts, 30 curated and submitted features, 10 workshops and panels, as well as some exciting in person events.

"Last year Boston SciFI, like many events, went virtual", says Boston SciFi Festival Director Garen Daly. "While it is not the same as being 'live', virtuality has unique properties, one being that it expands our reach and brings the world into people's homes. For us, our virtual platform is just another venue, just another theatre. This year we will be able to bring many of the festival's films from 30 countries to anyone's home. It could be the charming and lovely animated Chilean film Elulu that took nearly a decade for one artist to make by hand. Or it could be the powerful story of a woman whose auditory senses are Out of Sync with the rest of the world. Science fiction is no longer about bug eyed monsters and people in funny costumes. It is about tackling real world issues within the confines of fiction that just happens to be science fiction. As we look around at what is happening in the world now, and we look at the films being curated and submitted for our 47th iteration, we recognize our motto's resonance - The Future is Now."

Confirmed films to play at this year's fest include Bertrand Mandico's After Blue (Dirty Paradise), documentary film Alien on Stage, Gabriel Alfonso Verdugo Soto's animated film Elulu and David Burke's documentary on Dr. Kennedy, The Father of the Cyborgs. SF47 will announce a complete festival lineup in January 2022.

This year, the festival will be putting on its first-ever Costume Ball, hosted by longtime Boston SciFi partner the Somerville Theatre at their legendary Crystal Ballroom on Wednesday, February 16. The Ball will be emceed by Boston-based drag entertainer and Miss Gay Massachusetts 2018, Qya Cristál.

SF47 will soon be announcing a spectacular Creature Double Feature to take place on Saturday, February 19, which will screen some classic monster movies for audiences at the Somerville Theater. Boston SciFi will also continue its tradition of the closing Marathon from noon to noon on February 20-21, 2022.

Boston SciFi aka the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival is an award-winning, beloved cinematic event held at the historic Somerville Theatre (1914), in one of the coolest cities in the world, Boston. It starts with a regular festival of submitted & curated films and ends with the biggest binge view ever - a 24 hour,13 film, nonstop, eyeball straining Marathon. It all began at the legendary Orson Welles Cinema right next to Harvard University. As America's longest-running genre fest, Film Freeway has named Boston SciFi as one of the Top 100 Best Reviewed Festivals.