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Philip K. Dick

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This column about Philip K. Dick phenomena will run occasionally, depending on what the ether yields.



HOLYOKE -- The 4th annual Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival erupts in New York City from Jan. 13 to 17 with 80 movies from creators from more than 20 countries.

"Illuminating from all corners of the globe are the fundamentals of science fiction film which possess a striking hold on those who dare to charter into the unknown," festival spokesman Jonathan Carsten said.

"It is here at The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival where the viewer is enveloped into a thoroughly rewarding experience of masterful productions and bold expertise," he said in a press release Tuesday.

Known as PKD to fans, Dick (1928-1982) wrote the novels and stories many people know perhaps better from the movies and television shows that are based on them. They include "Blade Runner" (based on Dick's 1968 book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"), "Minority Report," "The Man in the High Castle," "Total Recall," "A Scanner Darkly" "Paycheck" and "The Adjustment Bureau."

Dick's stories deal with how people handle dislocation and their search for answers to questions about their identities and what is reality.

Tickets can be purchased on the easy-to-use festival website -- thephilipkdickfilmfestival.com -- at $20 per movie, all-access day passes for $35 or four-day passes for $100.

Visit Groupon -- at https://www.groupon.com/deals/gl-philip-k-dick-film-festival -- for discounts.

Most of the movies will be shown at Village East Cinema, 189 2nd Ave., with some movies and related events held at Lovecraft Bar, 50 Avenue. B, at Avenue B and East 4th St.

For example, the festival's opening reception and "Blade Runner Party" will be Jan. 13 from 7 p.m. to midnight at Lovecraft Bar. That event will feature the "world premiere" (actually you can see it here) of actress Joanna Cassidy -- Zhora in the 1982 movie "Blade Runner" -- performing a snake dance, the festival website said.

"The feature films will be accompanied by a series of shorts, panel discussions and 'Q&A' sessions with filmmakers, all grouped according to theme or format, such as documentaries or animation," groupon.com said.

The festival, Carsten said, will be a gathering of "divinely crafted films, special appearances and countless fans eager to witness the very pulse of the heart and soul of science fiction."

The festival judges will be David Brin, a scientist and award-winning science fiction author whose novel "The Postman" was made into a movie starring Kevin Costner in 1997; Paul Levinson, a writer who has received multiple nominations for the Hugo, Nebula, Sturgeon, Prometheus, Edgar and Audie awards; and David Hartwell, Dick's editor in his later years and co-founder with Paul S. Williams of the Philip K Dick Society, the festival website said.

Among movie clips shown at the festival (full schedule below) will be 15 minutes of "Clones" starring Rutger Hauer, who played the key role of Roy Batty in "Blade Runner." By Swiss director Rafael Bolliger, "Clones" is about a dying quantum physics professor who undergoes special brain surgery when he is offered the chance to live on within the body of a clone. That is scheduled for Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. at Village East Cinema.

Other movie titles to be screened at the festival include "Sympathy For The Devil: The True Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment," "Kosmodrome," "The Art of Human Salvage" (starring Edward James Olmos, who played Gaff in "Blade Runner") and "Chronos" ("A troubled businessman is trapped inside a hotel room stuck upside down and where time runs backwards.")

Here is this installment's randomly selected quote from "The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick":

"Perhaps the most startling aspect of reality that I saw, and one which for nearly nine months I could not fully accept, was this: the only portion of the universe which is truly real is living creatures, such as ourselves. The non-living parts are merely structure, very much like the backdrop and artificial scenery in a formal play. We see these dead objects in terms of being as real as ourselves, but again, this is a necessary illusion or delusion placed on us in order that we be able to function in what we must do, which is to grow and develop according to complex plans obscured from our gaze." (p. 71).

Schedule for 4th Annual Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival: