Discover our public events exploring the communication and imaginaries of science in sci-fi film and the cultural ideas it generates in different media and mediums.
EVENT 3: Exploring the moon as you’ve never seen before! – THE LAST STEPS and APOLLO 11 QUARANTINE (Jan 2023)
This event took us back to the 1960s and 1970s – it was the Canberra premiere screening of two critically acclaimed short documentaries chronicling the Apollo missions. Thrillingly told using never-before-seen archival footage and audio recordings, Apollo 11 Quarantine took us to what happened to NASA’s most celebrated mission, the first to land humans on the Moon, after returning to Earth. Last Steps shows the last time humans have left the Moon, and what we may see when we go back. The films were introduced by producer Stephen Slater, who supplied much of the previously-unseen footage and recordings of the Apollo missions.


EVENT 2: Science from Outer Space in Mars Attacks! (Aug 2022)
FAR OUT°2
In September 2022 we showed and discussed Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! in the Arc Cinema of the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra – with a focus on the intricate relationship between science and humour in fictional space contexts. Stay tuned for more space film adventures!





EVENT 1: Spaced-out Visions of Outer Space and its Sciences in Visual Fictions (online seminar)
FAR OUT°1
Moderated by two academics from the ANU – studying space narratives from the perspectives of astronomy (Dr Brad Tucker) and popular entertainment (Dr Anna-Sophie Jürgens) – and supported by Inspiring the ACT, the first FAR OUT-event was a round table discussion with three distinguished guest speakers: the visual effects specialist and scientist Oliver James, who worked on Christopher Nolan’s 2014 blockbuster ‘Interstellar’, the special effects artist and director Stephen Chiodo, creator of the 1988 cult film ‘Killer Klowns from Outer Space’, and performance artist Le Pustra, a colourful shapeshifting conduit thriving on visual sci-fi, theatre and drag. Discover the videos they created for this event!

Since the emergence of the medium film at the beginning of the twentieth century, space adventures and space sciences have been explored in our cinematic space narratives, visual sci-fi stories and outer space films. Although they appear in some of the earliest and most influential cultural products, such as Georges Méliès’s 1902 famous short film A Trip to the Moon, in countless films ever since and even in recent Hollywood blockbuster movies, such as Ridley Scott’s The Martian, the way space sciences are portrayed or imagined and, more so, how pop cultural space narratives actually influence film makers and artists has hardly been explored. Addressing this gap, this event investigated the role, facets and significance of science in the visual fictions.
The online event was accompanied by “Andromeda is Coming…”. “Andromeda is Coming…” is a Canberra-based electronic and experimental duo featuring two academics from the Australian National University (Charles Martin and Alexander Hunter). Using viola da gamba, percussion, live electronics and found sounds from Earth and beyond, their live soundtrack works explore potential soundscapes from our collective imagined futures.


Madame Le Pustra is a dazzling art figure, actor and singer best known for his provocative cabaret – Le Pustra’s Kabarett der Namenlosen – a show inpired by the cabaret of the Weimar Republic and early 20th century culture. Le Pustra can be best described as (but not limited to) an iridescent queer kunstfigur – a creation of beauty and living work of Surrealism-inspired art. From underground cabaret darling to accidental club kid-cum-avant-garde fashion muse, Le Pustra is a colourful shapeshifting conduit thriving on visual stimuli. His evocative and unique style has been captured in numerous photo books, international publications, articles, museums and paintings. Some critics compared his art with the work of Tim Burton. Other reviewers described him as “visceral, subversive and, above all, entertaining” and as “offbeat”, “thrilling and delighting”.
Oliver James, the Chief Scientist at Double Negative, joined the Research & Development team at The Computer Film Company (CFC) in 1995. Oliver spent a total of five years at CFC before moving on to Warner Bros.’ ESC Entertainment in 2001, and The Moving Picture Company in 2003. In 2004 he joined Double Negative where he has been developing high-end technology to realise some of the most demanding visual effects in film. Film credits include: Event Horizon, Sexy Beast, The Matrix Reloaded & Revolutions, Batman Begins, Harry Potter, Quantum of Solace, Inception and Interstellar.


Stephen Chiodo is an American special effects artist and puppeteer. He is president and creative director of Chiodo Bros. Productions, Inc. Chiodo has established himself as a highly creative special effects director with an expertise in stop-motion animation. He has collaborated with Tim Burton and Rich Heinrichs as a technical director and animator for the acclaimed animated short Vincent. His directing credits include the first feature length clay animated film I Go Pogo and the cult classic Killer Klowns from Outer Space. His latest film is Alien Xmas (2020).