Sci-Fi with Soul: Canberra’s Space Film Festival Imagines a Kinder Tomorrow
When you think of science fiction, what comes to mind? Apocalyptic battles? AI rebellions? A race to escape a dying Earth? For most, sci-fi paints a future of struggle and survival. But what if it didn’t have to? What if, instead, it could offer something else, something grounded in unity, compassion, and the kind of scientific curiosity that uplifts rather than divides?
That’s the vision behind the 2025 Space Faring Civilisation (SFC) Film Festival, returning to Canberra on Saturday 9 August as part of National Science Week. In a world flooded with crisis and conflict, this event is a quiet rebellion — not against science fiction, but against cynicism.
For founder and filmmaker Masoud Varjavandi, it’s deeply personal.
“This isn’t escapism,” Masoud says.
“It’s a reminder, through science and
storytelling, that peace, progress, and
unity are achievable. But first, we have
to be able to imagine them.”
Held at Dendy Cinemas Canberra, the evening is a celebration of short films, both fiction and documentary, that challenge the dystopian norm and dare to dream of a better future. What Masoud calls “positive space films.”
A New Kind of Space Story
The Space Faring Civilisation Film Festival is unlike any other sci-fi film event in the country. Now in its fourth edition (following a brief pause in 2024), the festival curates films that explore what humanity could become if we lead with compassion, science, and global cooperation. It’s science fiction with soul.
From speculative shorts that explore interplanetary justice systems, to documentaries on ethical space exploration, the program asks bold questions: What kind of civilisation do we want to become? What stories are we telling our children about the future? And how can the intersection of science and storytelling shape what’s next?
“I started this festival as a way to imagine
the kind of future I want our descendants
to live in,” says Masoud.
From Conflict to Cosmos: Masoud’s Journey
Masoud’s own story reads like a script born for the screen. Born in Iran, his family fled the country in 1979 as persecution of the Baha’i community intensified. They spent four years in Sri Lanka, itself descending into civil war, before finally arriving in Australia in 1983. For Masoud, then just a child, the trauma was overwhelming.
“I didn’t have the language for it then,
but I was afraid and confused,” he recalls.“What helped me survive emotionally were
the shows I escaped into Star Trek,
Doctor Who, later Carl Sagan’s Cosmos.
These weren’t just entertainment. They were
windows into a different world, one where
people of all backgrounds worked together
with wisdom, compassion, and science.”
He later built a successful career in information technology, eventually becoming an IT architect. But in the mid-2010s, after facing redundancy, Masoud found himself returning to the science fiction that had once saved him. So he trained in filmmaking and launched the SFC Film Festival, not just as a showcase of science, but as a cultural space to reimagine what humanity can become.
A Festival for Everyone. Especially Dreamers
This year’s festival invites Canberrans of all ages to come together for an unforgettable night of films, community, and future-focused reflection.
Dendy Cinemas Canberra – Cinema 3
Saturday 9 August 2025
5:00 PM – 9:00 PM
5:00 PM – 8:00 PM: Screening of 17 Short Films
The program includes a curated selection of 17 short films from around the globe, a mix of science fiction and documentary, each offering its own vision of humanity’s potential. Whether exploring the philosophical implications of AI or the political ethics of colonising Mars, each film invites the audience to dream forward, not fearfully retreat.
These are films that speak of imagination, our place in the universe, what’s out there, and crucially what’s within us.
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM: Connection, Community & Prizes
After the screening, audiences are invited to gather in the Dendy foyer for a relaxed networking session, complete with the opportunity to vote for their favourite film in the “People’s Choice Award.” Each attendee will receive a free gift bag and go into a draw to win a prize.
Soft drinks and snacks will be available from the cinema’s candy bar, and festival staff will be on hand to ensure everyone feels welcome, whether you're a die-hard sci-fi fan, a science enthusiast, or just someone curious about a different kind of story.
Not Just Films. A Movement
The SFC Film Festival isn’t just an event, it’s part of a broader movement to use art and science as vehicles for empathy and change. Canberra, with its mix of multicultural communities, space research industries, and vibrant creative scene, offers fertile ground for that mission.
Masoud sees the city as a model for the future he imagined as a child, a place where people of different backgrounds live, work, and thrive together.
“Canberra reminds me of the society
I once saw only on screen,” he says.
“Multiculturalism, peace, and innovation,
it’s all here.”
The festival is independently run and fuelled by volunteers, with support from local science organisations, artists, and community members. It is proudly part of the official ACT National Science Week program, reinforcing the role of science not just in technology, but in our collective wellbeing.
And it’s not just fiction. Earlier on the same day, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Canberra Centre, the SFC Film Festival team will also host a family-friendly stop-motion animation workshop as part of “Science in the Centres,” helping young people create their own science-themed mini-films and learn about storytelling through motion.
Beyond the Big Screen: Why This Matters
In a media landscape dominated by fear-based storytelling and bleak projections of the future, the SFC Film Festival is a much-needed counterpoint. It reminds us that we are not powerless passengers on a doomed planet, but active agents in shaping what’s next.
“The stories we tell, in film, in science, in our homes
they shape the culture we build,” says Masoud.
“We can build a future based on hope and justice,
but first we have to believe it's possible.”
That belief is exactly what this festival offers. Not a naive optimism, but a grounded hope, informed by science, inspired by imagination, and led by values.
For anyone feeling worn out by the news cycle, disconnected from the cosmos, or unsure about the future, the 2025 Space Faring Civilisation Film Festival is an invitation: to imagine more, to believe again, and to gather with others who think the future is worth dreaming about.
At Purpose Media CBR, we don’t just report the story, we go deeper, into the journey behind it. Masoud’s life, the films on screen, and the community coming together on 9 August are all part of the same truth: that where there is imagination, there is always a way forward.
So, bring a friend. Bring your curiosity. Bring your love of popcorn and possibility.
We’ll see you at the cinema.
Book your tickets:
https://sfcfilms.com/film-festival/
