Dublin 2019 to host Irish Science Fiction Film Festival and Golden Blaster Awards
The National Irish Science Fiction Film Festival and Golden Blaster awards ceremony will take place in August as part of Dublin 2019 – An Irish Worldcon.
More than 4300 people have already registered for Dublin 2019, enabling the presenters’ films to reach an unprecedented audience. The festival has taken place and the Golden Blaster awards have been given since 2009.
“This event brings greater recognition to filmmakers who create speculative fiction in the short film format,” said James Bacon, the chairman of Dublin 2019. “It’s an honor to be involved in this long-running film world gathering and to bring the works of Irish speculative filmmakers to one of the planet’s largest fan-run events.”
The NISFF provides a platform for science fiction, fantasy and horror from all over the world. The final closing date for films to be entered is June 30, 2019.
Award categories include the Golden Blasters for Best Picture and Best Screenplay and the Silver Blaster Audience Award. Recent previous award ceremonies have been held at Octocon, the Irish national science fiction convention.
Dublin 2019 will be held from August 15 to August 19 at the Convention Centre Dublin and other locations around the city (Worldcon Fringe). It will be the 77th World Science Fiction Convention and is aimed at both veteran fans and newcomers. At least 700 of those registered say they will be attending Worldcon for the first time.
Other activities at the Dublin Worldcon will include the 2019 Hugo Awards, the world’s leading awards for excellence in science fiction and fantasy, as well as the spectacular Masquerade costume display. There are typically 650 to 800 separate programme items, including author readings and autograph sessions, feature films and videos, academic presentations, and panel discussions on speculative literature and other media, many involving fans and audience.
Guests of Honour for Dublin 2019 include screenwriter and Hugo winner Ian McDonald, as well as YA author Diane Duane and game designer Steve Jackson (Melee, Chaos Machine, Munchkin) and editor Ginjer Buchanan. Science Guest of Honour will be Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who discovered radio pulsars in 1967 as a postgraduate student. Bill and Mary Burns will be fan Guests of Honour.
More information and membership registration for Dublin 2019 are available at https://dublin2019.com. Follow us on Twitter at @dublin2019.
More information on the NISFF and the Golden Blasters, including submissions, will be available at http://www.goldenblasters.com.
