Eatalian Talks – Italian Science Fiction 1930s/1960s
About the event
We are happy to share the next event in the Eatalian Talks series at our institute, highlighting the Italian contribution to science fiction. Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival’s director Simon Foster will present an in-depth look at the two Italian films screening at the 2026 edition supported by Istituto Italiano di Cultura – Mario Bava’s 1965 masterwork Planet of the Vampires and Luciana Sympa’s digital rendering of the classic 1936 comic Saturn Against the Earth. Eatalian Talks - Tuesday 6 October 2026 from 12:30pm to 1:10pm Event in English Free admission, booking on our Eventbrite page, walk-ins welcome Refreshments and soft drinks are offered to all participants. The festival will take place in Sydney from 9 to 11 October 2026, with screenings of Italian films scheduled for 1pm and 3:30pm on 10 October at the Event Cinema on George Street in Sydney. Planet of the Vampires | Terrore nello spazio (Dir: Mario Bava; Italy/Spain, 1965) Legendary filmmaker Mario Bava’s masterpiece follows two massive spacecraft as they set out to explore the unknown planet Aura. Considered a precursor to Ridley Scott’s Alien and an inspiration for Scott’s later film Prometheus, this sci-fi thriller features legendary designer Carlo Rambaldi’s massive alien skeletons, cinematic iconography that contributes an otherworldly terror to Bava’s eerie interplanetary odyssey. Saturn Against the Earth | Saturno contro la Terra (Dir: Luciana Sympa; Italy, 80 mins) | International Premiere Ninety years ago, Cesare Zavattini, the father of Neorealism, imagined the future by creating the first Italian science fiction comic series – Saturno conto la Terra. It is a work that has become iconic in global graphic novel history. To celebrate its 90th anniversary, Italian digital artists have brought the characters and story to vivid life using cutting-edge animation technologies. This Special Event Screening, brought to Event Cinemas as part of the Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival in conjunction with the Italian Cultural Institute of Sydney, will include an interview with Prof. Lorenzo Benadusi, author of the book The World to Come: Italians and the Future 1851-1945, on the history and social impact of Italian science fiction over a century of cinema, literature and comics.
