Science Fiction Against the Margins showcases filmmakers who occupy the “margins” of mainstream cinema in order to challenge and subvert the science fiction genre. Hollywood’s ubiquitous sci-fi story structure functions within the conventions of action-driven melodrama, resolving social issues in private, emotional and moral terms that reinforce the status quo. This series offers an alternative body of media wherein a speculative mode of thinking outside familiar expectations of narrative resolution opens up representations of race and ethnicity, gender politics and cultural identity. While the focus is on the feature film as a global form of mass entertainment, the series also includes documentaries, shorts, video art and television episodes.

Presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive in partnership with UCLA Cinema & Media Studies in the School of Theater, Film & Television.