Friday, May 19, 2006

GATEWAY FESTIVAL – EUROCONFERENCE


„CELEBRATING THE FANTASTIC"

9-11 June, 2006

Jövõ Háza, Millenáris Park – Budapest, Hungary

The 7th Atjaro (Gateway) Festival (9-11 June, 2006) is the leading science fiction and fantasy convention in Hungary. It will take place in the buildings, park and an open air stage of Millenáris Park, a civic center in the heart of Budapest.

This early summer festival pertains to literature, movies, television series and gaming. Movies and Hungarian fan films that haven't been shown anywhere before will be presented to the visitors. Among our special guest stars are actress MIRA FURLAN from Lost and Babylon 5 and actor ADRIAN PAUL from Highlander and Tracker. We will also have one of the supporting actors from the Star Wars saga GERALD HOME and GARRICK HAGON who has played in Tim Burton's Batman and in Mission Impossible. During the two and a half day convention activities various presentations will also be given; Hungarian directors and actors known from the media, representatives of digital studios and stunts are going to share the secrets of their profession with the audience.

Attendees will have the chance see the 90-minute Star Wars fan film The Dark Side: Part 2, and numerous movies that have not yet been shown in Hungarian theaters. The first prize winner of the Brussels Science Fiction Festival (BIFFF), the Hungarian short film, The 639th Doll by ANDRÁS GYÖRGY DÉSI and GÁBOR MÓRAY will be shown. Representatives from Hungarian fan clubs will be present as well, amongst these will be the Stargate, Charmed, Star Trek and Star Wars. We will also have the actors dubbing the television series, they all will be available for panel discussions with the audience.

The Atjaro (Gateway) Festival has invited some of the best authors from the European science fiction and fantasy scene. British writer and screenwriter IAN WATSON, Spanish writer and literary translator LUISA MARÍA GARCIA VELASCO, Italian author ROBERTO QUAGLIA and British author HARRY HARRISON, Grand Master of European Science Fiction, as well as editors from European literary and movie magazines. The convention has officially received the "EUROCONFERENCE" title at the European Science Fiction Society's annual meeting in Kiev. There will be a special program section in English for SF professional persons (publishers, authors and editors) about European and Central-European SF literature and fandom.

As 4, June is the International Day of Comics, illustrious personalities of Hungarian sci- fi literature; authors, graphic artists, artists, publishers and comics publishers will appear as well and participate in round-table discussions and meet and greats. They will discuss topics such as vampires and witches, historical mysteries and mythology. Science lectures will illuminate space travel, development of computers, pitfalls of genetics and countless other topics

Entertainment will also be provided in the form of theatrical and dance performances, presentations, martial arts demonstrations, fire dancers, and concerts. We plan to blow our visitors away with the festivities going on till late night both on Saturday and Sunday. During the weekend the young will have the chance to participate in arts and craft courses, archery and target practice, games that will last for two days using the entire area of the park. Those interested can see the debut of numerous indoor games, RPG, online computer games and will also be able to try them for themselves. An exhibition and sale of antiquities, books, comics, movies, musical publications also await the visitors. The youngest will be entertained by a cartoon network channel's films and games.

Hungarian fans rarely have the opportunity to meet foreign movie and television stars, writers and this is the only convention in this country that provides all this. The convention expects to entertain numerous fans and visitors from the neighboring countries as well, so a part of these programs will be enjoyable in English (by dubbing and subtitling) too.

Weekend pass: 4600 Ft (18 EUR)

With pre-registration: 4200 Ft (16 EUR)

Friday day ticket: 800 Ft (3 EUR)

Saturday day ticket: 2400 Ft (10 EUR)

Sunday day ticket: 1900 Ft (8 EUR)

Families and those who pre-register can attend the festival at considerably discounted rates.

Registration and ticket information is available from May 8 at: http://fesztival.sfportal.hu

For more information please visit:

www.sfportal.hu

www.jovohaza.hu

Contact:

Szélesi Sándor

Festival director

sheenard@sfportal.hu

Peter Michaleczky

Foreign Liaison

michaleczky@hotmail.com

Tel: +36 20 4787412

Celebrity Guests

Mira Furlan: The „Ambassador" with A Thousand Faces

Mira Furlan is one of the best and best known Croatian actresses of our times. Science fiction fans will no doubt fondly remember her as ambassador Delenn from Babylon 5, or from the television series Lost, where the talented actress plays a role of great importance.

Mira Furlan was born September in Zagreb, in the former Yugoslavia. As an actress at the start of the career with the Croatian National Theater Company tagja volt, she appeared in numerous productions and has won the coveted "Golden Arena" Award twice in the best actress category. One of her most successful movies, „When Father Was Away on Business", (1985) won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film festival. In the beginning of her movie career not only has she proved her acting skills, but her wonderful singing voice in various musicals. She was also a member of the Le Cinema music group for a short period of time.

In 1991 Furlan and family fled the country during the South Slavonic War, the actress and her husband started a new life in The United States. Mira Furlan landed her first American role in 1993 in the Babylon 5 science fiction series where she portrayed the enigmatic Ambassador Delenn. During the production of its 110 episodes the series has reached critical acclaim and has become a cult classic.

Furlan has started traveling back to Croatia in 2002, but also has continued to land roles in the US as well. The hugely successful Lost series provides her with excellent opportunities to shine, she portrays recurring character Danielle Rousseau, a woman who's been stranded on the island for years.

The actress and singer has turned to journalism the past couple years. Her articles have been published in Feral Tribune. Furlan speaks English, French, can converse in German, Croatian, gets by in Italian and in Russian. She resides in The United States with her husband, director Goran Gajic and her son. She often takes time to visit her homeland, Croatia. Mira Furlan will attend Átjáró Fesztivál with her family.

Adrian Paul: Who Dances with Immortals

Adrian Paul is no stranger to Hungarian viewers. The national broadcasters currently air two of his series', Tracker and Highlander, he is probably best recognized as Duncan MacLeod.

Adrian Paul was born in London, 1959 to an Italian mother and a British father. He's learned to speak French as well as his parents' languages. He has started acting during his school years, but soon he turned to other interests. He started modeling, and then became a dancer and choreographer. In 1986 he's decided to continue his career as an actor, he played a Russian ballet dancer on The Colbys.

He debuted on the movie screens 1989 in The Last Rites, and landed his first leading role in Masque of the Red Death. He was a cast member of the War of the Worlds series between 1989 and 1990, then got a taste of being a superhero. In the 1991 The Owl he played a soldier who never needed to sleep.

1992 was the breakthrough year for him, when he picked up the sword as Duncan MacLeod in the Highlander TV series. Audiences quickly grew fond of the charming immortal, fans compared him to a young Sean Connery. Due to the success of the TV show, the movie series got another installment as well. Highlander 4: Eng Game saw Adrian Paul's Duncan MacLeod and Christopher Lambert's Connor MacLeod fight side by side for a just cause.

Harry Harrison, Grand Master of European Science Fiction

Henry Maxwell Dempsey, also known as Harry Harrison is one of the most influential science fiction writers of our days. At the 2006 Kiyv EuroCon Fesztival he has been honored with the "Grand Master of European Science Fiction" award.

Henry Maxwell Dempsey was born March 12, 1925 in Stamford, Connecticut, in the United States. As a young author he was drafted and served in the US military during World War II. He first started in science fiction as a graphics artist, he created illustrations for the works of others.

His writing career took off with smaller works, he published under the alias Wade Kaempfert. In the 1950's and 60's he worked at Flash Gordon. Like before, he primarily worked as an graphic artist, but has already had longer novels published. In 1966 his most influential work, Make Room! Make Room! hit the stores, director Richard Fleischer adapted the novel as Soylent Green (1973) starring Charlton Heston.

The novel introducing Stainless Steelrat, is very popular in Hungary as well has first hit the stores in 1961 and after a decade the series was already a cult hit. Harrison has searched for an environment that best fit him not only in his novels, but in real life as well. The American author has lived in a number of European countries, such as Denmark, England and Italy. He currently resides in England.

posted by Ilona @ 1:45 AM

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