Event Highlights

Among the main festival attractions:

The Opening Feature: Alien vs. Predator Special Pre-Release Showing
During an archaeological expedition in Antarctica, a team of scientists find themselves caught up in a battle between the two legends. Soon, the team realizes that only one species can win. Whoever wins... We lose. Another sequel to both movie franchises, this time confronting each other, a cinematic adaptation to the famous computer game.

Science Fiction and Fantasy movies
The festival will offer some of the best and most talked-about movies of the genre, such as Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula; From Hell (with Johnny Depp and Heather Graham), which tries to uncover the mystery of Jack the Ripper; and a premiere showing of the bizarre horror/comedy, Bubba Ho-Tep.

Earthlings: Ugly Bags of Mostly Water
This comic documentary of the Klingon Language Institute comes to us straight from the Cannes festival and before the world premiere. For the trailer and further info see the official site at www.earthlings-movie.com.

Trekkies II
This newly-released sequel to the successful documentary Trekkies is already a sensation among fans. For further details and a trailer see startrek.com article and www.trekkies2.com.
The screening will be accompanied by a lecture from the very popular speaker, Dr. Thomas Goodman, on Star Trek fandom in general and the Israeli fandom in particular.

Special Screening of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek fans will appreciate a one-time-only 35mm screening of the best-loved Star Trek motion picture.

The ICon staff would like to thank the following for their kind help in bringing the above movies to the ICon audience: Alexander O. Phillippe from Mostly Water Productions, Christina Campbell from UIP-UK, Roger Nygard from Trekkies Productions, Konrad Peter from Paramount Pictures, and Denise Crosby.

Animation, Anime and Comics
Courtesy of Keshet and Shortcut productions, ICon will feature the original Israeli animation series Mem-Kuf 22, with genre-oriented storylines that include time-travel, robots and electric sheep.
Israeli comics guru Uri Fink will head a comics workshop.
Classic and new anime masterpieces, such as Cowboy Be-Bop, will be screened next to lectures about creators of contemporary anime.
Other screenings and lecutres will feature G.I. Joe, Transformers, and Visionaries, as well as The Simpsons, Futurama and South Park.

Live Performances
A unique performance will be held by Duralex-Sedelex, an Israeli hardcore punk-rock band. Duralex-Sedelex will perform an alternative soundtrack to the classic German silent film from 1922, Nosferatu.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show -- tasteless, tactless, pointless; in one word, horrible. And yet, it has amassed a huge number of fans all over the world. A screening of the movie along with the must-have "show" -- a cast of "actors" who present the ludicrous plot on stage and in-character -- has become an ICon tradition, and will be honored this year as well.

Lectures: History, Anthropology, Mythology, Science and Literature
Lt. Colonel (ret.) Yizhak Mayo, a veteran of the Israeli astronaut project, will attend as a guest at the festival and will hold a lecture about the project. The other lectures present a line-up of the very best of experts in many academic fields -- Prof. Yoram Kirsch (physics), Dr. Daniella Gurevitch (mythology), Dr. Thomas Goodman (physics and astronomy), Dr. Emanuel Lottem (literature and translation), Dr. Ofir Ilan (medicine) and doctoral student Tovi Bibring (history and anthropology).

Lectures Based on Television Episodes
Fans of Star Trek, Babylon 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Stargate will enjoy the lectures discussing issues of life and death from various perspectives throughout their favorite series. Dr. Ofir Ilan will be talking about the Hippocratic Oath and the patient's rights as featured in Star Trek; other lectures will discuss the portrayal of war crimes in Babylon 5, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, the Buffy-verse approach to undeath and the afterlife, the religious and sociological perception of death in the Star Trek universe, and more.

Role Playing Games and Live Role Playing
A substantial portion of the festival is devoted to RPG enthusiasts. During the festival, the halls and classrooms will be converted in the players' minds to strange and fantastic worlds: battlefields between orcs and elves, aliens and humans. Outside, in the different yards and open-spaces of the festival, "real" (live) role playing games will feature gallant knights looking for treasure, hunting down dragons and rescuing damsels in distress. If you don't have a lot of time but still want to get the feel of it, remember, anyone can pick up a sword and try his luck at the Coloseum.

Children's Workshops and the Planetarium
Aside from the many comics and animations activities, many workshops in the festival are specifically children-oriented -- such as the model painting, War Hammer, and role playing workshops. One of the festival halls will feature an inflatable planetarium, in which astronomers from Tel Aviv University will instruct groups of visitors about the night sky and the myths surrounding the various constellations.