See the program schedule here
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Find all the people on the panel in our description of the guests
Friday May 31st at Fantasticon
- 17:00 – 20:00 Meet and Greet in the cafe (no ticket required)
We set up the con and hang out and talk. Everyone is welcome even without a ticket, so if you just want to say hi, now is a good time. If you want to volunteer to do some light and easy jobs, we need help preparing the badges, hanging posters, setting up chairs and a bunch of other jobs that requires no experience other than a willingness to move things. If you need to set up a booth, now is a great time. If you are new to Fantasticon this is a really great opportunity to meet the crew behind the convection as well as other convection-goers. We will properly share pizza and have a beer as well.
Saturday June 1st at Fantasticon
Valinor – top floor
- 10:00 – Opening ceremony and the introduction panel (English) Panel
Opening ceremony and the introduction panel where Dominic Mitchell, Catherynne M. Valente & Jane Mondrup talk about the concept of immortality in its many forms, and how we use them in genre fiction.
Dominic Mitchell, Catherynne M Valente & Jane Mondrup (moderator) - 11:00 – Danske Zombier – Er det forstæderne der gør det af dem? (Danish) Panel
Historier om levende døde er sandsynligvis så gamle som mennesket selv. Zombien (og historierne om dem) har vist sig at være forbavsende livskraftige. men er fortællinger om hjernehungrende, næsten uforgængelig væsener egentlig ikke noget der hører fortiden til; eller har nutidens zombiefortælling noget at sige det moderne massemenneske? Er det hele bare grotesk og grusom tomhjernet underholdning eller kan vi sige noget om samfundet med de hjernedøde levende døde? Og hvad med den danske zombie er den speciel, måske endda det perfekte billede af dagens Danmark eller er det bare en kopi af amerikansk popkultur?
C. C. Thybro, Patrick Leis, Karsten Brandt-Knudsen & Jesper Rugård (moderator) - 12:00 – The Price of Immortality (English) Panel
To live forever, to be able to experience everything, to travel everything and to see it all is the ultimate wish. We dream about it, tell stories about what we would do if we were immortal, scientists research it. But is it worth it? What is the price of immortality? What will we have to give up in order to live to the end of the universe?
This panel will explore the potential consequences of acquiring immortality as seen in science and in fiction – science fiction, fantasy – and horror.
Klaus Æ Mogensen, Dominic Mitchell, Anne Katrine Spanget-Larsen, Jane Mondrup & Flemming Rasch - 13:00 – Guest of Honour interview with Catherynne Valente (English) Interview
Catherynne M. Valente is interviewed about her career as an award winning science fiction, fantasy, and horror writer about her career and her writing.
Catherynne M Valente & Sidsel Pedersen - 14:00 – Categories of Science Fiction Films (English) Panel
Categories of Science Fiction Films: Long-time cinephiles Tue Sørensen og Flemming Rasch discuss (and recommend) a relevant handful of science fiction films divided into thematic categories. A pamphlet of additional titles will be available as a handout.
Tue Sørensen & Flemming Rasch - 15:00 – The Immortal Doctor (English) Panel
Who is the Doctor! A silly and irresistible strange hero with many faces deserves a silly and playful round-table talk. Who bends the genres. Who becomes absurd and extremely dramatic at the same time. Who changes with the times, as the series continually reinvents itself.
Join illusionist Anton Binder, bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente and moderator Steen Schapiro of the Danish Whovian group, for a wibbly wobbly, timey wimey TARDIS talk!
Anton Binder, Catherynne Valente, Steen Schapiro (moderator) - 16:00 – Vampire as a Metaphor (English) Panel
Dracula, Nosferatu, Edward Cullen, Colin Robinson. Media and literature are filled with famous vampires but why are we so fascinated with them? What makes them so different from other monsters and what do they actually represent? Our basic animalistic desires? The upper classes oppressing the lower classes? Our own inner demons that just wants to be loved despite our flaws?
Mariane Mide, C. A. Wolters, Dominic Mitchell & Maria O. Larsen (M) - 17:00 – Forfatterterapi Q&A – live podcast (Danish) Podcast recording with live audience
Oplev podcasten Forfatterterapi LIVE i en Q&A udgave hvor publikum selv også får lov til at stille veterangæsterne spørgsmål. Gæsterne er Michael Kamp, Mariane Mide, C.C. Thybro, Karsten Brandt-Knudsen og C.C. Thybro.
Karsten Brandt-Knudsen, Michael Kamp, C.C. Thybro, Mariane Mide & Jesper Riel
Zombieland – ground floor
- 11:00 – Salted Fish’s Road to Golden Thigh (English) Panel
Join Julie & Sanna for a talk non-Western mythology, Xianxia, immortality and Chinese legends, and play a “choose-your-own-adventure” on the big screen, all together! Can we survive the spiritual test and help our character become the best version of themselves?
Julie L. Eriksen gathers her non-existent prior knowledge to team up with Sanna Bo Claumarch, who will help us through the game and provide lots of knowledge and fun facts along the way.
Sanna Bo Claumarch & Julie L. Eriksen (M) - 12:00 – Udødelighed og efterlivet i nordisk mytologi (Danish) Talk
Vi har alle hørt om Valhal som vikingernes paradis med kamp hele dagen og mjød i lange baner, men er det hele historien, kan der være andre dødsriger/efterliv i nordisk førkristen religion. Jeg vil gennemgå kilderne og prøve at finde forskellige tanker om livet efter døden i vikingetiden.
Kim Pierri - 13:00 – Praktisk Nekromantik (Danish) Panel
Kan man blive udødelig via necromancy? Er der en forskel på zombier og udøde? Hvornår bliver det etiske bånd brudt til de udøde og det bliver okay at bruge lig som værktøj? De to mørkemagi eksperter er tilbage på Fantasticon og denne gang graver forfatterne Mariane Mide (Novice) og C.A. Wolters (Den som hvisker) helt ind til benet af praktisk necromancy. Vær med til en dybdegående og humoristisk samtale om hvad necromancy teoretisk kan bruges til og husk at ta’ dine lig med hjemmefra.
Mariane Mide & C.A. Wolters - 14:00 – Uploaded Brains (English) Panel
Science fiction has been fascinated with immortality, and ways of achieving it, since before the genre’s beginnings. Once such method is to upload a person’s entire personality into a computer, forming a complete digital virtual copy. This panel will discuss the treatment of this concept in science fiction literature, movies and TV series, and consider how it might impact the uploaded person’s interactions and perceptions of the “real” world.
Jane Mondrup, Sanna Bo Claumarch, Seb Doubinsky & Ian Sales (M) - 15:00 – Anne-Marie Vedsø Olesen interview (Danish) Interview
Den danske forfatter Anne-Marie Vedsø Olesen interviewes af Julie L. Eriksen om sit forfatterskab, kommende udgivelser, og sin seneste roman ‘Vølvens vej’ – ‘Ulvegabet’, der forankret i nordisk mytologi udfolder et brutalt og eventyrligt univers om skæbne, magt og ære i dansk jernalder. Første bind af ‘Vølvens vej’ – ‘Snehild’ – vandt DR Romanprisen, og serien er oversat til otte sprog og solgt til filmatisering. Anne-Maries forfatterskab har bevæget sig på tværs af de fantastiske genrer; hun har vundet Niels Klim-prisen for den dystopiske kortroman ‘Månen over Øen’ og prisen Årets Danske Horrorudgivelse for romanen ‘Lucie’.
Anne-Marie Vedsø Olesen & Julie L. Eriksen - 16:00 – Immortality in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings (English) Talk
At Fantasticon she will give a lecture on immortality in The Lord of the Rings. In her slightly accented English Ines (or Anwen) will tackle every race in Middle-earth, their feelings towards death and try to weigh immortality against the absence of aging.
Ines Vajzovic - 17:00 – Metusalem & Co: Langlivede mennesker (Danish) Talk
Gammel som Metusalem. Man behøver ikke engang at have læst Bibelen for at kende til udtrykket. Men hvad ligger der egentlig i det? Hør om hvor idéen om langlivede mennesker kommer fra, hvorvidt der findes noget videnskabeligt belæg for det, og hvordan idéen er blevet brugt i populærkulturen.
Rasmus Wichmann
In the library (public access without a ticket)
- 12:00 – Årets danske horrorudgivelse: Teddy Vork i samtale med Steen Langstrup (Danish) Interview
Vinder for tredje gang af prisen Årets danske horrorudgivelse fortæller med afsæt i novellesamlingen ‘Ubuden’ om sin tilgang til genren, hjemsøgte børnehaver og det mørke, der findes i skyggerne, i os selv eller lige bag os.
Teddy Vork interviewes af Steen Langstrup - 13:00 – Interview: Den armenske sarkofag m. Rasmus Wichmann (Danish) Interview
Jagten efter udødeligheden har i den vestlig kultur været nært forbundet med forestillingen om ungdommens kilde. I romanen Den Armenske Sarkofag er den blevet placeret i Kaukasus, og blevet weaponized af de krigsførende parter. Kom og hør om fup og fakta fra den nye Kolde Krig!
Forfatter Rasmus Wichmann interviews af Tue Sørensen - 14:00 – Going to Worldcon in Glasgow (English) Panel
This August ‘The World Science Fiction Convention – Worldcon’ is in Glasgow, which means that many European fans will gather in Scotland! Have you considered going? What is a Worldcon and why should you go? The panel discusses why they are going and why you should join them as well as anecdotes from past worldcons.
Carolina Gómez Lagerlöf, Mikołaj Kowalewski, Fia Karlsson, Knud Larn & Sidsel Pedersen (M) - 15:00 – Gender and Bias in Speculative Fiction (English) Panel
What makes speculative fiction so apt to challenge social conventions such as the view on gender? Seb Doubinsky interviewed a large number of authors and editors for the recently published book ‘Women of Horror and Speculative Fiction in Their Own Words’. We’re bringing the discussion to Fantasticon.
The book investigates feminism, diversity, queerness, gender stereotypes, changes within the genres and how fiction can give a voice to marginalized groups and individuals. Join us for a discussion of gender and genre (re)definitions, of the situation in the Danish publishing industry, and of traditionally under-portrayed demographies in speculative fiction.
Marie Howalt, Jane Mondrup, Anita Albæk Simonsen & Seb Doubinsky (moderator)
Sunday June 2rd at Fantasticon
9:30 – Fantasticon Auktion in the Café
We auction of donated books, movies and other genre related items to support the con. You can bid on as many or as few items as you want and there is no obligation to bid on anything just because you are there. The bids are made during the auction and the winning bid is written up and you pay afterwards. All the money goes toward the running of the convention.
Klaus Æ. Mogensen
13:00 – Romance, a tale as old as time (English & Danish) Salon in the Meeting room
Group discussion with Fia Karlsson and Sidsel Pedersen. What is it that attracts us to stories about love? How does romance mesh with science fiction and fantasy stories? We will talk about the romance genre as it relates to science fiction, fantasy and everything in between.
Fia Karlsson & Sidsel Pedersen
Valinor – top floor
- 11:00 – Guest of Honour interview with Dominic Mitchell (English) Interview
Maria O. Larsen interviews british film writer Dominic Mitchell about his writing, his career, and everything in between.
Dominic Mitchell med Maria O. Larsen - 12:00 – Interview Morten Brunberg (Danish) Interview
Morten Brunberg er mest kendt som computerspilsforfatter, men skriver også bredt inden for de fantastiske genrer, senest med romanen Gletsjeren. Kom til en snak om forskelle og ligheder mellem at skrive prosa og spilmanuskripter, spilbrancen, arbejdsgange, inspiration og om at stirre dybt ned i afgrunden.
Morten Brunberg & Karsten Brandt-Knudsen - 13:00 – Masterclass: Writing for video games(English) Talk
Dive into the world of video game narratives with Morten Brunberg, a seasoned freelance game writer with over 13 years of experience. Join Morten on a journey through the often unexpected corners of game writing, packed with tips, anecdotes, and inspiration.
Curious about how the video game industry operates? Wondering what sets game writing apart from other media? Or how to control a dramatic curve when players can make story choices? Or simply how video game scripts are crafted and executed? Then, level up your knowledge and get answers to these questions and many more in this must-see session.
Morten Brunberg - 14:00 – Fødselsdagsreception for SFC og Fantasticon med kage
Science Fiction Cirklen har 50 års jubilærum og Fantasticon bliver 20 år, hvilket vi fejre med gratis kage, rød sodavand og et lille glas. Kom og vær med til at fejre de to flotte jubilæer!
Klaus Æ Mogensen & Jesper Rugård - 15:00 – Udødelige guder og mytologiske figurer (Danish) Panel
Tag med os hinsides dødelighedens grænser og ind i de udødeliges fortællinger, hvor helte og guder trodser tidens begrænsninger. Afslør symbolikken, fascinationen og den gådefulde tiltrækning ved udødelige figurer fra myter og fiktion, fra guder til superhelte.
Malene Sølvsteen, Carsten Fogh Nielsen, Christina Ebbesen & Tue Sørensen (moderator) - 16:00 – Genre music quiz (English) Quiz
Can you guess which show or movie it is from a 15 second clip? Sidsel presents short music clips from genre movies and tv-shows. Join a team for this fast paced quiz and yes there is a prize!
Quiz master: Sidsel Pedersen
Zombieland – ground floor
- 11:00 – Den nemme quiz (Danish) Quiz
For et årti siden rystede quizmasteren Fantasticon med en superhelte-quiz der var så svær, at ingen svarede rigtigt på nogen af spørgsmålene.
Med kun en 12-13 års forsinkelse kommer nu undskyldningen i form af en quiz der er så nem, at enhver kan blive en vinder. Selv dig.
Host: Rasmus Wichmann - 12:00 – Women in fridges (English) Interview
It has been 25 years since Gail Simone coined the term “Women in refrigerators” to describe the phenomenon where a female character is killed to drive the male protagonist’s journey forward. Catherynne M. Valente and Carsten Fogh Nielsen discuss how gender and gender roles in comics have changed. Are women still stuffed into fridges so the Man has something to drive his revenge plot? Why is gender such a hot topic in the fantastical genres?
Carsten Fogh Nielsen & Catherynne M Valente - 13:00 – Highlander: There Can Be Only One! And Then Some… (English) Talk
Die-hard Highlander fans Tue Sørensen and Ulrik Kristiansen analyze what’s cool about the first movie, why the sequels utterly fail, and (most importantly!) explore what could have, and should be, done with the franchise.
Tue Sørensen & Ulrik Kristiansen - 15:00 – Japansk Manga Horror: Junji Ito (English) Talk
Juni Ito, a Japanese manga author, is know for his beautiful body horror and serene, quiet horror. Asta will give a crash course introduction to his authorship, dipping somewhat spoiler-free into his body of work. We will be looking at Uzumaki, Tomie, and some of his shorter works, like The Enigma of Amigara Fault and Slug Girl. Whether you are new to Ito’s work, or already a devotee, come along and enjoy his art. There will also be cats.
Asta Jersø - 16:00 – Kryptozoologi (Danish) Interview
Med afsæt i sin kryptozoo-bogserie fortæller Mikala Rosenkilde om fascinerende kryptozoologiske fænomener, fra vilde løver eller kænguruer i Danmark, over uhyret i Loch Ness til japanske havfruer og vanvittige monstre. Hvorfor findes der så mange øjenvidneberetninger, hvad er det, folk ser eller tror, de ser?
Mikala Rosenkilde interviewes af Steen Langstrup
Dancon – In the library (public access without a ticket)
On Sunday the library is turned into Dancon hosted by SFC who are celebrating their 50 year anniversary.
- 11:00 – Erindringer om Science Fiction Cirklens tidlige år(Danish) Panel
Svend Kreiner, Erik H. Swiatek og Richard Bertelsen - 12:00 – Formandens festtale (Danish) Tale
Niels Dalgaard - 13:00 – Fandoms fremtid (Danish) Panel
Science fiction fandom har eksisteret i Danmark i mindst et halvt århundrede. I den tid har fankulturen forandret og udviklet sig, og nutidens fandom er præget af interessenicher og digitalisering. Vil denne udvikling fortsætte, og ser vi nye tendenser som vil præge fremtiden?De seneste årtier har bragt voldsomme forandringer indenfor medier og kommunikation, så de traditionelle, trykte fanzines generelt er afløst af websider, blogs og podcasts. På nogle måder er det blevet meget lettere at komme i kontakt med andre, der deler ens interesser, men de fysiske møder er blevet færre. I samme periode er der opstået foreninger, fangrupper og arrangementer for forskellige interesser – det gælder fx rollespil og cosplay, medieformer som computerspil, film og tv-serier, og litteraturgenrer som fantasy, horror og romance. Denne mangfoldighed er selvfølgelig et glædeligt udtryk for frodighed, men rejser også spørgsmålet om aktiviteter og kontakter på kryds og tværs. Giver det mening at snakke om én fandom – og er det overhovedet ønskeligt?
Paneldeltagerne er:
Maria O. Larsen: Medlem af Fantasticons nuværende arrangørgruppe og aktiv i online fandom gennem mange år.
Jeppe Larsen: Kasserer i Science Fiction Cirklen og webmaster på foreningens hjemmeside.
Jane Mondrup: Næstformand i foreningen bag træffet Vilde Universer.
Knud Larn (moderator): Tidligere formand for både Fantasticon og Science Fiction Cirklen, samt redaktør af bladet Novum
In the library (public access without a ticket)
- 15:00 – Interview med Aske Munk-Jørgensen (Danish) Interview
Aske Munk-Jørgensen er et etableret navn på den dansk horrorscene. Senest aktuel med romanen Når frosten kommer, der var nomineret til Årets Danske Horrorudgivelse. Skillelinjen mellem virkeligheder, etik, psykisk sårbarhed og uigenkaldelige valg er gerne under lup i Askes forfatterskab. Kom til en snak om alt det mellem og på linjerne på grænsen af sindssyge.
Aske Munk-Jørgensen interviewes af Karsten Brandt-Knudsen