Mariana 627 | United Kingdom | 2019 | 22’
Director: Finbarr Pine, Gareth Rowntree
Writers: Matt George Lovett, Chris Mitchell
Producer: Gareth Rowntree
Cast: Douglas Utting, Ryan O’Connor
Synopsis: In the unexplored depths of the galaxy, at the edge of the known universe, lies monitoring station Mariana 627. Distance from Earth: 235 light years Days Operational: 1523 Crew: 1 For Kurt, sole inhabitant of the distant station, every day is the same. He wakes up. He makes coffee. He waits for a signal he knows will never come. He rinses and repeats. His only companions are the black and white figures of old Earth cartoons and a faded pin-up girl named Gloria. One month is much like the next for the lonely spaceman until the surprise arrival of iZak, an integrated AI system sent to automate the facility… and replace Kurt aboard Mariana 627. With his time on the station finally drawing to a close, Kurt must teach his new companion everything he knows. But when the moment comes, will he really be leaving the facility in safe hands? ‘Mariana 627’ is a sci-fi short film about friendship, isolation and robots in the bleak abyss of deepest space.
