Overview of Entries for Magnolia Awards | Mankind’s Ceaseless Steps to Turn Science Fiction Fancies into Reality!

From the TV drama THREE-BODY to the Lunar New Year blockbuster THE WANDERING EARTH II, audiences have gained insight into the mysteries of the universe and outlook of mankind in the journey of dream-making and dream-chasing time and again. TV workers around the world are also working tirelessly to bring science fiction into reality. Among the entries of the documentary section for this year's Magnolia Awards, there is a range of excellent documentaries that explore the boundaries of science and record human adventures. Among them, RENDEZVOUS WITH THE FUTURE mirrors future technology in real life; SEVEN DAYS ON MARS witnesses the dream-seeking journey of individuals and human beings; DREAMERS & GENIUSES casts light on the lives of great inventors that are unknown to people; KILLER deduces the solution to the cosmic crisis; DEADLY SCIENCE uncovers the secrets behind the pioneers... The exploration of the unknown is the eternal engine for human development. These works truly record the success and failure of every adventure, and thus become the most faithful participant and witness in the progress of human civilization.

RENDEZVOUS WITH THE FUTURE 

(China/UK)

What we see in science fiction works may be our future! We are surprised to see in this series of documentaries that the most mind-blowing plots in the original sci-fi works have happened in research and practice unbeknown. The work is produced by Bilibili and made by BBC Science Unit. The Science fiction writer Liu Cixin, as the clue character and narrator, shares in it with representatives from the world's most cutting-edge scientific research fields how the plots, technologies and assumptions in his works take place in our real life.

SEVEN DAYS ON MARS 

(UK)

In 1980, the young Brian Cox wrote to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, asking them to provide some pictures of planetary missions, and then these data from the Voyager and Viking missions to Mars stirred up his interest in Mars exploration and seeded the dream of becoming a physicist in him. More than 40 years later, Professor Brian finally obtained the privilege of entering the laboratory. In a week, he, following the research and development team of the Perseverance Rover and the Mars Helicopter, witnessed the birth of the first alien-powered aircraft.

DREAMERS & GENIUSES 

(Poland)

This documentary turns the lens to the past retrospectively, to tell about the great inventions that are "indispensable" in our lives but have long been taken for granted based on rich historical materials. Be it handheld cameras, windshield wipers, bulletproof vests, tank periscopes, color photography, blood typing systems, or microprocessor technology, etc., all of these inventions are in widespread use across the world, with many wonderful ideas behind them. And the documentary will also walk into the unknown lives of these exceptionally visionary inventors.

Killers of the Cosmos

(UK/China)

In the seemingly magnificent and quiet universe actually hides fatal dangers: black holes, gamma-ray bursts, space junk, meteorites, alien civilizations, and parallel universes. The protagonist is a private detective who, with the help of scientists around the world, will track down these devastating cosmic disasters and try to find a solution to them. This work, taking on the look of "suspense + comics", makes the originally esoteric and difficult knowledge of astronomy vivid and interesting, and tickles the aesthetic taste of young audiences instantly.

DEADLY SCIENCE

(Germany/Canada)

Human beings' desire to push ahead the boundaries of the known world often leads to tragedies, as it is not rare to see that explorers are trapped in storms and inventors are killed by their own inventions...yet human’s steps into the unknown world never stops. Through reproduction of histories, expert interviews, exposure of archival secrets and virtual imaging technology, this work brings the audience back to the lives of pioneers, to find out how they changed an industry, where great creativity comes from, and what kind of world they want to create for us aside from answers for a bunch of doubts about them.

The charm of science fiction works is that with the help of the creators' extraordinary imagination, the audience can re-examine our past, present and future on the premise of scientific hypotheses. Through different observation perspectives and recording methods, the above-mentioned entries present human beings' exploration of the unknown world on the screen in a visible and perceptible way, shortening the distance between the public and science, and inspiring more young people to embrace the dream about the future. We believe that with the efforts of TV workers, there will be more excellent science fiction documentary works in the future, to fill people with courage in their explorations!

Which works can finally gain the favor of this year's Magnolia Awards? Please stay tuned!