Abandon Normal Devices’ Watch the Skies sci-fi screenings at Jodrell Bank

Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire is one of the area’s most popular tourist attractions -and this October, it will play host to a very special cinematic event. Watch the Skies features two days of science fiction cinema, and will be the first time a large-scale film screening has taken place at the observatory. Starting in the early evening, there will be science and sci-fi centred talks followed by a series of visual displays projected on to the radio telescope itself. As night falls, the outdoor screening will take place. The Friday evening screening will be Stanley Kubrick’s seminal 2001: A Space Odyssey, while Saturday features Ridley Scott’s Alien plus a newly commissioned soundtrack from WARP musician Oneohtrix Point Never for Magnetic Rose, a rarely seen short film from Koji Morimoto, the creator of Akira. Both nights also feature an exclusive audio-visual work for the Lovell telescope, from Soup Collective, featuring a homage to the science fiction genre. Watch the Skies is curated by Abandon Normal Devices, the festival of new cinema, digital culture and art.

Fri 3 – Sat 4 Oct, Jodrell Bank Observatory, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 9DL, 5.30pm – 11pm, £15, www.andfestival.org.uk