The 7th International Festival of Scientific Films is organized in Athens by the Caid Center for Society, Science and Art. The festival will take place from October 24 to November 1, 2013, at the Therbantes Institute of Athens, at the Greek Film Archive and at the Caid Multipurpose Hall in Renti. The festival will not only focus on its competition segment, but will also be framed by parallel events with the theme “Science and Scientific Fiction”.
At the Festival, 88 scientific films from 20 countries will be screened, and 26 films will compete for 5 awards: Best Film, Innovation-Technology, Art, Science Communication, and Audience. Through the screenings and related activities of the festival, the audience will have the opportunity to get closer to answers to critical scientific questions, such as, for example, what is the origin of life and the composition of the Universe.
Are you ready to learn some groundbreaking information about the probiotic-enriched yogurt you eat? How has humanity, having submerged itself in an ocean of artificial frequencies, stifled the natural coordination of life on Earth? How do animals actually think? Ultimately, in this miracle called life, does size matter? What should we expect and what should we fear regarding the colonization of the Moon? Will imagination be able to surpass reality and save the climate? And which images changed the course of Science? These are only a few of the questions that the films to be shown at the Festival will try to “answer”.
Within the framework of the Festival, an international collective exhibition of contemporary art titled “Violence?”, under the editorship of Maria Maragkou. This collective exhibition of contemporary art on one of the most pressing issues of our time will run from 30 October to 30 November 2013.
Also, an experimental concert “The Birth of Lightning” will be presented by the Center for Contemporary Music Research, where the audience will relive the experience and the process of creation as well as the results of this natural phenomenon.
The screening of the documentary “Scientific Research in Attica” produced by Caid-Center for Society, Science and Art, in which the most important research centers of Attica are presented and the scientific and professional prospects of researchers in crisis-stricken Greece are examined.
In the framework of the parallel events of the festival, a series of short science-fiction films will be shown in collaboration with the Internationl Science Fiction & Fantasy Film Festival of Athens (SFF-rated Athens). Science will be viewed through a different lens, that of the filmmakers of science-fiction movies. Twenty-five science-fiction films stimulate emotions and provoke a re-examination of the views on science and ethics to date.
Additionally, five days of student screenings will be held with 10 different scientific documentaries in special showings for middle school and high school students. Also, in round‑table discussions the authors and filmmakers of science and science‑fiction will meet, and in collaboration with the Book Publishers Association a science and science‑fiction book exhibition will operate.
The 7th International Festival of Scientific Films of Athens, which will have free admission for the public to all its events, will bring children and adults closer to Science and Science Fiction. It will satisfy all interests as it covers a wide range of sciences, such as the physical sciences, neuroscience, biology, genetics, the history of science and technology, entomology, ecology, dramaturgy and astronomy.
www.ekt.gr,with information from CAID, Greek Film Archive, Cervantes Institute
