Science-Themed International Film Festivals
Environmental Film Festival
Washington, DC
March
Founded in 1993, the Environmental Film Festival presents a diverse selection of environmental films, including many local, national, and world premieres. Documentaries, features, animations, and shorts are shown, as well as archival, experimental, and children’s films at venues throughout the city. Films are screened at partnering museums, embassies, libraries, universities, and local theaters. Selected to provide fresh perspectives on global environmental issues, most festival films are accompanied by discussions with filmmakers, environmental experts, and special guests, including national decision makers, and are free to the public. The festival’s Web site serves as a global resource for environmental film throughout the year. The Festival does not have a formal submission process, nor does it require a submission fee. To have your film considered for entry, please send a synopsis and the running length of your film to info@envirofilmfest.org in late summer or early fall.
The Jules Verne Film Festival
Paris, France and Los Angeles, CA
April
The Jules Verne Film Festival, created in 1991, with ceremonies held in Los Angeles and Paris, allows festival goers to interact with explorers and filmmakers, artists and scientists, movie stars and environmental heroes. Events include movie premieres, documentary competitions, the Jules Verne Awards gala, and tributes to films and filmmakers representing the Jules Verne traditions of adventure and exploration. Contact information.
APS Film Festival
Washington, DC
May
The APS Film Festival screens films that promote and advance psychological science research, application, or teaching. The festival is held in conjunction with the APS Annual Convention in Washington, DC and selected films are screened at the Convention and featured on the APS website. Submit here.
NIH Science in the Cinema Festival
Silver Spring, MD
July-August
The NIH Science in the Cinema Festival is a free film festival designed to promote the public understanding of science, health, and medicine. Films with a medical science theme are screened, and an expert on the subject provides a commentary and leads a question-and-answer session. All films are shown with captions, and American Sign Language interpreters and real-time captioning are provided for the post-film discussions. For further information about the Science in the Cinema Film Festival, please contact the NIH Office of Science Education at ose@science.education.nih.gov
Scinema
Various locations in Australia
August
Inaugurated in 2000, SCINEMA was conceived as a way to forge new links between the sciences and the arts. It is a science film, video, and multimedia festival that presents dramas, documentaries, and short subjects, as well as a number of guest speakers, in venues from Cairns to Hobart, and Sydney to Perth. Submit here.
Imagine Science Film Festival
New York, NY
October
Launched in 2008, the Imagine Science Film Festival (ISFF) is New York City’s first full-fledged science-themed film festival. Its objective is to showcase films (especially fiction films) that effectively incorporate science into a compelling narrative while maintaining credible scientific groundings. The Imagine festival gathers an eclectic selection of films each year and provides an environment where filmmakers, artists, scientists and the public can meet. Submit here.
International Science Film Festival
Athens, Greece
October
International Science Film Festival, the only scientific film institution in Greece, features scientific films from all around the world that are addressed to the general public. It was started in 2006 by CAID (Centre of Applied Industrial Design), a non-profit organization. The festival provides a forum for the discussion of scientific issues in a way that is more informal than a public lectureo. An audience award is presented, along with jury prizes for scientific content and innovation. Submit here.
Pariscience International Science Film Festival
Paris, France
October
Pariscience is a six-day event that screens about 40 films that deal with scientific subjects to more than 6000 people, including schoolchildren, professionals, and the general public. Admission is free. Shorts, featurettes, and feature-length films in the genres of documentary, docudrama, and animation are on offer in the auditorium of the Great Gallery of Evolution and in the amphitheater of the Museum of Natural History.Each screening is followed by a discussion with filmmakers and scientists. Pariscience is organized by the AST (Association Science & Television). Submit here.
Planet in Focus International Environmental Film and Video Festival
Toronto, Canada
October
Planet in Focus International Environmental Film and Video Festival, Canada’s preeminent environmental film festival since 1999, promotes environmental artistic expression in the form of film, video, and new media to frame and explore environmental and ecological issues as a catalyst for awareness, discussion, and action. The PIF Educational Resource Library includes over 3,000 environmental films, and the public can access these works on a year-round basis for research and programming purposes. Submit here.
Science Festival Belgrade
Belgrade, Serbia
December
The Science Festival Belgrade features films about scientists and curiosities from the world of science. Its main aim is to connect and to establish communication between the public and the scientific institutions that seldom have an opportunity to get to a wider audience, in order to introduce and explain the significance of scientific accomplishments in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, mathematics, and other areas. Submit here.
Sloan-Affiliated Festivals and Institutions
Tribeca Film Institute
New York, NY
Sundance Institute
Park City, UT
Sundance Film Festival
Park City, UT
January
Hamptons International Film Festival Screenwriters Lab
The Hamptons, NY
April
Hamptons International Film Festival
The Hamptons, NY
October
Film Independent’s Producers Lab
Los Angeles, CA
Fall