Revisiting Science on Screen with Isabella Rossellini

On the occassion of the Criterion Channel's streaming premiere of GREEN PORNO+, we are revisiting our 2017 Science on Screen program of underwater-themed films and a conversation with actor and director Isabella Rossellini and marine chemical biologist Mandë Holford. Almost exactly seven years ago, on March 26, 2017, we presented archival 35mm prints of French filmmaker Jean Painlevé's four films THE SEA HORSE (1933); ACERA, or THE WITCHES’ DANCE (1972); SHRIMP STORIES (1964) and THE LOVE LIFE OF THE OCTOPUS (1967). These were paired with a selection from Isabella Rossellini’s playfully stylized series GREEN PORNO exploring how the starfish, shrimp, squid, and anchovy reproduce. The program also features a rarity: the first film by Roberto Rossellini, FANTASIA SOTTOMARINA (1940), newly subtitled in English, which follows two fish, in love, whose lives are threatened by an octopus. Following the screening, Curator of Science & Technology Sonia Epstein moderated a discussion with Rossellini and Holford about underwater films, reproductive biology, and more. Watch the conversation in full:

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