The 2010 Athens International Science Film Festival is over now.
There were 7 days, and each of them faded out in the beauty of the
7th art and there was science in 7 sections. What I
really liked during the festival was that I've saw people in the
cinema hall who were taking notes; they were writing on their
hands, on a piece of paper, they were using the cell or PDA's. For
example, seven is the last digit of the Graham's number (note 1);
the octopus learns fast (note 2); much of beauty and structure in
the natural world is hidden in the laws of physics (note 3); or the
way of communicating science of robots worth a prize (note 4).
The cinema room of the Cervantes Institute in Athens, Greece,
was more like a library; an audio and video science library where
everybody took notes for further understanding.
What I disliked was the small number of people at the very
beginning days of the festival; and that in comparison with the big
number of people from the last days of the event. Personally, I'm
upset as not being a Greek language speaker. It was the reason for
not taking part at the debates organised.
I also regret that none of the space-astronomy films was
awarded. The Evolution of the Moon (Japan, 2008), The
Big Bang, My Ancestors and Me (France, 2009), Voyage to
the Planets: Saturn (Australia, 2010), Asteroid
Impact (UK, 2009), and not even Eyes on the Skies
(Germany, 2009). Maybe the Audience Prize that is to be announced
soon will thanks sky lovers.
The festival proved again the extraordinary force of the film in
science communication. However, if the film is the king,
the queen should be considered the script that essentially
contributes to the success of the documentary. From this
perspective most of all presented films were having a nice story to
tell to the audience.
The ISFFA 2010 audience consisted of students, teachers,
professors, scientists, film producers, artists and journalists.
Generally speaking, I am considering that all of the films were
very instructive and the boring effect - expected by
persons with no interest in science at all - was reduced at
minimum.
A child of 10 years old - Alexander, who came at the festival
with his mother with a high interest in science communication and
outreach - watched most of the films with curiosity and many
'Wow's'.
I think that the festival should be included in the science
communication and science journalism international events, such as
the Public Communication of Science and Technology conference
(PCST), and the World
Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ).
Finally, I want to mention the presentation of AthenaWeb, the well-known
science video channel. I have the feeling that the website should
be often visited by each person with an interest in science.
More details about ISFFA2010 are available
here.
Notes:
1. It is of no surprise that the
film Horizon: To Infinity and Beyond about mathematics
receive the Art section award.
2. Aliens of the Deep was
awarded the Innovation & Technology Prize.
3. The Secret Life of Chaos
was the winner of the Best Film Prize.
4. Plug & Pray,
Germany, 2009.