Science Film Festival attracts a star line up

This year’s festival brings together science drama, documentaries, and short subjects, and a host of national and international guest speakers to 150 Australian towns and cities from August 15-23, 2009.

One of the guest speakers is Canberra documentary maker and science communicator Bobby Cerini who will be visiting Adelaide, Hobart and Brisbane during the next week to talk about the link between fame and science.

The Australian National University (ANU) PHD student has interviewed a host of science identities, including renowned English broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough, Canadian broadcaster and author David Suzuki, members of the science television show Mythbusters and a collection of Nobel Laureates.

“I’m looking at the public image of science and technology, and particularly those people who can really inspire and motivate us to engage with it,” Ms Cerini said.

“I want to know what excites and motivates them, what their experiences have been like, and hear how their public profile has affected them.

“It has been uplifting to hear their stories, but often humorous and heartbreaking at the same time. It’s impossible not to be inspired by their experiences

“One of the positive effects fame has had on many people is to raise awareness of particular areas of science and make it publicly accessible – for instance, David Attenborough, who is much loved.

“He makes the natural world appear accessible, and worth conserving. And he also models how crucial biological sciences are to our understanding of the world we live in.”

Other speakers include Joh Lomberg, an astronomy artist, who creates art and directs media projects and was the Astronomical Visual Consultant on the Jodie Foster film Contact.

Some of the SCINEMA 2009 film festival highlights include:

• Between the Folds, by US filmmaker Vanessa Gould, which tells the story of ten artists and scientists who abandon their careers to forge careers as modern day paper folders
• Australia’s Andrea Ulbrick’s Rodney’s Robot Revolution documentary about the race to create the world’s first affordable personal robot
• The Good Heart Attack by UK duo Uli Hesse and Sean Davidson about how a strange paradoxical discovery is saving lives
• UK filmmakers Sasha Andrews and Jeanne Guiraud’s Sound Waves tells the story of two families with deaf children and Cohclear Implants
• Big Bang in Tunguska by Germany’s Christop Schuch explores the scientific origin of the largest explosion recorded in human history

SCINEMA is supported by the Australian Federal Government as part of National Science Week.