Science. Art. Film.

Monthly science film screenings in collaboration with the Australian National University

Arc Cinema

Various

$8 (+$1.50 booking fee)

February—December

Share this article to:
Email Facebook LinkedIn WhatsApp

Science. Art. Film. February—December

Science-based film screenings and discussions at the NFSA

Science. Art. Film. uncovers the wacky, weird and wonderful facets of science and art in films – in discussion with artists and ANU scholars from different disciplines.

Presented in collaboration with Australian National Centre for Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University.

View events in series

Lead program moderator
Dr Anna-Sophie Jürgens is a Senior Lecturer in Science Communication at the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, ANU and the Head of POPSICULE, ANU’s Science in Popular Culture and Entertainment Hub. Dr Jürgens’ research explores cultural meanings of science, the history of (violent) clowns and mad scientists, science and humour, and the interface between science and (public) art.

"The Science.Art.Film. screenings are such great spaces to see adults explore their curiosity about the scientific ideas in these films! It's a wonderful and safe environment that allows me to think about, question and then open myself up to new ideas. Bringing the experts and scientists on the stage expands the horizons of what I know about academia in Canberra and Australia and I can learn about the myriad and sometimes obscure research that is currently being done in the world."

Crystal-Leigh Clitheroe, ANU, audience member and past panellist

Science. Art. Film explores the dynamic exchange between science and storytelling, how science shapes stories, and how stories shape humanity’s understanding of science.

Since 2022, the Science. Art. Film. program has been bringing curious audiences together for a monthly evening of cinema and conversation at the National Film and Sound Archive. The program explores the wacky, weird, and wonderful ways that science and art collide on the big screen. From cult classics to science fiction, animation, and blockbuster oddities, every film is followed by panels of exceptional minds and inspiring researchers.

Whether serious, satirical, or spectacularly strange, the program reveals that science lives not only in laboratories and universities, but also in the public imagination. The series sparks curiosity, challenges assumptions, and makes complex ideas approachable and memorable.

Experts include academics from the Australian National University as well as special guests from other national and international institutions. Their perspectives range from virology and astrophysics to philosophy, media studies, and cultural history. Screenings are followed by conversations between unlikely combinations of experts, including desert ecologists, ice experts, fashion scholars, filmmakers, composers, architects, science demonstrators, and even specialists in figure skating and spider identification. What might seem unexpected at first reveals its value in practice, as each brings a research-informed, rigorously grounded perspective that illuminates the films in ways audiences rarely encounter.