IRELAND MAY see its first film festival dedicated specifically to science subjects next summer.
University College Dublin (UCD) is behind the project, and it hopes to screen a collection of films during Dublin’s stint as European City of Science in July 2012.
The university has already agreed to back the festival and its organisers are seeking the approval of the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF). The body designates the city of science and organises the associated biennial international science meeting.
“We were trying to think of what we could do during ESOF,” said Prof Des Fitzgerald, vice-president for research at UCD and professor of molecular medicine in the university’s school of medicine and medical sciences. “My interest in the science [film festival] wasn’t to have science fiction or documentaries about science but more about the scientific process, what these people [scientists] are doing or thinking about.”
UCD has organised a partnership with a New York-based science film festival, first run three years ago by Imagine Science Films. The annual event offers feature-length and short films, all with a science-related aspect. “We thought we would do this ourselves but it seemed like a better idea to get them involved,” said Prof Fitzgerald. He expected the films to run in Dublin city centre venues but also in the new UCD science centre on its Belfield campus.
“In principle, we are absolutely fine with it,” said Dave Fahy, programme director for ESOF2012. “We just have to find an appropriate way to slot it into the programme.”
More on Imagine Science Films can be found at: imaginesciencefilms.com.