Sometimes life sends you down one path, only to reveal that it was just the beginning of another. Alexis Gambis was well into his PhD work in biology when he realized he had a passion for film. Rather than divorce the two, Gambis brought them together and began making movies in his fruit fly lab at Rockefeller University.
Now a film student at NYU and a science teacher on the side, Gambis is also the founder of the Imagine Science Film Festival--taking place in New York City between October 15 and 26. In only its second year, the festival is screening mostly short films that include some element of science. But don't dismiss it as a collection of the same-old science documentaries--the submissions are mostly fiction and narrative, and they blend science with storytelling in astoundingly creative ways. Gambis says his goal is to encourage filmmakers to use science as an element in their work, and as it turns out there are plenty of them who already do. The festival received nearly 300 submissions this year and will screen 50 (including four feature-length films).
The films at the festival include some narrative and some documentary, some live action and some animated, and some that combine genres and styles in amazing ways. You can see the complete 2009 movie list here. The submissions include a story about a man who is receiving messages from robots on how to save the world; an animated film based on testimony from people who have survived deep mental illnesses; a documentary following a graduate student working at the LHC; a love story based in probability, where a phone number written on a twenty dollar bill accidentally makes its way back into circulation before the hero can call his true love back; a biography of Alan Turing; and a film who’s description simply says, “What do scientists dream of?”
In only its second year, the festival has received a tremendous amount of press in New York and beyond, as well as support from major science organizations and publications. The festival is now a non-profit organization which relies on sponsor support and public donations. We'll have minor coverage of this year's festival and can't wait to see what fantastic works of art it brings to our attention. Watch the festival's neat trailer here.
