Overview

What is the Cinema Science Festival ?

From October 18th to the 26th, 2008, the CNRS (France's National Centre for Research & Science), the city of Bordeaux and the Aquitaine region placed the spotlight on science, cinema and the imagination. With widespread appeal, the first edition of the Cinema Science Festival looked at the various forms that scientific research explores as seen through feature-length fiction films from all over the world, some as yet unreleased in cinemas, others rediscovered for this occasion. This experience will be renewed from December 1st to 6th, 2009 for the second edition of the Cinema Science Festival.

Why a CNRS Event ?

With 30,000 staff and offices across France, the CNRS carries out its activity in all scientific fields with the help of some 1260 laboratories. It produces, at an internationally renowned level, knowledge that it puts into the public domain for the advantage of all... The Cinema Science Festival is an occasion for the CNRS to allow the general public to learn more about its research, to popularize science among a greater number of persons and to create new links between the "7th art" and scientific research.

Why does the Festival take place in Bordeaux, Aquitaine ?

"Because it invests the most out of all the French regions in research. Because it is a land brimming with scientific and technological excellence. Because it has set up official support channels for the film and audiovisual industry : this is why the Aquitaine Region chose to take part in the Cinema Science Festival adventure."
Alain Rousset, President of the Aquitaine region

How are the festival films selected ?

To ensure the quality of this ambitious project, the CNRS consults well known specialists - film programmers, scientists, university professors, journalists - who have also explored the recent aspects of international film production and brought back to our attention unusual films or film classics.

Who can attend the festival ?

The festival is open to the general public. A younger public also has the opportunity to approach science in an educational and original way. Certain screenings are reserved for school children.

A word from Catherine Bréchignac, President of the CNRS
"Science is partially linked to the imagination. Every researcher has a dream - a dream of understanding, of creating, of anticipating, of uncovering a secret, that of matter, of life, of the universe, of time, of movement, of men in society. Without inspiration or imagination, there is no research ! Without research results there is no future inspiration to penetrate further the numerous mysteries which continue to mobilize our scientists. Right from its origins, the cinema has been at the crossroads of these links. It is born of science and nourished by it in order to stimulate our imagination, teach us and make us understand…

To continue this prolific dialogue, CNRS has today created a new space for meetings between filmmakers, scientists and the general public. The "Cinema Science Festival (when science meets fiction)" will be unique and fun - a meeting place touching on subjects that fascinate society. We hope to carry out this ambitious programme with you, traveling together the length and breadth of this vast field of knowledge where science and the cinema reveal their diverse and rich relationships."