When science hits the big screen

The Science Film Festival Sud de sciences is back for its^fifth edition. Seven feature films, most of which were co-produced by research organizations, as well as six short films made by students will be in competition this year. The screenings are free and open to all and will take place in Clapiers, Montpellier, and Sète.

Dengue fever, Chikungunya, Ebola, and of course COVID-19—emerging diseases have become increasingly common over the past 40 years. How can this proliferation be explained? This is the question that the documentary La fabrique des pandémies(The Making of Pandemics) sought to answer. The film was screened on November 16 at the Nestor Burma municipal cinema as part of the preview of the Sud de Sciences festival, which will take place from November 23 to 27.

Launched in 2018 in Montpellier, Sud de sciences follows in the footsteps of the Paris Sciences science film festival, with the added aim of" being completely free and accessible to all," emphasizes Agnès Pesenti, head of scientific culture at the University of Montpellier. Through this event, the university is reaffirming its desire to strengthen the relationship between science and society by screening scientific films followed by discussions with researchers. Sud de Sciences is also part of the Mois du Doc program, a national event held every November to promote documentary films to the general public.

Seven documentary films

For this fifth edition, seven feature-length documentary films in the professional category were selected by a steering committee composed of researchers fromIRD, CIRAD, CNRS,INRAE, andINSERM. These five organizations are partners in the festival and co-producers of some of the documentaries being screened. "The films were chosen based on their documentary and cinematographic quality, of course, but also on their relevance to the major areas of research developed in Montpellier," explains Agnès Pesenti.

Each screening will be followed by a discussion with a Montpellier-based researcher specializing in the subject, who will answer questions from the audience and put topics related to current events into perspective. The magnificent documentary Mamody, the Last Baobab Digger, filmed in southwestern Madagascar, raises the issue of access to water. When Man Is Not There, Animals Dance shows how wildlife was able to reclaim cities during the few weeks of lockdown. Climate: My Brain Is Burying Its Head in the Sand questions our inertia in the face of the impending ecological disaster...

Student short films

A major new feature of this year's festival is the introduction of a new award in the "Student Film" category. Each feature film will be preceded by a short film made by science students. " We launched a national call for films and selected six in total," continues the scientific culture manager. As with the feature films, the short films will be put to a public vote (see box) and awarded a prize at the end of the festival.

Another new feature for 2022 is the screening venues. " Thanks to a strengthened partnership with the City and the Montpellier metropolitan area, this year we will be screening in venues that will allow us to welcome a larger and more diverse audience," says Agnès Pesenti. The festival will therefore begin on Wednesday, November 23, with a screening at the Clapiers media library, before moving to the Emile Zola media library in Montpellier for the rest of the week. On Sunday, a final screening will take place at the Comoédia cinema in Sète with a rebroadcast of Mamody, le dernier creuseur de baobab(Mamody, the last baobab digger).

• View the program
• Website: suddesciences.fr
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