The 6th "Sud de sciences" festival from November 29 to December 03!

The University of Montpellier, the Faculty of Science, the five partner research organizations (CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, INSERM, IRD), the City of Montpellier, the Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole network of media libraries and scientific culture, and the Kimiyo association are joining forces for the sixth edition of the "Sud de sciences" festival. This scientific film festival illustrates a strong shared commitment to strengthening relations between science and society, by offering free scientific film screenings followed by discussions with researchers.

This 6th edition features a rich program that will be shown in three of the network's media libraries: Castries, Clapiers and Montpellier, where a screening is also planned at the Nestor Burma cinema.

"Sud de sciences" : a rich program for sharing knowledge

The festival's program is designed to show, challenge, reflect and debate scientific issues. It includes a section dedicated to schoolchildren and seven recent feature-length documentaries, selected to offer the public an immersion in the heart of knowledge and privileged moments of exchange:

• Wednesday, November 29 at 6:30 p.m. at the Albert Camus media library in Clapiers:

"Amazonie Brésilienne, un autre regard" (2022), directed by Emilie Rozand and featuring CIRAD economics researcher Marie-Gabrielle Piketty: with the global environmental crisis and growing concern about deforestation, the future of the Brazilian Amazon seems uncertain. This documentary sheds light on three very different territories. Alongside research teams, it shows how local populations perceive and transform their problems in this part of the world. It presents territories that offer solutions for the Brazilian Amazon of tomorrow.

• Thursday, November 30 at 6:30 p.m. at the Émile Zola media library in Montpellier:

"L'arbre qui cache la forêt, les défis de la reforestation" (2022), directed by Marianne Cazaux and featuring IRD microbiology researcher Robin Duponnois. A walk through the deforested lands of the Scottish Highlands, through the legendary landscapes of the Vosges and all the way to the Sahel, where the pharaonic Great Green Wall project is taking shape. Scientists invite us to listen more closely to these mysterious ecosystems, so as to meet the challenges of reforestation. Will these artificial plantations be as effective as natural forests in trapping CO2?

"Après les flammes" (2022), directed by Florent Rocchi. End-of-year film (2nd year of the IFFCAM DU "Writing and directing wildlife documentaries").

• Friday, December 1 at 6:30 p.m. at the Françoise Giroud media library in Castries

"The Superpowers of Music" (2022), directed by Jacques Mitsch with guest speaker : Sylvain Mangiarotti, Chaos Theory researcher at IRD and the Centre d'Études Spatiales de la Biosphère - CESBIO- OMP. What's the point of music? In recent years, advances in neuroscience have demonstrated the incredible impact of music on our brains, at every stage of our lives, from the fetus to old age. This documentary is a behavioral and neurological investigation whose ambition is to unveil the mystery of music's powers in our lives.

• Saturday, December 2 at 10:30 a.m. at the Émile Zola media library in Montpellier

"Mines d'or et d'arsenic" (2021), directed by Valerie Cibot and Michel Coqblin, with CNRS chemistry researcher Claude Grison as guest speaker. We follow the adventure of a scientific team whose mission is to clean up the former mining site of Salsigne, in the Aude region of France. After a century of exploiting the world's largest gold and arsenic mines, environmental and human damage had been done. There was no hope, but researchers have made incredible discoveries in "ecological chemistry" that are giving hope to local residents.

• Saturday, December 2 at 3:00 pm at the Albert Camus media library in Clapiers

"Chauve-souris : alliée ou ennemie ?" (2021), directed by Raphaël Hitier with guest speakers Anne Keriel, researcher in infectious diseases at INSERM and Nathalie Charbonnel, researcher in evolutionary ecology at INRAE. As this astonishing scientific investigation shows, this flying mammal fascinates researchers, who are trying to discover the secrets of its iron health. Carriers of hundreds of viruses, some of which are transmissible to humans, they are suspected of being the origin of several diseases: Marburg fever, Ebola, not to mention the multiple coronaviruses. But how does this mammal manage to resist infection? Many scientists are intrigued by this endurance to evil.

• Sunday, December 3 at 11:00 a.m. at the Nestor Burma cinema in Montpellier

"Fils de glace" (2022), directed by Oscar Dario Jimenez Escruceria with guest speaker : Fabien Anthelme, IRD research ecologist. Four men and one woman have dedicated their lives to admiring and protecting the world's unique dovecote glaciers. But giving their lives to protect the mountain will not be enough to stop its extinction.

• Sunday, December 3 at 3:00 pm at the Émile Zola media library in Montpellier

" Sapiens, ou la naissance de l'Art" (2022), directed by Pascal Goblot, with Ludovic Dolez, Ph. Did art really emerge in Europe 36,000 years ago with the Chauvet cave? Or at Lascaux, 18,000 years ago? Recent research has turned the story of the origins of art on its head: the oldest paintings discovered date back over 45,000 years, and are located in Indonesia! An invitation to plunge into the heart of history with archaeologists, prehistorians, anthropologists and artists from all over the world, to rediscover how and where art was born, while exploring the inseparable nature of Sapiens and art.