The annual Science Film Festival is bringing a total of 19 science films with a focus on young people in Viet Nam’s big cities, with screenings beginning this month and running until 7 December.

Junior high school pupils participated in science experiments at the Science Film Festival last year (Photo: organising board)

Initiated by the Goethe Institut in 2005, the event has to date organised film screenings in 23 countries across South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

This year’s event has ‘Anthropocene: Welcome to the Age of Humans’ as its theme, and its intention is to help audience members explore the past, present, and future of humanity.  In cooperation with local partners, the festival promotes science literacy and facilitates awareness of contemporary scientific, technological and environmental issues through films and television content with accompanying educational activities.

This year’s festival, run by Ha Noi Goethe-Institute in collaboration with THD Education Solution Company, is the seventh in which Viet Nam has participated.  Last year, a total of over 35,000 people attended 300 screenings across the country.  The festival focuses particularly on films for children and adolescents.

A jury of three viewed the Festival’s 67 film offerings to select 19 suited to Vietnamese audience and the particular issues facing the country, said Hoang Duong, one of the jury members. Duong noted that this year’s theme is particularly important because of the growing threat human activities pose to climate stability.

The main theme of this year’s festival is the anthropocene.  The term refers to the fact that for thousands of years, humans have made their impact on nature, and have changed nature,” Duong said. “Today, we experience anthropocene through climate change.  Our world with plants and animals is facing a crisis. The film programme reflects on these problems but also shows us the beauty and vulnerability of the ecosystems on our earth."

From October to December, the festival will come to schools and culture centres in Ha Noi, the northern provinces of Thai Nguyen and Vinh Phuc, the central localities of Hue, Da Nang and Quang Nam, along with HCM City and and Ba Ria-Vung Tau in the south.

In addition to watching films, audiences can participate in discovery workshops, games and experiments.  Organisers hope that films and experiments will encourage young peoples’ curiosity and expand their knowledge.

The festival includes 9 films for kids under 12 years old with Vietnamese voice-over, and 6 films for ages 12 to 16 with Vietnamese subtitles.  Four feature-length films will be shown on October 11, 18, 25 and 1 November at the Goethe Institute in Ha Noi and HCM City only.

(Source: VNA/ DA NANG Today)