Moscow to host FANK festival of contemporary scientific cinema

MOSCOW, July 5 Nineteen films dedicated to various branches of science will be shown this year at the FUNK festival, which will be held in Moscow from August 2 to 11..
«The films will be shown at the Karo cinema (foreign projects), as well as at the ATOM pavilion at VDNKh and at the Zotov cultural center (projects of the Russian program). In total, viewers will be able to watch 19 films during the festival. Traditionally, they will be devoted to a wide variety of branches of science: from nuclear physics and medicine to ecology, biology, and entomology,» the festival's press service reported.
There will be several premieres. The Greek film “Ideal Food – Secrets of the Mediterranean Diet” is about how nutritionists and famous chefs travel around the world, studying the diet of modern people, popular products and their impact on health.

A joint Indian-US production, Nocturnes, follows biologists on an expedition to learn more about nocturnal insects, the beauty of biodiversity and its fragility in times of global warming.

The Russian program includes four premieres. The first Russian film about the Large Hadron Collider and those who come to work every day to unravel the mystery of the Universe, “Through Dark Matter.” The film “Territory of Attachment” is a study on the topic of whether to interfere with the lives of animals or not. The film “Rays of Fortune” is about the history of Soviet science at the end of the 20th century. In particular, this project tells for the first time the story of the success of studying cosmic rays in the Soviet Union, which scientists kept silent about for 50 years. And the film “Flight Characteristics of Tiny Beetles” will talk about the molecular secrets of the flights of small insects. The main character of the film, biologist and entomologist Alexey Polilov, is confident that this research can influence the development of new technologies.

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«This year, the festival will hold a national competition with an international jury for the first time. It is nice that it includes works by students from our Scientific Film Labs, which we have already held twice. The international program is very bright and relevant — the ethical aspects of AI, dietetics and a scientific approach to nutrition, science museums and incredibly beautiful journeys of biologists through tropical forests. All screenings will be accompanied by discussions,” said Irina Belykh, the festival's program director.
The films included in the competition program will be evaluated by an international jury. The award is presented in two nominations: best film and best short film. Traditionally, the festival's organizing committee pays tribute to the memory of legendary scientists. This year, the Audience Award will be named after Dmitry Mendeleyev.

The announcement of the winners will take place on the last day of the festival, August 11, in the conference hall of the ATOM Pavilion.

A detailed program and schedule of film screenings is available on the website festival.