Symbiosis is very common in life. We are all a collection or micro/macro organisms that seemingly form one; these fusions enable cooperativity and survival. In many ways, the symbiotic phenomena describe our mission. We strive for more organic fusions. We truly believe that symbiotic relationships propel new changes in science and help solve the urgent issues that our generations and those to come are facing. Symbiosis implies mutual and equal collaborations rather than hierarchical ones. We are witnessing a climate crisis, animal extinction and ramping skepticism and denialism around scientific thought. Recently, the coronavirus has led to an overall world crisis and the media has not always done an effective job at communicating accurate science. We need more than ever science communicators and storytellers, especially those that can use the power of visuals and film to calm global panic, educate the larger public, inspire new decisive actions. The Symbiosis initiative is a unique incubator bringing together invited scientists and filmmakers who are paired to create science films during the length of the one-week Imagine Science Film Festival.
A living organism to host, extend, connect, and express our senses. The Octopus Network is our attempt to capture the boundless motion of human senses, thoughts, and emotions that are constantly flowing around us - transported over invisible waves that dance to the vibrational rhythm of electromagne
A portrait film about the pollution in Brooklyn NY and beyond. Extromophiles are organisms that exist when nothing else can survive.
A visual poem that attempts to bridge scientific phenomena with the human experience. Original footage shot by Beatrice Copeland and Andrés Mansisidor. Archival footage from Prelinger Archives and NASA Archives. Original music by Justin Sloan
Arabidopsis thaliana juxtaposes the implications of injury, development and regeneration for plants, humans and cities, with a nod to one of the most popular plant model organisms in biology and genetics. Narrated by Selima Smith-Dell Cinematography by Toma Peiu & Luiza Pârvu Microscope imager
The more you talk about Information flow, the more it feels spiritual. A philosophical and mathematical definition of inforrmation flow.
Color Condition is a glimpse into the sensory overlap experienced by someone with the neural condition, synesthesia. Synesthetics have an overlapping sensory modality in which stimulation of one sense involuntarily, and simultaneously, triggers another. However, the scientific explanation does littl
Steve believes that everything is Science, and that lines drawn between disciplines are man-made. He studied biology and psychology at the University of Virginia before pursuing graduate studies in photojournalism at the University of the Arts London. Steve's film "Pyongyang Style" was broadcast aro
The science of the simple slipper and why it has become a source of inspiration for artists and a symbol for a consumer society. Short film written and directed during the 48h film competition of Pariscience as part of Imagine Science Symbiosis Competition. 1st Prize Winner 2017. Director: Ars&egrav
Stuck in the Past explains the nature of the photon and how it influences the life. We travel through New York from past, present, and future accompanied by your guide and astrophysicist student Moiya McTier Made as part of the Imagine Science Symbiosis Film Competition 2016
Fathom, a unit to measure depth. A medical-science trajectory toward understanding the deep complexity of distorted minds and the perception of the ones who suffer it. ISFF13 Symbiosis 2020 Winner
Two immigrants recount the changes brought about by their journeys to the U.S., paralleling that of cells migrating in response to a wound. ISFF13 Symbiosis
A whimsical take of what happens when one organism (the parasite) benefits at the expense of the other (the host).
A journey through the electromagnetic spectrum~ Created in one week with scientist Matt Ahearn for Imagine Science's 2016 Symbiosis Film Competition. Cinematography by Nona Catusanu & Cidney Hue Narrated by Lauren Sowa Starring Big Hair Girls: Lizzy Lightyear & Venus + Matt Ahrean as Scientist Cosmi
A string of amino acids attract and unite in the process of protein folding.
How different is one species from the next? How can we distinguish body from mind? In Lilian Mehrel's short film, air is expressed as a verb – to breathe / to air out. Mehrel drew her inspiration from molecular biology, water creatures, the connection between living things, and the importance
It might not even exist at all. An exhaustive meta-analytic review documenting a mysterious "women's issue," otherwise known as endometriosis.1 1term used to describe a clinical etiology that thus far has only been identified in primates with a female reproductive system, an anatomical structure of
A cloud has a phenomenological discussion with itself. Where a cloud ends and "the cloud" begins is a place not for the faint hearted. A journey into the science and philosophy of the nature of our relationship to clouds today. Created for the Symbiosis competition at the 10th Annual Imagine Science
What lengths would you be willing to go, to medically change your personality?
Are hipsters becoming a subspecies of humans? What is life expectancy? How do they dress? How fast does their beard grow? In the spirit of Jean Rouch's Chronicles of a Summer, anthropologist Eleanor Drew goes on an exploration into the unknown and conducts interviews with bypassers to understand the
Some parasitic nematodes have an endosymbiosic relationship with the bacteria Wolbachia. In Nematodes , we reconstruct this symbiotic relationship and break it down, finding ourselves at the model's writhing core. Network Reconstruction Of Nematode Symbionts By Peter Burr & Alexandra Grote Sound Des
How many neurons do you need to recognize your mother? "A Sentimental Science" explores the limitations of our understanding of how our experience is encoded in neural activity. ISFF13 Symbiosis
A lonely middle-aged man reflects on the transience of his biological existence. Fearing to leave no traces and no descendants behind in the world, he puts his last savings and hope in a procedure offered by a mysterious biotech company.
Wearing well is a collaboration between Enrico Milanese, Researcher in Computational Solid Mechanics and Markos Kay, Computational Artist. The film visually reimagines Milanese's research whereby the microscopic effects of contact and wear between materials are studied through the use of high-perfor
A film about the phenomena of particle wave duality and how that translate into dance/ballet.
We all have a biological identity - a genetic hardware that can not be easily changed. About half of Drosophila's brain is dedicated to vision. What they can see, is who they are. What about us? a film by Janne Pulkkinen Hannes Vartiainen Pekka Veikkolainen Huayi Wei with Nefertiti Matos Olivares mu
From ashes to the milky way, the identity of earth is somewhere in between, a hybrid of the two. What difference do you see between these ashes and the dust of the Milky Way? This film navigates between different textures that are part of nature: water, roots, tree bark. Because of the disparate sca
A neuroscientist and a filmmaker try to understand the human face.
Learn more about epigenetics from the Life Lived technologies where our mission is to make you better tomorrow than you are today.
A scientist gets absorbed in his lab work and is suddenly attacked by a plant-like symbiotic life. Produced by: Squib Films, Tiny Terrors Editor: Sydney Clara Brafman, Dan Sabatini Composer: AA/K/AA/R/A Assistant Director: Alison Irvine Director of Photography: Jesse Locascio Sound Recordist: Zach T
Exchange is a visual and informative illustration of air as the common bond between photosynthetic and respiratory organisms. The exchange of gases in the air -- carbon dioxide for oxygen, and oxygen for carbon dioxide -- between plants and animals is the most fundamental symbiosis on the planet.
Every life form originated from the same cells billions of years ago. First there was one cell that formed colonies, which became group of colonies that evolved into all kinds of species like trees, insects, giraffes and humans. All is connected, moves together and reacts to each other. There is no
What happens when you smell something? This whimsical look at olfaction follows the journey of a smell through the nose. A film by Anna Lindemann and Albana Kodra as part of the Imagine Science Symbiosis Competition Animation by Anna Lindemann. Illustration by Ziael Ponte. Microscopy by Albana Kodra
Nanodoctor - iterations 1 to 3' is an imaginary promotional film from the near future explaining the migration of information inside living organisms through molecules, and how the real time monitoring of those molecules will allow the diagnosis and rapid resolution of a crisis inside the human body