Playlist
<p>Lara, a teacher, interviews at Nawu Corporation for a position as a prompt engineer, whose job is to use language to guide AI systems. However, a catastrophic power failure during the interview leads to an unexpected discovery, revealing the delicate balance between humans and AI systems.</p>
<p>Louis Van Gaal is haunted by his famous phrase “Always negative”, but in his meeting with scientist María Blasco, after overcoming cancer in the middle of the Football World Cup, he will prove that his attitude is, in fact, always positive.</p>
<p>The highest-rated program in seven star systems has finally arrived on Earth. Micronaut, the great space explorer, will explore this immense and exotic planet, but for this difficult task, Micronaut will count on the help of cadet Keka and Xb-12, her tiny robot companion. Planet Earth can be incredibly dangerous when you are only 30 microns tall (1 micron is one thousandth of a millimeter); a tiny ant can be the scariest creature you have ever seen!</p>
<p>In “Eyes Eyes Baby,” we meet an organ that is wonderful but imperfect, invaluable but completely imperfect, and sometimes even unreliable. Perhaps ears or a tongue could replace them?</p>
<p>A fake documentary about a true story: An old silent documentary from the 1910s has been found and restored. It tells the story of the most abundant bird on Earth, wiped out in just a few decades by human brutality.</p>
<p>‘Drawing on Autism’ is an exploration of the ethics of creating animated documentaries. As a non-autistic filmmaker, when portraying an autistic person, I had to be mindful of problematic and repeated stereotypes about autism. These stereotypes seem to say more about the wants and needs of neurotypical audiences than about autistic people themselves. Furthermore, animation presents a distinct set of ethical dilemmas. Without the mechanical indifference of a camera, the act of observation is replaced by representation, in which the artist is responsible for what the person depicted in the documentary looks like, where they are, and what they do. Through collaborative feedback, I attempt to share these responsibilities with my subject, while using positional and textual reflexivity to prepare the audience to critically analyze my documentary interventions.</p>
<p>Mirene and André, and Carl and Vicente, are two couples in their thirties. While Mirene and André struggle with their infertility, Vicente decides to undergo an experimental technique, implanting an ovary in his body in the hope of having a child with Carl. A marital drama with speculative overtones, “Becoming a Man in the Middle Ages” is an intimate story about queer sexuality, autonomy, reproductive desires and the ghosts of normativity.</p>
<p>In a world where technology and humanity intertwine, Tiffany, a feminist and self-aware sex robot, embarks on a unique journey of self-discovery. Speaking to experts, Tiffany confronts the social norms, body image stereotypes, and patriarchal influences that shaped her design, while also questioning the place of the queer community in the context of sex technology. As debates about her social impact intensify, Tiffany navigates the complexities of interdisciplinary communication, the rise of AI companions, and the vast field of sex technology innovations. But it is the potential for a radical shift beyond human-like designs and the openness to individualized, queer, and feminist DIY solutions that truly challenges the status quo. With each revelation, Tiffany’s contemplative journey challenges our perceptions and prompts us to question the boundaries between technology, desire, queerness, and societal expectations.</p>
<p>Jacky and Francis have just launched their first rocket with a mission: to film the Earth from space. But it has veered off course… Now they need to retrieve the camera on board to avoid being caught by the police. They are heading to meet Mr. Chicken, the unfortunate man who saw his house hit by their rocket.</p>
<p>A dystopian society ruled by machines, where the fate of humanity hangs by a thread.</p>
<p>A dead tree goes viral, attracting wildlife, a nature lover and a horde of online followers. Set entirely outdoors, “WhateverTree” examines our connection to nature in the age of social media, screens and selfies.</p>
<p>a brief story about the journey of an idea.</p>
<p>Jesica runs desperately as three men chase her. In the midst of the chase, the scene becomes disturbing when The Athlete catches up with Jesica and subjects her to a violent act. The cruelty of the situation becomes unbearable, revealing the gravity of the “manhunt” that is taking place. However, a shocking twist reveals that this entire horror is a virtual reality simulation.</p>
<p>Scientists are on a mission to save parasites—not to kill them. Climate change is already doing an increasingly good job at the latter, and that could be a big problem for the world.</p>
<p>Three ocean dwellers face a threat that puts at risk the place where they feel most alive, seeking a sustainable future in seaweed.</p>
<p>With his laboratory in ruins, brilliant scientist Dr. Hank Allens rises from a failed experiment; his nuclear reactor has suffered a fatal failure and will reach critical mass at any second. With the only escape route melted, his partner, Dr. Bruce MacLaine, has resigned himself to his imminent death, but Dr. Allens refuses to accept defeat. Driven by determination, he searches the lab for a way out, braving the ticking clock and the imminent explosion. As the pressure mounts and the lab groans, Dr. Allens races against time to defy his seemingly inevitable fate and make a daring attempt to survive a situation of his own making.</p>
<p>Every year, more than 80,000 meteorites collide with Earth. Many fall into the arid sands of the Sahara, where they are spotted by passing nomads. Some are worth much more than gold, while others contain clues to the deep history of our solar system. Now everyone is searching for them.</p>
<p>Ada is a girl who lives in a village where it hasn't rained for a long time. Ada's family is considering leaving the village if the drought continues. Ada is very sad about this and wants to show us her village through her camera. She goes to a lake that used to be full of water and visits the island that bears her name. But she sees that the lake is completely dry, the ground is cracked and there is no water left.</p>
<p>Nowadays, we are all caught in the cycle of stress, and day after day, it becomes a permanent part of our lifestyle. In this movie, there are three phases: stress transmission (phase one), where it passes from the boss to the employee, from the employee to another man in traffic, and from that man to his wife, like an infection. Stress birth (phase two): a child grows up surrounded by stress. The third phase is stress propagation: the boy goes to school and passes the stress on to his classmates. One of his classmates becomes the boss – the same boss who appears in the first scene.</p>
<p>MERS, we have been at war for 70 days. It was not a war against the virus, but a war between truth and lies, faith and disbelief. Even if the war against the virus ends, will the real war we are going through ever end?</p>
<p>Juan throws some pizza boxes into a paper and cardboard recycling bin without realizing that the grease makes them non-recyclable. Patri begins to doubt his commitment to the environment. Where does he put the oil? What about the batteries? What about the toner? A journey through the bins of the Vallecas neighborhood that will change their lives forever.</p>
<p>There was a time when certain conditions were just conditions; today, those conditions are considered diseases. There will come a time when other conditions will cease to be just conditions and will become diseases.</p>
<p>The brain is one of the most complex organs in the human body. Every year, doctors and scientists make more and more progress in studying how it works and discovering new patterns. But for those unfamiliar with science, how the brain works remains a mystery. Each of us has thoughts, and their course is unique to each person. We get lost in our minds, unable to understand why we came to this or that conclusion, how this particular idea came into our heads. Many of us are not willing to study medicine for decades to get to the bottom of the truth, but sometimes we still want to understand ourselves better. Or at least know that we are not alone in our wanderings through the recesses of our own minds.</p>
<p>From a pet to a symbol of the fight for biodiversity preservation, the golden lion tamarin is one of the most emblematic species of Brazilian fauna. Native to the Atlantic Forest in Rio de Janeiro, the history of the golden lion tamarin is intertwined with the history of the forest and the history of Brazil.</p>
<p>Shantaram is a 45-year-old man and the sole survivor of the coronavirus pandemic. He begins recording a video diary each day, as if it were his last, amidst his distorted and blurred reality.</p>
<p>To make a fruit pie, you need the whole universe.</p>
<p>Mushrooms and space...two words that don´t seem to have anything to do with each other. As it turns out, they do. An astrophysicist presents the surprising story of mushrooms in space. Fungi were first discovered on the MIR station in the mid 90s. And scientists have not stopped studying them since, because they thrive in space. They have made it to the ISS and may even be used as building material on other planets.</p>
<p>As her team digitises the traces of an unidentified creature, a palaeontologist mourns a loved one. A meditation on preservation, daughter of discovery and mother of loss.</p>
<p>Anna, a lonely computer coder, has been nurturing an illegal romance with an AI in a computer simulation for the past six months. When her company uncovers the affair, she’s forced into a desperate battle to save her precious relationship.</p>
<p>Ada juggles two worlds she can’t really keep separate: her daily reality as a library assistant and the grand future she imagines for herself and for humanity. After being fired, Ada returns to the library to work on job applications–it’s a public space, after all. When the same AI tools that help her update her resume leave her discouraged about AI replacing jobs for people like her, Ada imagines a future where she can steer the future of AI instead of getting left behind--and get some revenge on her old boss while she's at it.</p>
<p>Karen Lips is researcher and lives for several years in a tiny little shack in Costa Rica to observe frogs. When she leaves the cloud forest for a short time and returns, the frogs are gone. All of them. Karen sets out to find them – and encounters a horrible truth.</p>
<p>A visual poem magnifying the Amazigh culture (berber natives of the middle Atlas of Morocco), an historical tale about the seismology of the city of Agadir, a story about our planet earth itself and its own life, created for the Museum of the Reconstruction of Agadir.</p>
<p>In 1952, London was engulfed in the Great Smog. As a result of industrialisation, a leaden fog settled over the entire city. The archive images from this period become letters from a desolate future.</p>
<p>Another Presence recounts the unique and often curious experiences of people living with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), the third most common form of dementia in the UK. A multi-sensory condition that can cause dream-like symptoms, it’s a condition like no other. Told through the testimonies of those living with DLB, the film explores the surreal and lesser known effects of dementia, compelling us to question how our brains function and to what extent we can trust our senses.</p>
<p>Go ‘behind-the-scenes’ of British nature show <em>Ocean Discovery</em> in this tragicomic mockumentary: Violet (a camera-girl with a wry sense of humor) and Ingrid (a marine biologist with a singular passion for whales) go looking for the loneliest whale in the world (with a voice too high for the others to hear.)<br /> <br /> written & directed by Lilian Mehrel, shot by Ting Liu, starring Madeline Wise, Gabriele Schafer, Thomas David Scully</p> <p><em>Alfred P. Sloan Award </em></p> <p><em>Puffin Foundation Film Award</em></p> <p><em>Nancy Malone Outstanding Directing</em></p> <p><em>More on Lilian Mehrel's films <a href="https://lilianmehrel.wordpress.com/films/" target="_blank">here</a></em></p>
<p>The sound of an alphorn echoes in the mountains while glaciers are dripping. Far away, on an oceanographic boat, geologists probe the invisible seabed. Geological bodies of salt and ice emerge from the digital depths of a software. They melt and disintegrate in the hands of scientists.</p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">Jona, a 25-year-old woman with Tourette's syndrome, faces problems and prejudices from “the world” around her. She is mistreated by her boyfriend and her roommate. Her boss asks her for sexual favors. Jona shouts about these problems at the club where she participates with other people who have similar challenges to her.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">As the European Union’s green energy ambitions and drive for independence grow, a rural community in Serbia is becoming a political battleground for Europe’s electric future. Plans for a massive lithium mine (expected to be one of the largest on the continent) are sparking fierce local resistance.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">Maurizio is a young university student living in Zurich who has a peculiar passion: diseases. Unlike many, he can see an intrinsic beauty in them. After all, what difference can there be between a flower and an infection, if both are gifts of nature?</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">A reflection on growth, connection and symbiosis, inspired by the intertwined lives of fungi. Recent years have seen a surge in research and collective curiosity about fungi. Particularly fascinating is the idea of the “wood wide web” – the ability of fungi to connect plants and trees in complex underground networks.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">A young couple finds themselves trapped in a house they cannot leave, while mysterious presences watch them.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">A mad scientist is in her laboratory, working on her next creation.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">The steel industry was once the driving force behind Luxembourg’s economy. After the industry’s decline, what was left were desolate, colossal buildings and lives marked by unsafe working conditions. Yet for many, these dangerous jobs still represented a daily source of hope and financial security. This monumental film stands in memory of the work that took place behind the four walls of the factory, documenting, in memento mori style, the disappearing world of industrial workers.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">“Pill” is a game of constructing meanings, in which words are highlighted. They are chewed, digested and returned, functioning as a link of communication between people. People who invent, experiment and (re)produce — with the pill, a more controlled reproduction, since this tablet gave them the power to decide on procreation.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">A conversation between Mother and her Daughter Della about Della's dream in the environment of a landfill.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">One day, Split, the largest city in Dalmatia, loses its water source. Through three short stories, we witness what happens in a city without water.</span></p>
<p>NASA is famous for beautiful space images, but did you know you can listen to them? Go behind the scenes with the team that creates “sonifications,” translations of data into sound, and learn how meaningful they are to people who are blind or low-vision.</p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">It is night when Mount Etna begins to erupt. Volcanologists fear an unprecedented explosion; the area must be evacuated. A researcher decides to climb to the summit crater to record a testimony: he is convinced that the volcano is trying to tell him something.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">It’s the start of a new school year and Lesedi has just started Year 8. Our young netball star is looking forward to her secondary years – trying out for the netball team, hanging out with friends and telling her dad stories about the scary teachers at school. But all those plans are suddenly cut short when Lesedi discovers she has Type 1 Diabetes. With her whole life ahead of her, secondary school doesn’t seem like it will ever be the same again.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">Abaca, a plant important to the T'boli tribe's way of life and culture, is under threat. But the tribe is coming together to keep their traditions alive.</span></p>
<p>Justus is a big fan of modern technology. That’s why he connected a new voice-controlled home assistant. NOVA. In this short comedy, we see how Justus is locked in his own apartment by a misunderstanding from NOVA, just on the day of a friend’s wedding. He tries to escape but actually only gets himself into more trouble. Maybe this is not yet the technology of the future?</p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">After an environmental catastrophe, the only survivors live in shelter, using biodermis, a suit that allows them to survive but does not allow them to feel touch. After years in confinement, Nora and Dani decide to leave.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">Life often takes us on challenging paths, and the more we try to escape reality, the more intensely it confronts us, sometimes in unexpected ways. Often, the only way out is to seek refuge in escapism.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">“I'm Fine” is a deeply personal story about dealing with depression, anxiety and the never-ending journey of healing. It's about the daily struggles to stay afloat, to find some stability. Many people are struggling with mental health issues these days and I believe it's crucial to talk about this issue to combat the stigma surrounding it. To make people feel less alone in their struggles. Through a series of visual metaphors, I aim to explain the symptoms of depression and anxiety to those who have never experienced these issues.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">Confidence and meticulous plans – a magic elixir for success – become the reason for the downfall of a cunning bird.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">By connecting human desires and needs through experimental animation, the story of a circle of mushrooms is constructed, which shows the process of activating self-reward mechanisms and leads the individual to a positive cycle in animation.</span></p>
<p>The film presents an animated discussion on the concept of the face. It explores the theory of Professor Semir Zeki, a pioneer in the field of neuroaesthetics. The second part analyzes how viewers interpret the deformed faces portrayed in the works of British painter Francis Bacon, within the framework of the previously mentioned theory. The animation boldly combines a variety of techniques, from stop-motion animation (employing crayon, plasticine, monotype, and collage) to 3D methods.</p> <p>The film exists also in polilsh version.</p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">What if Bigfoot were real? Known to indigenous peoples around the world for millennia, how would Western society adapt to the discovery of a new hominid species? In this mockumentary, we venture deep into the Australian bush to experience a day in the life of Yowie, the Australian Bigfoot. Guided by a narrator, we explore the peculiar world of these elusive creatures, drawing on an extensive database of accounts spanning centuries. This quirky mockumentary offers an insightful look into the behaviors of Yowie, blending anecdotal stories into a unique cinematic journey.</span></p>
<div class="HACK-removeParagraphMargin press-kit project-details"> <p>When soils are flooded, they are lacking oxygen. Then, some microorganisms "breathe" iron, causing mineral transformations.</p> <p>This science communication film introduces a novel research approach for investigating iron mineral transformations in soils directly in the field, which has previously been possible only in the laboratory. It demonstrates the new method step-by-step and shows how the scientists apply it in the field. The viewer also learns about the relevance of iron mineral transformations for the environment.</p> <p>The research is part of an ERC-funded project (IRMIDYN) conducted by the Soil Chemistry Group at D-USYS, ETH Zurich, Switzerland.</p> </div>
<p>Synapse follows a story of a female shut-in gig worker who does whatever it takes to have breakfast with her husband once again.</p>
<p>Camille has trouble recovering from her recent breakup. On the verge of breaking down, she seeks her neuroscientist best friend who lets Camille try the experiment she is working on: a revolutionary device to treat anxiety.</p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">Goodbye, my stomach is a story of generosity and humanity that demonstrates the power of science in people's lives. It brings together scientists, doctors and a family from the North of Portugal in the fight against a rare disease.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">In this short animated film, we explore the fascinating world of neuroplasticity – our brain’s incredible ability to adapt and change throughout our lives. Think of your brain as a complex electrical system, with countless wires connecting thoughts, emotions and actions. When we consistently practice positive thoughts and behaviours, our brains form constructive ‘brain habits’, but negative patterns can reinforce harmful connections. The exciting part is that we have the power to rewire our brains. Embrace neuroplasticity and unlock your brain’s extraordinary potential for a brighter future.</span></p>
<p>Single channel digital video,</p> <p>b&w, 5:09 mins</p> <p>The Equilibrists of the film are patient and surprising exemplars of the lessons to be learnt from scrutinising the elementary principles of physics. Here familiar feats of balance and curious games combine with the didactic serving as a reminder of the patience, delicacy and balance essential for stability. An accompanying booklet transfers the film's subject matter, look and feel to the printed page (see publications)</p>
<p>A whale existed 5 million years ago. Mark found her skeleton and decided to reassemble the pieces in a dusty basement of the Science Museum in Brussels. A filmmaker found Mark and decided to film him, the whale, and the dust. While these bones are put back together, like pieces from a puzzle, we try to imagine how life was 5 million years ago, a time before humans existed, but the sea and the sun were already here.</p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">MORE CABLES THAN PERSONAS delves into the interior of the human body, through the combination of various animation techniques and supports. Computer-generated images of the body are repeated on cyanotypes and disintegrate at the mercy of artificial intelligence, under a motto: being deliberately unreal is a sign of honesty.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">The British organization Epilepsy Action teamed up with composer, music producer, and drummer Alex Marchisone (CBS, BBC, Channel 4, among others) to collect real-life experiences from people with epilepsy and create an animated, immersive music video that depicts what it is like to have a seizure.</span></p>
<p>Beneath our feet lies a mystery. A complex underground network of fungi keeps our ecosystem alive by exchanging nutrients and carbon with plants and trees. Remarkably, no one quite knows how these advanced and age-old systems operate, and how they are affected by climate change.<br /> The Underground Astronaut follows the American evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers, named one of the 2022 TIME100 Next Innovators, on her quest to map the world’s fungi networks and understand their behaviour before it’s too late. A fragrant and high-stakes journey into the soil. “No fungi, no future.”</p> <p>The Underground Astronaut is part of Ammodo Docs, a series of short documentaries about original minds in arts and science.</p> <p>Evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers’ groundbreaking research of fungi is drawing considerable attention from the international media. She urgently campaigns for a greater understanding of fungi, which are powerful allies in our fight against climate catastrophe as they play a vital role in our ecosystem and store large amounts of carbon. All eyes are on her as she digs into the soil to map, protect and restore fungi networks.<br /> Kiers is professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and has won the Ammodo Science Award (2019), the E.O. Wilson Award for Natural History (2021) and a Stairway to Impact Award from the Dutch Science Foundation (2022). She was named as one of the 22 scientists playing a crucial role in expanding our understanding of biodiversity by the UN committee on biodiversity. Kiers is Executive Director and Chief Scientist of SPUN, an organisation advocating for the protection of mycorrhizal networks and underground ecosystems.</p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">Waterholes have been largely overlooked, but they are vital for biodiversity – and could even help us mitigate and adapt to climate change. Find out more about these rich and fascinating habitats, how they can help protect wildlife, and their importance to humans as a nature-based solution.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">Forests are vital ecosystems sustained by complex interactions between plants, animals and fungi, providing essential services for life on Earth. In Portugal, forest fires are intensifying due to climate change, land abandonment and changes in forest composition, burning 120,000 hectares annually. Active reforestation is critical, but most burned areas regenerate naturally, relying on animals to disperse seeds and restore biodiversity. While these animals are replanting our forests for free, are we aware of how much it would cost us to lose their help?</span></p>
<p>Combining documentary and science fiction with foresight, co-creation, and animation design, Les Matérialistes is a participatory futurism pilot project. This practical utopia transports us to 2050 to better understand what is necessary and possible to undertake collectively to achieve a transition to a truly circular economy.</p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">Marco is an introverted and lonely man, tormented and traumatized by his past. He makes a life choice based on science and reason, embarking on a career as a medical researcher and rejecting the strange upbringing and beliefs with which his mother raised him, based on ancient tales, legends and superstitions. Although he has decided to live a life of solitude, the encounter with Maria, a girl suffering from a serious illness, will lead Marco to question all his certainties and find an extreme solution, since science and medicine, to which he has dedicated his entire life, fail.</span></p>
<p>The fortuitous meeting of a neurodivergent Silicon Valley computer engineer suffering from panic attacks and a talented young neuroscientist leads to a discovery inspired by eye contact that deepens our understanding of human expression across the autism spectrum.</p> <p> </p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">How can an airplane fly? Who invented the first mechanical pencil and patented more than eighty other inventions? You can find out all about it in this colorful educational film about a very important man, inventor and engineer.</span></p>
<p>Chemical Somnia is a visual exploration of phase transition, fluid dynamics, and chemical reactions. Timelapse and high speed photography were used to capture these elemental relationships in less then a square inch of a petri dish.</p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">As wildfires ravage Portugal’s mountains, a small conservation team is using fire-resistant native trees to combat the destruction. This story follows the early stages of one of Portugal’s most ambitious landscape restoration projects.</span></p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">A short animated documentary offers a glimpse into the lives of animals with fascinating cellular regeneration abilities that make some nearly immortal. Biologist Jaroslav Petr introduces creatures with unique regenerative abilities – the spiny mouse, the fire-bellied salamander and the sea slug Elysia marginata – a stellar trio that will surprise many scientists.</span></p>
<p>Hawaiian microbiologist Kiana Frank takes us to a sacred fish pond and explains how traditional knowledge and microbiology can work together to help us understand how to care for and manage the land.</p>
<p><span data-sheets-root="1">A drug for loneliness has recently been introduced to the market. Alice, a shy city girl, leaves the safety of her chatbot to seek friendship in a film that raises the question: What defines a disease?</span></p>