Six filmmakers joined forces with scientists from the Simons Foundation to create bold, cinematic interpretations of scientific thought. Over the course of two weeks in May 2025, these creative pairs experimented, translated, and reimagined inquiry itself—rendering invisible forces and speculative structures into moving image. The result: a New York City premiere unveiling six films that drift between disciplines and defy categories. From gravitational murmurs and molecular duets to the deep solitude of dark matter, Symbiosis offered a glimpse into the strange, lyrical spaces where science becomes story.
How to Connect Two Bodies
Grace Zhang + Bargeen Turzo
Through the principles of hinge protein design, How to Connect Two Bodies is an experimental documentary exploring the invisible choreography in meaningful connections of objects across various scales.
Who Cares about Gravitational Waves?
Kyle Finnegan + Lieke van Son
Far off in the universe, two black holes smash into each other and send waves through space time. Waves that we can't feel, can't touch, and are hard to predict. So who cares? Lieke van Son walks through the streets on Manhattan to reveal ways these gravitational waves are already a part of your daily life.
Who Cares about Gravitational Waves?
Did you know that space can sing? | E. E. Oliver + Dr. Carrie Filion
In an office in New York City, Dr Carrie Filion makes galaxies sing. Using sonification, she builds up an audible representation of our universe, adding a whole new dimension to how we perceive space.
Did you know that space can sing?
Molecular Duet | Anne Sofie Norskov + Mahsa Mofidi
Molecular Duet brings to life the dynamic world of microtubules, the cell’s structural filaments that assemble and disassemble in a rhythm scientists call dynamic instability. This is an exploration through the lens of both microscopy and molecular simulations with a poetic visual storytelling. The film invites viewers to witness how even within the smallest scale of life, beauty emerges from instability, and order dances with chaos.
Beyond The 20 | John Marty + Vikram K. Mulligan
Beyond the 20 is a poetic science essay film that explores the natural boundary between the built environment in New York city and the design challenges in molecular engineering. Shot primarily on Super 8, the film layers nostalgic texture with speculation, imagining a world beyond the canonical 20 amino acids. Layered between stop-motion animation, cyanotypes, and digital renderings, the film explores the keys to shaping molecules with purpose. The film reflects on curiosity, limitations, and what lies just beyond the edges of nature’s design.
Self Interacting Dark Matter | Na'ama Keha + Lucia A. Perez
The more she studies dark matter, the more a lonely astrophysics student must confront the gravity of her inner world.
Self Interacting Dark Matter (Set for release shortly)
The 11th edition of SYMBIOSIS is supported by the Simons Foundation.
