Science New Wave Festival - XVI Edition
Awards / Honorable Mentions / SNW 7th Traits
Awards / Honorable Mentions / SNW 7th Traits
The Science New Wave XVI Festival took place from October 20-27. This 16th edition showcased 64 films from over 30 countries over 8 days at the Cinema Village in New York and on our Labocine platform.
Each film from the selection will receive a Science New Wave Certificate. In line with the Science New Wave principles, these works widely vary in form, content and length, coexisting and blending freely across disciplines and cultures. This is the first year that the voting was performed by our Science New Wave Luminary that include over 1,000 artists, filmmakers, journalists & researchers who inspire us in their approaches to scientific storytelling
The full line-up is published here and included in this playlist featured on Labocine. Learn more about the awards and jury for this year's festival in the SNW16 Luminary Awards page and at the 2023 Symbiosis page.
Below are the winners and special mentions of the Science New Wave Festival XVI. We also share the suggestions for a 7th trait to the Science New Wave manifesto below. Congratulations to all filmmakers who have been selected this year! We are indebted to our team, partners, and SNW Luminary Jury. Watch the six original Symbiosis films now streaming on Labocine.
Cover Photo Credit: Florencia Silva Garcia
Each film from the selection will receive a Science New Wave Certificate. In line with the Science New Wave principles, these works widely vary in form, content and length, coexisting and blending freely across disciplines and cultures. This is the first year that the voting was performed by our Science New Wave Luminary that include over 1,000 artists, filmmakers, journalists & researchers who inspire us in their approaches to scientific storytelling
The full line-up is published here and included in this playlist featured on Labocine. Learn more about the awards and jury for this year's festival in the SNW16 Luminary Awards page and at the 2023 Symbiosis page.
Below are the winners and special mentions of the Science New Wave Festival XVI. We also share the suggestions for a 7th trait to the Science New Wave manifesto below. Congratulations to all filmmakers who have been selected this year! We are indebted to our team, partners, and SNW Luminary Jury. Watch the six original Symbiosis films now streaming on Labocine.
Cover Photo Credit: Florencia Silva Garcia
FEstival Awards
Awards given out by the SNW Luminaries
— Science New Wave Award
The Science New Wave Award goes to a film in competition that demonstrates a bold and inventive approach to scientific storytelling. Its affinity with the Science New Wave is gauged by how much it expresses the 6 traits of the Science New Wave manifesto. This award comes with a $1,000 cash prize.
Winner : A Common Sequence (Mary Helena Clark & Mike Gibisser, United States, 80 min, 2023)
Within the human struggle to live and work on a changing planet, questions of value, extraction, and adaptation echo across seemingly disparate worlds. A Common Sequence examines shifts of life and labor through a critically-endangered salamander and plant patents in the apple industry.
Honorable Mention : Last Things (Deborah Stratman, United States, 50 min, 2023)
Evolution and extinction from the point of view of rocks. A humid take on minerals, where sci-fi meets sci-fact.
Winner : A Common Sequence (Mary Helena Clark & Mike Gibisser, United States, 80 min, 2023)
Within the human struggle to live and work on a changing planet, questions of value, extraction, and adaptation echo across seemingly disparate worlds. A Common Sequence examines shifts of life and labor through a critically-endangered salamander and plant patents in the apple industry.
Honorable Mention : Last Things (Deborah Stratman, United States, 50 min, 2023)
Evolution and extinction from the point of view of rocks. A humid take on minerals, where sci-fi meets sci-fact.
— Theme-Sensitive Award
The Theme-Sensitive Award recognizes a film that brings this year's festival theme - (art)ficial - to the screen in singular fashion. This award comes with a $500 cash prize.
Winner : Uncanny Me (Katharina Pethke & Christoph Rohrscheidt, Germany, 45 min, 2022)
What does it mean for our perception of the world when virtual duplicates of ourselves can be made to look so deceptively real that human being and avatar become indistinguishable?
Honorable Mention : El rostro de la medusa (The Face of the Jellyfish) (Melisa Liebenthal, Argentina, 75 min, 2022)
Can we be somebody beyond our face, beyond our image? Through Marina's story, the film delves into a playful research around the meaning of the face, emblem of our identity and nerve center of how we connect with others, human or non-human.
Honorable Mention : WhatRemains, Genesis (Lou Fauroux, France, 19 min, 2023)
Early 2048, Google, which now owns the bulk of the planet, finds a remedy for death in the form of a digital immortality application.
Winner : Uncanny Me (Katharina Pethke & Christoph Rohrscheidt, Germany, 45 min, 2022)
What does it mean for our perception of the world when virtual duplicates of ourselves can be made to look so deceptively real that human being and avatar become indistinguishable?
Honorable Mention : El rostro de la medusa (The Face of the Jellyfish) (Melisa Liebenthal, Argentina, 75 min, 2022)
Can we be somebody beyond our face, beyond our image? Through Marina's story, the film delves into a playful research around the meaning of the face, emblem of our identity and nerve center of how we connect with others, human or non-human.
Honorable Mention : WhatRemains, Genesis (Lou Fauroux, France, 19 min, 2023)
Early 2048, Google, which now owns the bulk of the planet, finds a remedy for death in the form of a digital immortality application.
— In Vivo Award
The In Vivo Award goes to a film that paints a daring yet realistic portrait of a scientist and/or other non-human organism. This award comes with a $500 cash prize.
Winner : Fauna (Pau Faus, Spain, 74 min, 2023)
'Fauna' is a science fiction fable about the relationship between humans, animals and science in post-pandemic times.
Honorable Mention : The Visitors (Veronika Lišková, Czech Republic, 83 min, 2022)
A young anthropologist, Zdenka, moves with her husband and three sons to Svalbard, Norway, to study how life is changing in polar regions.
Winner : Fauna (Pau Faus, Spain, 74 min, 2023)
'Fauna' is a science fiction fable about the relationship between humans, animals and science in post-pandemic times.
Honorable Mention : The Visitors (Veronika Lišková, Czech Republic, 83 min, 2022)
A young anthropologist, Zdenka, moves with her husband and three sons to Svalbard, Norway, to study how life is changing in polar regions.
— Avant-Garde Award
The Avant-Garde Award celebrates the film that best expresses hybrid aesthetics and experimentation. This award comes with a $500 cash prize.
Winner : Last Things (Deborah Stratman, United States, 50 min, 2023)
Evolution and extinction from the point of view of rocks. A humid take on minerals, where sci-fi meets sci-fact.
Honorable Mention : The Tuba Thieves (Alison O'Daniel, United States, 91 min, 2023)
From 2011 to 2013, tubas are stolen from Los Angeles high schools. This story isn't about thieves or missing tubas. Instead, it asks what it means to listen.
Winner : Last Things (Deborah Stratman, United States, 50 min, 2023)
Evolution and extinction from the point of view of rocks. A humid take on minerals, where sci-fi meets sci-fact.
Honorable Mention : The Tuba Thieves (Alison O'Daniel, United States, 91 min, 2023)
From 2011 to 2013, tubas are stolen from Los Angeles high schools. This story isn't about thieves or missing tubas. Instead, it asks what it means to listen.
SYMBIOSIS AWARD
this creature called Memory by Gavati Wad & Lauren Vetere
2022 SYMBIOSIS AWARD
supported by the Simons Foundation
2022 SYMBIOSIS AWARD
supported by the Simons Foundation
— Symbiosis Competition 2023
For this year's Symbiosis competition, six scientists and six filmmakers were paired to create a science-inspired shorts. These films were created over the course of one week and inspired by the theme of this year's Science New Wave festival : (art)ificial. The winning pair receives a $1,500 cash prize.
Winner: this creature called Memory by Gavati Wad (filmmaker) & Lauren Vetere (scientist)
Our memories make up the foundation of who we are, but they are constantly changing. Like a living organism with its own personality, memory can be loyal and reliable, sneaky and surprising, or capricious and cruel. Shot primarily in 16mm film, this creature called Memory is made from museum objects, neuroscience data, and the filmmakers' personal memories.
Jury Notes: This creature called memory is ephemeral, it moves through mutations and subtle steps back. It's a graceful reminder of human existence as a warm transition towards the unknown. The delicate substance of the film is unavoidably knitted into the concept of memory, time, and awakenings. Experimentation goes beyond film and science, it is transformed into human experience itself, lingering halfway between the sealed and the forgotten.
Learn more about the participants of 2023 Symbiosis.
Check out the six Symbiosis films on Labocine.
For all of our Symbiosis Films, watch them on the Labocine Symbiosis Playlist.
Winner: this creature called Memory by Gavati Wad (filmmaker) & Lauren Vetere (scientist)
Our memories make up the foundation of who we are, but they are constantly changing. Like a living organism with its own personality, memory can be loyal and reliable, sneaky and surprising, or capricious and cruel. Shot primarily in 16mm film, this creature called Memory is made from museum objects, neuroscience data, and the filmmakers' personal memories.
Jury Notes: This creature called memory is ephemeral, it moves through mutations and subtle steps back. It's a graceful reminder of human existence as a warm transition towards the unknown. The delicate substance of the film is unavoidably knitted into the concept of memory, time, and awakenings. Experimentation goes beyond film and science, it is transformed into human experience itself, lingering halfway between the sealed and the forgotten.
Learn more about the participants of 2023 Symbiosis.
Check out the six Symbiosis films on Labocine.
For all of our Symbiosis Films, watch them on the Labocine Symbiosis Playlist.
Science New Wave
A 7th Trait
A 7th Trait
We asked our SNW Luminaries to suggest a 7th trait to complement the 6 existing traits of the Science New Wave manifesto The 7th trait is reminiscent of the "art" of cinema being referred to as the 7th art (septième art / settima arte). In 1911, Italian film theoretician Ricciotto Canudo described cinema as the seventh art, announcing its place among the more established and reputable traditions of architecture, sculpture, painting, music, poetry, and dance.
Here are suggestions for the 7th trait of the SNW Manifesto >>
Here are suggestions for the 7th trait of the SNW Manifesto >>
Science is Fiction
Shift perspectives. Empathize.
Creativity is our Compass
Wonder guides the narrative
Courage for freedom
Life is, above all, experienced
Scientists are artists and artists are scientists
Filmmaking (should) construct community
Existence is a story.
Film can present true science and scientists.
Seek common systems
Risks and playfulness drive curiosity & creativity
thinking about this!
The object enlightens the subject
We are more significant than the sum of our parts
imagination births the real
Hover between explanation and mystery
Collaboration Fuels Discovery
Complexity is emergent.
Shift perspectives. Empathize.
Creativity is our Compass
Wonder guides the narrative
Courage for freedom
Life is, above all, experienced
Scientists are artists and artists are scientists
Filmmaking (should) construct community
Existence is a story.
Film can present true science and scientists.
Seek common systems
Risks and playfulness drive curiosity & creativity
thinking about this!
The object enlightens the subject
We are more significant than the sum of our parts
imagination births the real
Hover between explanation and mystery
Collaboration Fuels Discovery
Complexity is emergent.
Thank you to our Science New Wave Luminaries, Partners & Team.Become a Science New Wave Member to support us, connect with other hybrids and watch more cinema from the Science New Wave.
