8th Science Film Festival continues to make learning accessible and fun

Intimidating science concept are made accessible in movies presented in the 8th Science Film Festival, presented by the Department of Science and Technology–Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) and the Goethe Institut.

Science educators and science communicators from across the globe have selected 67 films to be screened for the festival, which follows the theme "Anthropocene: Welcome to the Age of Humans."

Science Film Festival Trailer 2017 from Science Film Festival on Vimeo.

"This year's theme resulted out of a question that scientists, policymakers, and society are pursuing since of a couple of years: Are we, in fact, living in a new geological era called the Anthropocene?" Dr. Ulrich Nowak, director of the Goethe-Institut Philippinen was quoted saying in a statement shared with the press.

Antrhopocene is defined as "the period of time during which human activities have had an environmental impact on the Earth regarded as constituting a distinct geological age."

"Based on overwhelming global evidence that the human imprint on atmospheric, geologic, hydrologic, biospheric and other earth system processes is very deep and pervasive, the Anthropocene defines Earth‘s most recent geologic time period as being human-influenced," Nowak shared.

The films are divided in three categories — Primary, Secondary, and Young Adult — and explores humanity's impact on the planet through topics such as urbanization, mobility, nature, evolution, food, and human-machine interaction.

“We acknowledge the potential of using films in successfully communicating complex scientific concepts,” said DOST-SEI director Dr. Josette Biyo.

The festival runs from November 7 to December 15, with screenings scheduled at the Museo Pambata, The Mind Museum, the Philippine Science Centrum, the National Library of the Philippines, and in schools and libraries across the country.

The full schedule is available on the official Goethe Institut website and the program is available for download.

The Science Film Festival was established 12 years ago in Thailand and is now held in 23 countries, including the Philippines and its Southeast Asian neighbors Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Myanmar.