International Science Film Festival a Great Discovery

Science films may not immediately conjure up the word “festival” for you, but the Discovery Science and Technology Centre and Goldfields Libraries are keen to prove otherwise with a free screening of internationally awarded science films for 2016.

The very best films from “Scinema”, the International Science Film Festival for 2016, will be screened in a free session from 6.30 to 8.30pm on Tuesday 16 August at the Discovery Centre. All are welcome to attend.

The films range from three minute journeys through the cosmos using images from Hubble and NASA, to an hour long piece on a relatively unknown scientist whose unprecedented achievements in saving human lives, place him among the greatest scientists of all time.

Goldfields Libraries is partnering with the Discovery Centre to celebrate the film festival, given that both organisations have a focus on learning and enquiry. The Goldfields eLibrary also has a range of science films and documentaries available through free online streaming service, Beamafilm.

“We’re excited to be working in partnership on this and other projects with Goldfields Libraries. The Discovery Science and Technology Centre is having incredible success as a local learning destination that’s accessible for our community. It just makes so much sense that we’re working together on projects such as this,” said Jonathan Ridnell, General Manager at Discovery.

“In many ways, our libraries and Discovery are very similar. We both provide opportunity for people to explore and gain knowledge. We both want to allow people to enquire and understand the world around them and for us at the library, scientific literacy is just as important as traditional literacy around reading and writing,” said Mark Hands, Senior Manager at Goldfields Libraries.

The Scinema Film Festival event also links to Beamafilm, an online film streaming service available through the Goldfields eLibrary service.

“Beamafilm is available free to library members. It’s a great resource with more than 300 films and documentaries that they can watch online at any time. It has a huge range of subjects including many science based topics that link very nicely to the Scinema Film Festival being screened at the Discovery Centre,” said Mr Hands.

“We see this as the first of many opportunities to work together on interesting and engaging events that improve understanding and knowledge in a way that’s accessible for everyone. We also want to convince people that a Science Film Festival can be a bit of a hoot as well,” added Mr Ridnell.

For enquiries on the Scinema event contact the Discovery Science and Technology Centre on 5444 4400 or Goldfields Libraries on 5449 2700.  You can also see the full film program at www.discovery.asn.au or www.ncgrl.vic.gov.au