The Science Film Night

08.06.2013

Free screenings on a giant screen!

On Saturday, June 8th, from 8h30 pm, PARISCIENCE film festival will schedule three science documentaries for the Science Film Night, in front of the Paris Hôtel de Ville (4e).

Come and bring all your friends to watch films selected at 2012 PARISCIENCE film festival, and many short films !

9pm - Invisible nature - Colonising plants

Directed by Thierry Berrod / 52 min - France - 2012 © Mona Lisa Production

Their biological particularities have enabled plants to conquer all natural environments of planet earth; from dry desert lands (cactus and acacia), ice cold (algae), marshes (carnivorous plants) to the concrete in the hearts of our cities (tree of heaven) and wastes (elder). To succeed this extraordinary colonization, the lords of green have developed many strategies that could be qualified as “vegetal genius”. Perhaps the foremost of them all, is to have seduced us, the human race. Today we bring plant life into our cities of concrete and asphalt, and some humans have even foreseen the creation of cities entirely made of plants.

• Selected at Pariscience 2012

See the trailer

10pm - Super spider

Directed by Vincent Amouroux / 52 min - France - 2012 © ARTE France - ZED - Productions Nova Media

They are said to be poisonous, evil, hairy and treacherous. Whether from their physical appearance or their behaviour, spiders suffer a bad reputation. We know little of their habits and we often fear them. And yet the spider is a creature of many powers and an endless source of amazement. With more than 40,000 species, the spider offers a rich field of study for international scientists. From the summits of the highest mountains to the most distant isles, they have conquered the entire world. They adapt, change and multiply, and form an essential part of the ecological balance. Thanks to some extraordinary filming techniques, this documentary leads us to the heart of the world of spiders – a world which remains largely a mystery, even though we live with spiders on a daily basis. This astonishing world can be glimpsed under any wardrobe, or with a trip to your balcony or garden.

• Selected at Pariscience 2012

See the trailer

11pm - Finding Life Beyond Earth

Scientists are on the verge of answering one of the greatest questions in history: Are we alone? This film will immerse audiences in the sights and sounds of alien worlds, while top astrobiologists explain how these places are changing how we think about the potential for life in our solar system. We used to think our neighboring planets and moons were fairly boring – mostly cold, dead rocks where life could never take hold. Today, however, the solar system looks wilder than we ever imagined. Powerful telescopes and unmanned space missions have revealed a wide range of dynamic environments – atmospheres thick with organic molecules, active volcanoes, and vast saltwater oceans. This ongoing revolution is forcing scientists to expand their ideas about what kinds of worlds could support life. And if we do find primitive life forms elsewhere in the solar system, it may well be that life is common in the universe—the rule, and not the exception.

• Selected at Pariscience 2012

See the trailer