Photo by Aditya Chinchure on Unsplash

About the Festival

History of the
Science Film Festival
2023 - 2021
2020 - 2016
2015 - 2011
2010 - 2005
Dive Deeper

The Science Film Festival is a celebration of science communication in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa and the Middle East: In cooperation with local partners it promotes science literacy and facilitates awareness of contemporary scientific, technological and environmental issues through international films with accompanying educational activities. The festival presents scientific issues accessibly and entertainingly to a broad audience and demonstrates that science can be fun. The event has grown considerably since its first edition in 2005, becoming the largest event of its kind worldwide.

The Science Film Festival is organized in each country by the Goethe-Institut in close cooperation with local partners. The festival relies on the collaboration and active participation of science education institutions, schools, universities, ministries and cultural centers in each of the host countries, as well as the enthusiasm of their staff and other partners, such as NGOs, educators and student volunteer groups, who facilitate the screenings and activities.

Thema des Jahres 2024: Net Zero and the Circular Economy

History of the
Science Film Festival

2023 - 2021

2023 - UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

In 2023, the Science Film Festival is official supporting partner of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The theme is a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world. The UN Decade runs from 2021 through 2030, which is also the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals and the timeline scientists have identified as the last chance to prevent catastrophic climate change. Ecosystem restoration means assisting in the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed, as well as conserving the ecosystems that are still intact.

The Science Film Festival is committed to highlighting the importance of the ecosystem approach for the integrated management of land, water and living resources and the need to step up efforts to tackle desertification, land degradation, erosion and drought, biodiversity loss and water scarcity, which are seen as major environmental, economic and social challenges for global sustainable development.

Science Film Festival 2023 - International Report(PDF, 118 MB)

Focus: UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

SFF 2023 - UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

2022 - Equal Opportunities in Science

Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers or prejudices or preferences. Innovations resulting from science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields have positively touched nearly every aspect of human life. Yet, even today, science can exacerbate the equality divide in subtle and more pervasive ways and the continued underrepresentation of minorities and women in the scientific enterprise represents a challenge to cultivate an adequate international scientific workforce.

Diversity in science refers to cultivating talent and promoting the full inclusion of excellence across the social spectrum. Diversity is essential to delivering excellence in STEM. A diverse and inclusive scientific workforce draws from the widest range of backgrounds, perspectives and experiences thereby maximizing innovation and creativity in science.

The Science Film Festival 2022 is committed to increasing awareness on the issue of diversity and inclusiveness in STEM from underrepresented groups, in which studying and working in science is open to all and for the benefit of all sections of society.

Science Film Festival 2022 - International Report(PDF, 94 MB)

Focus: Equal Opportunities in Science

SFF 2022 - Equal Opportunities in Science

2021 - Better Health Through
Better Understanding

In 2021, the Science Film Festival was organized in Angola, Brunei, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, the Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, Thailand, and Vietnam. The festival reached 400 000 viewers in over 20 countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, many screenings were held online with more than 60 000 views. The event focused on health and mental wellbeing and presented 127 films from 22 countries as official selection.

2020 was looking to be a milestone for international cooperation, with major global conferences on biodiversity, climate change, gender equality and more. A year of inspiring ambition and action took a sharp detour with the COVID-19 pandemic. Finding the path forward from here may be even more challenging than before. The vision, outlined in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is our shared blueprint for a better, sustainable future. To achieve that future, we must look at the world today, understand the possibilities for change and take action to make that change happen. Inevitably, the pandemic severely affects in particular SDG 3 Good Health and Wellbeing. Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being at all ages is essential to sustainable development.

The world is facing a global health crisis unlike any other - COVID-19 has destabilized the global economy and upended the lives of billions of people around the globe. In the context and aftermath of the pandemic, health and mental well-being are more important than ever. Many children and youths in particular may be struggling, they may be worried about maintaining their own wellbeing or want to better equip themselves to help loved ones. That is why bringing these issues out into the open especially at this time is so important and why the Science Film Festival turns its focus on the science of health and wellbeing in 2021 with a selection of international films on these topics.

Focus: Health and Wellbeing

SFF Thema 2021: Bessere Gesundheit durch besseres Verständnis

2020 - 2016

2020 – Sustainable Development Goals

In 2020, the Science Film Festival reached over 800,000 viewers in 28 countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East from October 01 to December 20. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, most screenings were held virtually with over 200,000 online views. The Science Film Festival focused on the Sustainable Development Goals in partnership with the United Nations Environment Program and presented 92 films from 24 countries as official selection in 2020.

In 2015, 193 countries adopted a vision for the world in 2030. The vision is ambitious: a world of peace and prosperity built on a a healthy environment. A world of improved health, access to quality education, good jobs and reduced inequalities, among other aspirations.

This vision, outlined in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is our shared blueprint for a better, sustainable future. To achieve that future, we must look at the world today, understand the possibilities for change and take action to make that change happen. In cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Science Film Festival 2020 aims to explore these possibilities. Through an international selection of films on science, technology and the environment, the festival helps expand the conversation on the issues central to the SDGs, and through this conversation, helps to inspire action for the betterment of people and planet.

Science Film Festival 2020 - International Report(PDF, 28 MB)

Focus:
Sustainable Development Goals

Science Film Festival - Thema 2020: The Sustainable Development Goals

2020 – Sustainable Development Goals

2019 – Humboldt and the Web of Life

In 2019, the Science Film Festival reached over 1.3 million viewers in 21 countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. The festival was organized in Bangladesh, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Myanmar, Namibia, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, the Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. The festival took place internationally from October 01 to December 23 with local dates varying by country within this period.

What has Alexander von Humboldt, who was born 250 years ago (1769 - 1859), to do with global climate change and sustainability today? Alexander von Humboldt revolutionized the conception of nature by scientifically approaching it as an interconnected living web - and in doing so, inspired countless scientists, environmentalists, writers and artists alike. On the 250 Year Anniversary of Humboldt’s birth, we need such a global perspective more today than ever: an appreciation that all things are connected and that harm caused in one place, always has implications elsewhere and for the whole. Perhaps these ideas can help to stimulate alternatives - whole-system thinking and the pursuit of endeavors that rejuvenate the natural world. Humboldt had respect for nature, for the wonders it contained, but also as the system in which we ourselves are an inseparable part.

In a time when scientists are trying to understand and predict the global consequences of climate change, Humboldt’s interdisciplinary approach to science and nature is more relevant than ever. He refused to be tied to one discipline and insisted that all and everything was linked — humans, land clearing, plants, oceans, biodiversity, atmospheric changes, temperature, and so on. Humboldt’s nature was a global force. Time and again he examined the connections between nature and science, art and society, and has taken a cosmopolitan perspective on the world as a whole. When nature is perceived as a web, its vulnerability also becomes obvious. Everything hangs together. If one thread is pulled, the whole tapestry might unravel.

The Science Film Festival 2019 aims to illustrate the relevance of this complex approach to the 21st century, in particular for students and young people, and raise awareness of environmental issues, climate change and sustainability.

Focus:
Humboldt and the Web of Life

Science Film Festival - Thema 2019: Humboldt and the Web of Life

2018 – Food Revolution

In 2018, the Science Film Festival was organized in Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Myanmar, Namibia, Palestine, the Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. The event took place internationally from October 01 to December 23 with local dates varying by country within this period. The festival reached over 1.2 million viewers for the first time in 19 countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

When we think about threats to the environment, we tend to picture cars and sprawling cities, not the food on our tables. But the truth is our need for food poses one of the biggest dangers to the planet. The Science Film Festival 2018 explored the issues around nutrition and meeting the demands of a fast growing global population as one of the key challenges of this century. Agriculture is among the greatest contributors to global warming, emitting more greenhouse gases than all our cars, trucks, trains, and airplanes combined – largely from methane released by cattle and rice farms, nitrous oxide from fertilized fields, and carbon dioxide from the cutting of rain forests to grow crops or raise livestock. Farming is the thirstiest user of our precious water supplies and a major polluter, as runoff from fertilizers and manure disrupts fragile lakes, rivers, and coastal ecosystems across the globe. Agriculture also accelerates the loss of biodiversity. As we’ve cleared areas of grassland and forest for farms, we’ve lost crucial habitat, making agriculture a major driver of wildlife extinction.

The environmental challenges posed by agriculture are huge, and they’ll only become more pressing as we try to meet the growing need for food worldwide. We’ll likely have two billion more people on the planet to feed by mid-century — more than nine billion people. But sheer population growth isn’t the only reason we’ll need more food. The spread of prosperity across the world is driving an increased demand for food products. If these trends continue, we’ll need to produce roughly double the amount of crops we grow by 2050.

Focus:
Food Revolution

Science Film Festival - Thema 2018: Food revolution

2017 – Anthropocene: Welcome to the Age of Humans

In 2017, the Science Film Festival was organized in Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Lao P.D.R., Malaysia, Myanmar, Namibia, Palestine, the Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. It thereby established itself in two further regions with South Asia and Sub-Sahara Africa joining the initiative.

The festival reached over one million viewers (1 142 686) for the first time in 19 countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The outcome further strengthens its position as the largest scientific film festival worldwide and contributes to its recognition as one of the most effective science popularization initiatives in the countries in which it takes place.

Welcome to the Age of Humans – agriculture, trade, transportation, and industry: As long as humans have existed we have been utilizing and altering our environment. Industrialization, in particular, has contributed to the unmistakable and often irreversible fingerprint that we are making upon the Earth. Today, the human imprint is so deep and pervasive that scientists, policymakers, and society are considering whether human-caused changes are affecting the geological record over the long term – whether we are, in fact, living in a new geological era called the Anthropocene. Through selected topics such as urbanization, mobility, nature, evolution, food, and human-machine interaction, the Science Film Festival 2017 explored the past, present, and future of humanity.

Focus: Anthropocene

Science Film Festival - Thema 2017: Anthropocene

2016 – Material Science

In 2016, the Science Film Festival was organized in Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Lao P.D.R., Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Palestine, the Philippines, Qatar, Sudan, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. The event took place internationally from October 01 to December 18 with local dates varying by country within this period. The event reached nearly one million viewers (967 659) in 16 countries in Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Throughout human history, new materials have revolutionized our world. Whenever craftspeople, manufacturers and scientists got hold of new materials it allowed them to create new things that had not been possible before. But what are the next new materials that will change our world?

You could call material science the “study of stuff”! Just about everything you use every day - the shoes you wear, the dishes you eat from, the phone you use – it’s all made of different kinds of substances. Under- standing how the materials are put together, how they can be used, how they can be changed and made better to do more amazing things – even creating completely new kinds of substances: that’s what materials science is all about.

Some materials are so new that the scientists who dis- covered them hardly know what to do with them - they only know they might yet transform our lives. Scientists are now turning to computers to design materials and work out their properties before even going anywhere near a laboratory. Some of the newest materials that are getting scientists fired up exist only in theory. The goal now is to make them a reality. But each has the potential to be transformative. In 2016, the Science Film Festival invited audiences to explore the past, present and future of material science.

Focus: Material Science

Science Film Festival - Thema 2016: Material Science

2015 - 2011

2015 – UN International Year of Light

In 2015, the Science Film Festival was organized in Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Indonesia, Jordan, Lao P.D.R., Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Palestine, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Sudan, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. The event was an official Collaborating Partner of the UN International Year of Light and Light-Based Technologies 2015 and took place internationally from October 01 to December 20 with local dates varying by country within this period. The event reached over 750 000 visitors in 14 countries in Southeast Asia, North Africa and the Middle East, as well as pilot screenings in Burkina Faso and Russia.

On the occasion of the 10-Year Anniversary of the Science Film Festival, the Award Ceremony for the 2014 edition was held in the Centre for New Technologies in the Deutsches Museum Munich on February 26, 2015. The cooperation between the world’s largest science and technology museum and the world’s largest scientific film festival marked the first appearance of the event in Europe.

Throughout his life the German writer and statesman Johann Wolfgang von Goethe had a deep fascination for the physical and metaphorical effects of light on humans. From sunsets to rainbows, from the blues of the sky and the ocean, to the remarkable range of colors of plants and animals, our first experiences of light and color are through what we see in the natural world. However, the importance of light reaches far beyond life on Earth. Through major scientific discoveries and technological advancements, light has helped us to see and better understand the universe. 2015 marks an important milestone in the history of physics: one hundred years ago, in November 1915, Albert Einstein wrote down the famous field equations of General Relativity, which showed through a series of experiments centered on the concept of light, how light was at the center of the very structure of space and time. All over the globe, people are using light to discover solutions for society’s most pressing problems. From 3-D printing to bringing energy solutions to developing regions, light is key in driving economies and encouraging development in the 21st Century. It has revolutionized medicine, opened up international communication via the Internet, and continues to be central to linking cultural, economic and political aspects of the global society.

Focus: Light

Science Film Festival - Thema 2015: Light

2014 – Future Technologies

The Science Film Festival in 2014 included countries in North Africa for the first time and broke the half a million viewers’ mark. The event took place in Cambodia, Egypt, Indonesia, the Gulf Region, Lao P.D.R., Jordan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Palestine, the Philippines, Sudan, Thailand and Vietnam and reached 580 000 visitors.

In 2014, the Science Film Festival turned to the future and showcased the technologies that will shape tomorrow’s world. Scientific discovery and technological innovation are accelerating at an unprecedented speed and the media is constantly injecting our vocabulary with new words such as gentech, nanotech, synthetic biology, graphene, algae fuel, quantum computers and other concepts, which used to be the domain of expert researchers, but are soon to have an impact on our daily lives and the world we live in.

In such rapidly changing times it can be a challenge to keep up with the exciting scientific and technological developments. What promises and what dangers do these breakthroughs hold in store for us? To help make sense of the impending changes we can expect in the next ten years and beyond, the Science Film Festival seeked to explore the broad spectrum of innovative technologies at the cutting edge of science though exemplary film and television content from around the world and numerous activities.

Focus:
Future Technologies

Science Film Festival - Thema 2014: Future Technologies

2013 – Climate Change Series:
Energy and Sustainability

The Science Film Festival in 2013 expanded to the Middle East for the first time and included Cambodia, Indonesia, Jordan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Palestine, the Philippines, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. The event reached over 440 000 visitors in 11 countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

The Science Film Festival concluded its climate change series by exploring the pivotal field of energy and sustainability in 2013. We looked at what solutions science and technology can offer in safeguarding the resources and benefits of the present for future generations and why civilization might be facing its greatest collective challenge in history this century. What kind of energy do we want to use in the future and what challenges await us over the coming decades are some of the fundamental questions the festival seeked to address this year. Our need for sustainable thinking has never been greater and perhaps nowhere else more so than in our production and consumption of energy. The choices we make today will affect generations to come.

The cost and availability of energy significantly impacts our quality of life, the productivity of economies, the relationships between nations and the balance of our natural environment. The Science Film Festival seeked to contribute to this crucial debate and to encourage the next generation of citizens and leaders to engage with this decisive topic and to be inspired and informed by films and programs on the subject from around the world.

Focus:
Energy and Sustainability

Science Film Festival - Thema 2013: Energy and Sustainability

2012 – Climate Change Series:
UN International Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’

In 2012, the Science Film Festival completed its regionalization in Southeast Asia with the inclusion of Myanmar and Laos bringing the extent of the festival to eight countries. The theme was “Water” and the event reached 370 000 visitors in the region, securing it as the most visited scientific film event in the world.

Access to water and sanitation is a precondition to life and a declared human right. Water is vitally important to sustainable development – from health and nutrition, to gender equity and economics. Over the coming years, our water-related challenges will become more urgent. The increasing demands of a growing population and rapidly developing global economy, combined with the effects of climate change, will exacerbate lack of access to water and sanitation for domestic uses. In fact, many experts argue that an unpredictable supply of water could constrain socio-economic progress in the future. The United Nations General Assembly, in December 2003, proclaimed the years 2005-2015 as the International Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’. Its primary goal was to promote efforts to fulfill international commitments made on water and water related issues in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

Focus: Water for Life

Science Film Festival - Thema 2012: Water

2011 – Climate Change Series:
UN International Year of Forests

In 2011, the Science Film Festival was initiated in Vietnam and Malaysia. The theme was “Forests” and the event reached over 240 000 visitors in Southeast Asia.

The year 2011 was declared the International Year of Forests by the United Nations to raise awareness and strengthen the sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests for the benefit of current and future generations. Forests are an integral part of global sustainable development. More than 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihoods with some 300 million living in them. The forest product industry is a source of economic growth and employment, with global forest products traded internationally is estimated at $327 billion.

It is estimated that every year 130,000 km² of the world's forests are lost due to deforestation. Conversion to agricultural land, unsustainable harvesting of timber, unsound land management practices, and creation of human settlements are the most common reasons for this loss of forested areas. Deforestation also accounts for up to 20 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. Forests provide habitats to about two-thirds of all species on earth, and that deforestation of closed tropical rainforests could account for biodiversity loss of as many as 100 species a day.

Focus: Forest

Science Film Festival - Thema 2011: Forests

2010 - 2005

2010 – Climate Change Series:
UN International Year of Biodiversity

In 2010, the Science Film Festival continued its regional expansion by initiating editions in Indonesia and the Philippines. The festival also commenced its multiyear series focus on climate change with the theme this year being “Biodiversity” in cooperation with the UN International Year of Biodiversity.

Humans are part of nature's rich diversity and have the power to protect or destroy it. Biodiversity, the variety of life on Earth, is essential to sustaining the living networks and systems that provide us all with health, food, fuel and the vital services our lives depend on. Human activity is causing the diversity of life on Earth to be lost at a greatly accelerated rate. These losses are irreversible and damage the life support systems we depend on. But we can prevent them. The UN declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity, calling on world leaders and all in a position to help to take action to safeguard life on earth. Adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2002 this target set out to significantly reduce the rate of loss of biodiversity by 2010.

The event reached 130 000 visitors in Southeast Asia with 88 000 in Thailand, 12 500 in Indonesia, 9 500 in Cambodia and 20 000 in the Philippines.

Focus: Biodiversity

Science Film Festival - Thema 2010: Biodiversity

2009 – Astronomy: 400-year
Anniversary of the Telescope

In 2009, the Science Film Festival began its regionalization to neighboring countries with the inclusion of Cambodia. The UN International Year of Astronomy 2009 marked the 400th anniversary of the year that astronomer Galileo Galilei began fashioning his own telescopes and turning them to the heavens. Before long, he started to characterize the surface of the moon, discovered a quartet of Jupiter's moons, and began to revolutionize our view of Earth's place in the universe.

Furthermore, a newsletter from October 1608 describes both the visit of the first Siamese diplomatic mission to Europe and the first documented demonstration of a telescope worldwide. At the time of the demonstration of the telescope a Siamese embassy, sent by King Ekathotsarot (r. 1605-1610), has just arrived in The Hague, the first Thai embassy ever to visit Europe. As the Siamese were the official representatives of the King of Ayutthaya, it is not unlikely that they also have seen the telescope or even had a look through this instrument. If so, they were the first Asians ever to see (or look through) a telescope. Exactly 180 years later King Mongkut calculated the circumstances for a total eclipse of the sun on 18 August, 1868 near Prachuab Kirikhan. His calculations, based on modern books, telescopes and other equipment ordered from London, proved correct, but during his sojourn King Mongkut contracted malaria and he died 1 October 1868, being probably the first royal victim of astronomical aspirations. As a remembrance of his correct eclipse calculation, August 18 is celebrated in Thailand as the National Day of Science.

The event reached 5 500 visitors in its initial year in Cambodia and 112 000 in Thailand.

Focus: Astronomy

Science Film Festival - Thema 2009: Astronomy

2008 – Science Edutainment:
Knowledge Through Entertainment

In 2008, the Science Film Festival expanded to over 20 provinces in Thailand and reached 88 000 visitors. The theme this year presented the broad subject of “Science Edutainment”, which exemplifies the methodology of the Science Film Festival of combining education with entertainment.

Edutainment, the successful integration of education into the entertainment environment of television, is not a trivialization of real education. Instead, the paradigm of interactivity for education in broadcast TV formats offers sophisticated, personalized, exciting and innovative ways to present traditional academic disciplines.

The festival optimized its profile to reflect the target group with the greatest interest in the festival: primary and secondary school students.

Focus:
Science Edutainment

Science Film Festival - Thema 2008: Edutainment

2007 – Bionics: The Lotus Effect

In 2007, the Science Film Festival initiated the IPST Traveling Festival and for the first time reached five additional provinces in addition to the capital Bangkok. The theme this year was “Bionics – The Lotus Effect”.

In 1975 discovered the botanists Barthlott and Neinhuis from the University of Bonn the self cleansing capability of the Lotus flower. The scientists observed that Lotus flowers get rid of mud and dirt while unfolding their leaves in the morning. So they examined the leave surface structure of the Lotus with a scanning electron microscope discovering a not as expected smooth but a very rough structure. These effects reduce the strength of adhesion and vests the lotus flower with a super hydrophobic surface. As the Lotus effect has been introduced into Bionics it has found its way to commercial use. Today we can find the Lotus effect in the textile industry producing hydrophobic cloth. Other fields of use include glass, plastics, painted surfaces, metals and ceramics.

The event was visited by 44 000 young viewers – already establishing it as the largest event of its kind in the world in terms of audience figures with the third Science Film Festival edition.

Focus: Bionics

Science Film Festival - Thema 2007: Bionics

2006 – Nanotechnology:
Carbon 60 ‘Buckyball’

In 2006, the Science Film Festival focused on the theme of “Carbon 60 and Nanotechnology” in honor of the 60th Anniversary Celebrations of H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej's accession to the throne.

Buckyballs, also called fullerenes, were one of the first nanoparticles discovered. This discovery happened in 1985 by a trio of researchers working out of Rice University named Richard Smalley, Harry Kroto, and Robert Curl. Buckyballs are composed of carbon atoms linked to three other carbon atoms by covalent bonds. However, the carbon atoms are connected in the same pattern of hexagons and pentagons you find on a soccer ball, giving a buckyball the spherical structure. The most common buckyball contains 60 carbon atoms and is sometimes called C60. The covalent bonds between carbon atoms make buckyballs very strong, and the carbon atoms readily form covalent bonds with a variety of other atoms. Buckyballs are used in composites to strengthen material. Buckyballs have the interesting electrical property of being very good electron acceptors, which means they accept loose electrons from other materials. This feature is useful, for example, in increasing the efficiency of solar cells in transforming sunlight into electricity.

The event partnered with further venues in Bangkok, such as the National Science Museum Thailand, and was able to reach 11 000 visitors in its second year.

Focus: Nanotechnology

Science Film Festival - Thema 2006: Nanotechnologie

2005 – Einstein:
Never Stop Asking Questions

In 2005, the Science Film Festival was initiated in Thailand by the Goethe-Institut and the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology (IPST). The theme of the inaugural year was “Einstein – Never Stop Asking Questions” to celebrate the 100 Year Anniversary of Einstein’s so called ‘Miracle Year’ in which over the course of four months, March through June 1905, Albert Einstein produced four papers that revolutionized science.

One explained how to measure the size of molecules in a liquid, a second posited how to determine their movement, and a third described how light comes in packets called photons—the foundation of quantum physics and the idea that eventually won him the Nobel Prize. A fourth paper introduced special relativity, leading physicists to reconsider notions of space and time that had sufficed since the dawn of civilization. Then, a few months later, almost as an afterthought, Einstein pointed out in a fifth paper that matter and energy can be interchangeable at the atomic level specifically, that E=mc2, the scientific basis of nuclear energy and the most famous mathematical equation in history.

The event reached 5 000 visitors in Bangkok in its first year and laid the foundations for the methodology of the Science Film Festival to combine screenings with hands-on activities.

Focus: Einstein

Science Film Festival - Theme 2005: Einstein

Dive Deeper

About the Festival

History of the
Science Film Festival

2023 - 2021