OIFF BECOMES ONE OF TWO COLORADO “SCIENCE ON SCREEN®” PARTNERS
We are thrilled to announce that the Ouray International Film Festival has been selected to become a screening partner of Science on Screen®, an initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre with major support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. This program seeks to promote public engagement with science through cinema. "The Coolidge Corner Theatre's Science on Screen® series has enhanced film and scientific literacy with this popular program, which launched at the Coolidge in 2005 in partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and its pioneering nationwide film program." This year, just 41 film festivals and arts organizations were chosen nationwide to participate in this program. In Colorado, OIFF joins Aspen Film as the only two organizations selected in the state.
According to the Science on Screen leadership, "Over the past 13 seasons, grantees have sold more than 176,000 tickets to over 1,450 Science on Screen events (including free tickets offered by many grantees to their Science on Screen series). Those events have featured presentations by hundreds of scientists, doctors, teachers & professors, farmers, journalists, and more, including at least five Nobel laureates, three Pulitzer Prize winners, ten astronauts, and other luminaries, including autism activist Temple Grandin; outed CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson; surgeon and writer Dr. Atul Gawande; environmentalist Bill McKibben; geneticist George Church; and trailblazing molecular biologist Dr. Nancy Hopkins."
What does this mean for the OIFF community? In 2025, our festival will screen three films related to topics of scientific concern in the San Juan Mountains. The three films, to be announced later in the year, focus on water conservation, Colorado's bears, and changing weather patterns. Two of these screenings--one in Silverton, one in Ouray--will take place in Spring 2025. The third and final screening will be featured during our 2025 Summer Film Fest (June 19-22, 2025). After each screening, a panel of scientists and non-profit leaders will engage the public in conversation about the topics raised by the movies. We are excited by the rich discussions these events can generate around issues that matter in our region.
Stay tuned for more details on dates, venues, and speakers. We can't wait to share this programming with you. We thank the Coolidge Corner Theater and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for this generous grant and the opportunity to celebrate science through film at the Ouray International Film Festival!