The Bio:Fiction film festival: Sensing how a debate about synthetic biology might evolve

Abstract

Synthetic biology (SB) is a new techno-scientific field surrounded by an aura of hope, hype and fear. Currently it is difficult to predict which way the public debate – and thus the social shaping of technology – is heading. With limited hard evidence at hand, we resort to a strategy that takes into account speculative design and diegetic prototyping, accessing the Bio:Fiction science film festival, and its 52 short films from international independent filmmakers. Our first hypothesis was that these films could be used as an indicator of a public debate to come. The second hypothesis was that SB would most likely not follow the debate around genetic engineering (framing technology as conflict) as assumed by many observers. Instead, we found good evidence for two alternative comparators, namely nanotechnology (technology as progress) and information technology (technology as gadget) as stronger attractors for an upcoming public debate on SB.

Envisioning futures: imagining technoscientific worlds in film

“…Twenty students from different disciplines participated in this practice-based training that began in spring 2015. 6 The call for entries, however, did not target students exclusively but also "researchers, filmmakers, visionaries," in other words "people who produce knowledge and further developments" and people "who transfer this knowledge and examine its impacts creatively" [25]. The nearly 50 films that were submitted to the festival thus originated from a variety of authors, including researchers, journalists, and filmmakers [24].…”

“…Researchers of science and technology studies (STS) and science communication have examined the relationship between science and films mainly from four perspectives: representation, interaction, communication, and impact. Several studies have explored science in films by looking at ways science, scientists, and physicians are represented in films (e.g., [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]). Other studies have examined films in science by investigating ways that scientists interact with moving pictures in their work (e.g., [11,12]).…”

“…Other studies have examined films in science by investigating ways that scientists interact with moving pictures in their work (e.g., [11,12]). The third perspective examines ways that science is communicated to a wider public by cinematographic means and how the audience understands science as presented in both fictional and documentary films (e.g., [6,[13][14][15]). The fourth perspective of interest refers to the impact of films on the production and development of science [16,17].…”

El discurso sobre la biología sintética y la innovación responsable: observaciones desde una perspectiva histórica

“…En este sentido resulta especialmente importante la interfaz entre arte y ciencia -que desde hace tiempo es relevante en el discurso sobre la biología sintética-, porque la confrontación artística con la biología sintética y con sus perspectivas de aplicación -tal y como ocurre por ejemplo en el festival de cine Bio:Fiction (cfr. Schmidt et al 2015)-permite articular de forma eficaz aspectos de la confrontación social con la biología sintética (por ejemplo emociones o utopías y distopías) que en una deliberación conforme a fines a menudo quedan al margen.…”

SSFX (Space Sound Effects) Short Film Festival: Using the film festival model to inspire creative art-science and reach new audiences

“…However, beyond simply improving the ways that science is communicated to the public (Type VI of Malina (2010)), there is the potential to as well have science appreciated more as part of culture via film (Type V). BIO-FICTION invites short films addressing current/future debate topics in areas of biology, with a near even mix of fiction and documentary style submissions (Schmidt et al, 2015). CineGlobe is a film festival at CERN which centres around broad and culturally relevant themes inspired by science and technology (CineGlobe, 2019).…”