Sheffield Doc/Fest presents Ideas & Science supported by the Wellcome Trust

Science and ideas are an integral part of culture, art, film and documentary and this dedicated strand - Ideas & Science supported by the Wellcome Trust - illuminates creativity, highlights controversy and brings experimentation to the heart of Doc/Fest. Comedian Robin Ince, broadcaster Jon Snow and an eclectic mix of filmmakers, big thinkers, digital creatives and campaigners will make waves and push the boundaries across the films, live events and sessions as well as the Virtual Reality Arcade at the Site Gallery and Interactive Exhibition at the Millennium Gallery.

Special events

Jon Snow, Ingvil Giske (prod: Good Girl) and Teresa Camou (dir: of Sunu) will explore how to turn controversial topics into compelling documentaries in Making Waves, Courting Controversy chaired by Sophie Heawood; comedian Robin Ince and friends on unthinkable and quirky commissions in Final Frontiers 101;agony aunt, psychotherapist, author and TV presenter Philippa Perry in conversation with fellow agony aunt, journalist and celebrated author Virginia Ironside inSex, Lies and Love Bitesand a Science Commissioning Panel will look at how the latest talent, trends, technology is pushing the boundaries of science programming, and how programme-makers can make their ideas stand out from the crowd. Other sessions include: Re-framing Climate Changehow can climate change be reframed, not just as an environmental issue, but one which affects all aspects of life? Sound of the Cosmos: The Making of...comedian Chella Quint and the collaborators of Sounds of the Cosmos (which features in the Special Events programme) for a behind the scenes look at the art, science and audiovisual design of bringing a breathtaking voyage to the outer limits of the universe to life.

The University of Sheffield Departments of Music and Physics/Astronomy, Festival of The Mind and Sheffield Doc/Fest will present Sounds of the Cosmosat the Crucible Theatre. A breath-taking voyage to the outer limits of the universe as Gustav Holst's The Planets will be performed by the Sheffield Rep. Orchestra conducted by George Morton, accompanied by images of interplanetary odysseys and newly commissioned visuals by Sheffield creative design agency Human and a commentary from astronomer and Paul Crowther who is also a creative producer with Stewart Campbell. There will also be a session looking at the making of the piece, see Sessions' below.

International Docs

Emmy Award-winning director Robert Kenner's latest film Merchants of Doubtlooks at the world of spin and punditry within the American science industry; The Visitis an entirely speculative, based around a hypothetical encounter with the extraterrestrial kind. Danish filmmaker Michael Madsen has made a film that turns the focus back towards humanity: who are we, as an Other might see us?; Teresa Camou Guerrero's Sunu(world premiere) explores rural maize farmer's wisdom and the battle against GM seeds in Mexico; Containment(UK premiere) by Peter Gallison and Robb Moss chronicles the complexities of managing nuclear waste after Fukushima; My Beautiful Broken Brain (UK premiere), Lotje Sodderlands recording of her recovery from a brain haemorrhage and subsequent aphasia - a condition affecting her use of language - with filmmaker Sophie Robinson; Tonje Hessen Schei's Drone, exploring the covert CIA drone war; short movie The Archipelago(world premiere) dealing with whaling, protest, and tradition on the Faroe Islands, by Benjamin Huguet; Alison Rose's astronaut road-movie docStar Men(world premiere), and Marc Schmidt's screening about re-socialising simians The Chimpanzee Complex(UK premiere); the deeply personal Good Girl (UK premiere), directed by Solveig Melkeraaen as she recalls her past experiences with depression whilst continuing her battle with the disease.

Interactive at Sheffield

Within the Crossover Summit Mel Woods: Serendipityfrom the University of Dundee will talk about how to bring serendipity back into our lives, and Karen Palmer(neuroscientist, Syncself2) and Brendan Walker(Thrill Engineer, Oscillate) and Erinma Ochu(neuroscientist turned interactive storyteller) will explore the brave new world of immersive storytelling in Reality Bites Back.

As part of Ideas & Science Interactive at Sheffield will showcase: Karen Palmer's neuro-game Syncself 2which reads your brain to get you in the mindstate of a parkour athlete; Brendan Walker at the Thrill Laboratory Oscillate, an immersive interactive art installation based on the multi millennia-old rope swing; Ryan and Amy Green share their family's intimate journey coping with their five-year-old son's terminal cancer diagnosis in videogame That Dragon, Cancer; a brand new underwater experiencePolar Sea 360project by DEEP; and May Abdalla and Amy Rose of Anagram who brought Door Into the Dark to Doc/Fest last year (which just won the Storyscapes Award at the Tribeca Film Festival), will be bringing us The Reality Reality Show.

About the Wellcome Trust

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to improving health. It supports bright minds in science, the humanities and the social sciences, as well as education, public engagement and the application of research to medicine. www.wellcome.ac.uk

About Doc/Fest:

Sheffield Doc/Fest is the UKs premier documentary and digital media festival. It is the place to see world and UK premieres of the best creative documentaries from the cinema, television and online arenas, and to hear from and meet filmmakers at Q&A sessions. Highlights of the film programme are honoured with an award programme including the Sheffield Grand Jury, Innovation, Environmental, Interactive, Youth Jury, Inspiration, Student Doc, Short Form and Audience Awards. In 2014, 3,263 full festival pass holders attended the Festival and it attracted over 26,700 member

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