HÀ NỘI - The Science Film Festival 2024 has taken place online and in-person at schools to show 20 features presenting scientific issues in an accessible and entertaining way to a broad audience.

The Science Film Festival is organised by the Goethe Institute Hà Nội in close cooperation with local partners.

The festival relies on the collaboration and active participation of science education institutions, schools, universities, ministries and cultural centres in each of the host countries, as well as the enthusiasm of their staff and other partners, such as NGOs and student volunteer groups, who facilitate the screenings and activities.

"The enthusiasm from our partners, the schools and teachers and the curious eyes and discoveries from the students are the driving force that helped us to implement this film festival to Việt Nam over the past decade," said the Director of the Institute, Oliver Brandt.

"We believe that films open doors to different cultures and bring a lot of useful knowledge. Especially, combining films screening with practical experiments will help students absorb knowledge in a playful and easier way."

The theme this year is 'Net Zero and the Circular Economy' and emphasises the urgency of actions not only focused on reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, but also on protecting the climate more effectively.

"This year’s theme may sound a little bit strange or even difficult for an audience, but it is the close reciprocal relationship between humans and nature," said Brandt. "You will learn to understand nature, how to deal with energy and waste in many innovative, fun and meaningful ways, how to stay truly eco-friendly and to for your lifestyle to become sustainable."

The Science Film Festival is a celebration of science communication in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. The event has grown considerably since its first edition in 2005, becoming the largest event of its kind worldwide. It was first introduced to Việt Nam in 2010. 

The festival runs internationally in 21 countries until December 31. Dates will vary between participating countries. In Việt Nam the festival was opened on October 17 at Hà Nội-based Thực Nghiệm School and at the General Sciences Libarary of HCM City on October 20. 

The films of the festival present a wide variety of work in five categories for all ages, focusing on family education and entertainment, ecology & environment, natural resource - life science - technology, non-verbal & science shorts and culture & history. 

The films H2 The Green Gold; Curious Tobi - The Cancer Check and Redesigning Global Aviation were made by German, British and Italian filmmakers this year for secondary school students. 

The ecology and environment-themed H2 The Green Gold directed by Alessandro Macina and Fabrizio Lazzaretti explains what green hydrogen is and how it is produced. The first large-scale green hydrogen production plant is opening in Denmark, which will also export to Germany. 

Local film Bình Yên, Come Home directed by Nguyễn Hoàng Việt was shown at the festival last year. - VNS