It’s finally here – resplendent in yellow and is finally ready to be displayed. Susan Thieme and Mirko Winkel carefully unroll the poster for the 7th Global Science Film Festival in the foyer of the Kino Rex movie theater. It’s one of many joyful moments on the final sprint towards the festival, when everything is coming together and feels real.

The professor of geography and the artist work and conduct research at mLAB, an experimental laboratory at the Institute of Geography at the University of Bern. In recent months, they have traveled to film festivals, both small and large, and watched over a hundred films. Back in Bern, they will now present nine long and nine short films about science – but not just science films.

It’s not only science films that are of interest

The Global Science Film Festival differs from other science festivals, not least because of this unusual collaboration. “In selecting the films, we were specifically looking for surprises. Where is the non-obvious?” is how Susan Thieme describes her approach. “But we’re also concerned with what researchers can learn from the practice of filmmaking. This does not get as much attention at other science festivals,” says Mirko Winkel.

More specifically, what makes a film worthy of the Global Science Film Festival? “It could simply be a movie featuring a female scientist. Or it could be a scientific theme that appears in a movie. Or that the way a movie is made resembles a scientific method,” Mirko Winkel explains. It does not matter whether it’s a drama, a comedy or a documentary.

However, there are criteria for exclusion: If a film is soon to be shown on general release or if the filmmakers cannot attend the festival in person. So, the films come from all over the world and the invited scientists come from the University of Bern.

Susan Thieme and Mirko Winkel are enthusiastic about their somewhat unusual involvement. “The fact that the University of Bern is supporting us in organizing the festival is not something to be taken for granted. Its openness to a festival format means a lot to me,” says organizer Susan Thieme.

What’s an artist doing in a university?

At the Institute of Geography, an artistic perspective on research is highly regarded. In 2017, by founding mLAB and appointing artist Mirko Winkel as a coordinator, Thieme and fellow geography professor Carolin Schurr created an experimental laboratory that encourages researchers to try out new forms of transdisciplinary cooperation.

For example, Mirko Winkel supports researchers and students in making their findings visible to a broad public in the form of documentary films, books or exhibitions, or in integrating dialog formats into their research. “I’m in an unusual position since, as an art worker, I understand the perspective of research as one of many and help to broaden it,” says Mirko Winkel.

Students at the Institute of Geography will take on various content-related and technical tasks at the festival and write a follow-up report. “We actively involve 15 students in the organization, which is how this year’s awareness and sustainability concept and the after-party came about,” says Susan Thieme. The film festival has thus become an important part of transdisciplinary teaching. “We want to emphasize the value of this shared, extended experience – sitting together in the movie theater, watching, discussing.”

But how did Susan Thieme’s enthusiasm for the medium of film develop? “There are biographical reasons for that. I’ve always worked in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary ways, even if we didn’t call it that. I submitted a documentary film as part of my habilitation. There are many researchers who also take photographs and shoot films while they are out and about,” says Susan Thieme. That is why it was always clear to her that, as a professor, she would like to make a place like mLAB possible.

“There are many researchers who also take photographs and shoot films while they are out and about.”

- Susan Thieme

Now, in early October, the pair is in the final stages of organizing the festival. “It’s a lot of hands-on work. Right now, I’m on the phone a lot, sorting out logistical and content-related issues,” says Susan Thieme. Once the films had been selected, the work continued. She made enquiries at the various faculties of the University of Bern and contacted researchers, inviting them to join a discussion about a film that would fit their profile. “It’s not automatically the case that everyone at a university always talks to each other. There is a great deal of interest when an opportunity like a film festival presents itself.” For her personally, it’s also an opportunity to discover new areas of research.

This year, panel discussions will include the historian Stefanie Mahrer, the philosopher of science Claus Beisbart and the criminal law expert Martino Mona, the biologist Stijn Verschueren, the sustainability expert Elisabeth Bürgi Bonanomi, the media anthropologist Michaela Schäuble, the astronomer Michelle Lee Galloway and the medical anthropologist Julia Rehsmann.

Rector Virginia Richter will present the audience award on Sunday evening. “I greatly enjoy this networking across the university, and it’s important to us to establish the festival as a connecting element,” says Susan Thieme. Thanks to the new connections made within the university, researchers from evolutionary biology also decided to participate in the festival.

“We want to show, here in Bern, that research takes place beyond microscopes and lab coats.”

– Mirko Winkel

So cinema isn’t dead, as is often claimed? They both shake their heads: Youth programs in particular are very popular at many festivals, with school classes filling up the theaters. “This insight prompted us to invite classes from schools in Bern. Our students also have follow-up conversations in school classrooms,” says Susan Thieme. “We want to show, here in Bern, that research takes place beyond microscopes and lab coats. Perhaps we’ll even provide an answer to why you should go to university at all and get involved there,” Mirko Winkel adds.