OREANDA-NEWS. September 30, 2011. The first international 360 Contemporary Science Film Festival is starting in Moscow with support from RUSNANO. The Polytechnic Museum will be the main venue of the festival. The festival films will also be presented at a number of Moscow’s leading universities (Lomonosov’s Moscow State University, Bauman’s Moscow State Technical University, Moscow Physics and Technology Institute, Higher School of Economics, Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys), and at Pioneer movie theater as well.

The festival will last from September 23 till October 2 of 2011. The program features 24 films that have received special praise at top-ranked specialized international festivals. The films are all dedicated to science and its role in the life of contemporary man. The festival’s geography covers Europe (Including Russia), North and South Americas, Asia and Australia.

The festival’s three programs are: Main, Experimental and Short. The criteria used for film selection were: novelty and importance of the scientific element, presence of bold auteur stance and apprehensibility. “The films we are interested in do not only address pure science but use scientific approach to explore the surrounding life. Inviting to a dialogue instead of giving a lesson is the key factor we are looking for in a contemporary science film”, — stressed Director General of the Polytechnic Museum Boris Saltykov.

The film featured at the festival’s opening on September 23 at the Polytechnic Museum will be ‘Freakonomics’ based on the like-named best-seller by economist Steven D. Levitt and journalist Stephen J. Dubner. The film featured at the festival’s closing on September 30 will be ‘Into Eternity’. Its Director Michael Madsen will personally announce the film to the Moscow audience.

Among festival’s other guests will be representatives of film and science fields, Russian and foreign directors, screenwriters and producers, including Doctor Nakamatsu, Japan’s cult figure, author of over 3,500 inventions. He will give a speech at the premiere of ‘The Inventions of Professor Nakamatsu’ which is dedicated to him and his inventions.

In addition to film screenings, the Polytechnic Museum will host a series of free lectures and master-classes by festival’s Russian and foreign guests.

Among them, an interview with festival’s special guest Anthony Smith (CBE, former Director of the British Film Institute, Patron of the London Film School, former documentary show producer at BBC) will take place on September 28.

A retrospective of Vladimir Kobrin who is often called conceptualist and founder of Russian science film avant-garde is also an important part of the festival’s program.