First films InScience 2024

What makes democracy work? Why is American democracy in crisis? And most importantly: what can be done about it? In this documentary we follow Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam, famous for his non-fiction classic Bowling Alone (2000), on a quest for solutions for a democracy in crisis.

This phenomenal film delves into dark matter, but manages to make hard science shine off the screen in a glorious  way. In 2015, a group of Italian physicists managed to prove Einstein’s theory about gravitational waves. They depicted their scientific breakthrough in this unique dance documentary, in which they whirl through their own offices and laboratories and show how their success was certainly not without setbacks. A unique film that translates abstract theory into dazzling dance, between devices to measure what we cannot see and capture what we cannot express.

Monique and Michel Pinçon-Charlot are French sociologists, renowned for their work on the ultra-rich. They have also been together for more than fifty years and their love for each other shines from the screen. Although they are retired, they never sit still for a second: there is work to be done, or rather, there is a battle to fight. After all, the war against big business and capitalism never ends. This documentary is a moving portrait of intense love, intellectual fighting spirit and a fierce struggle for a better world.

This film takes us to the Karoo, a desert in South Africa the size of Germany. In 2018, construction of a gigantic telescope started here, with which contemporary scientists will look back in time in search of answers about the origin of the universe.

What does this cosmic hunger for knowledge do to the original population who have inhabited this pristine land for centuries? And how does modern science relate to the ancient knowledge of the residents about this place and its history? !Aitsa is a grand story about high-tech science, ancient spiritual knowledge and colonial history.