InScience Film Festival

GMO classics

The InScience 2019 program features the fifty best science films that have appeared worldwide last year. But not only those, because during the fifth edition we also show three GMO classics!

 

Bride of Frankenstein

One of the first characters to come to mind when you think of classic films about genetic manipulation is Frankenstein. The original 1931 film was extremely successful, but The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) is considered by connoisseurs to be the better film and one of the best sequels of all time. The villagers think Dr Frankenstein’s monster died in the mill fire, but his creation is still very much alive. As Dr Frankenstein prepares for his marriage to Elizabeth, having decided not to create life for a while, he is visited by his older mentor, Dr Pretorius. He tries to convince Dr Frankenstein to help him create a wife for the monster and goes to great lengths (with the help of the monster himself) to achieve this.

Ronald Simons is a film programmer at Eye Filmmuseum and a great fan of the fantastic film. He will introduce Bride of Frankenstein by explaining why this version of Frankenstein is so special, how this film has influenced other science fiction films and why every science film lover has to see this classic on the big screen. A unique opportunity!

This program has been realized with the cooperation of Eye Filmmuseum.

Gattaca

Welcome to the world of Gattaca: a world where parents determine the genetic make-up of their children. Angelic blue eyes? A non-violent character? Extreme intelligence? Vincent Freeman, a child conceived through ‘old-fashioned’ love, struggles to keep up with these perfect people. To achieve his dream of going to space, he assumes the identity of a genetically perfect person. As he inches closer to his goal, the mission leader is murdered and Vincent becomes the primary suspect.

Gattaca was selected as the favourite film of Han Brunner, professor of Human and Molecular Genetics. How much of the dystopian future depicted in the film can we expect in real life? The film is screened after the talk by Han Brunner.

Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park is one of the most successful science fiction films of all time and won three Oscars. The film marked a digital effects revolution and was the first time moving animals were fully computer-operated. Billionaire John Hammond achieves a spectacular breakthrough in the field of genetic modification with the help of several scientists. Using the DNA of fossilised dinosaurs, the scientists manage to recreate the species. Hammond sees the commercial potential of this discovery as a tourist attraction and builds an unparalleled theme park. But is the park really dinosaur-proof?

Ilja Nieuwland is a researcher of the cultural history of science at Huygens ING and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He is interested in how findings throughout the history of paleontology impacted both the scientific community and popular culture. He will elaborate on how Jurassic Park is a culmination of the way in which artists imagined the confrontation between the primeval and modern worlds.

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