The Science Film Festival 2016 with film screenings, experiments and educational games for children about nature, environmental protection and technology will take place in Vietnam from October 2 to December 18.

Director Matthias Leupold (centre) during his filmmaking of Lighter than Orange. 

The event will be held in 19 cities and provinces in the country by the Goethe Institute. It will also be presented in 15 other Asian countries.

The 12th Science Film Festival for children and teenagers worldwide is presenting science that participants can touch and try. This year, the festival revolves around the topic “material science”, looking at how materials such as paper and plastic are made and what effect they have on the environment and if there are safer alternatives.

A selection of 14 movies from seven countries will boost the scientific curiosity of young people.

The opening ceremony on October 2 will be held at Kim Đồng Cinema, 19 Hang Bai Street, Hanoi. Tickets for the screening can be collected at the Hanoi Goethe Institute from September 26.

All children, teenagers and adults are invited to join activity days at the Goethe Institute on November 12 and 13, where anyone can engage with environmental protection and new technologies.

In 2015, the German Ministry of Environment, Nature Preservation, Construction and Reactor Safety supported a science competition in Nam Dinh Province in which secondary students explored the topic “Ground and water – nature preservation is future”.

An exhibition of paintings collected from the competition will be held from November 14 to December 4 at the Hà Nội Goethe Institute with the title Nature Preservation is Future.

There will be also be a film screening featuring Lighter than Orange – The Legacy of Dioxin in Vietnam on November 12 at the Hanoi Goethe Institute which is a documentary directed by Matthias Leupold who deals with the devastating consequences of the usage of dioxin.

The feature documentary is the debut of Leupold, a professor of photography and video based in Berlin. The film has made the rounds in the festival circuit. Lighter Than Orange was selected for screening at the Kuala Lumpur EcoFilm Fest (2014) and the DocPoint Helsinki Documentary Film Festival (2015). 

The Science Film Festival is taking place for the sixth time in Vietnam. Last year, there were more than 300 screenings and the festival reached more than 350,000 people in the country. 

VNS