The 2020 edition of the world’s largest science film festival may soon be coming to your city.
As the United Nations kicks off its Decade of Action on the Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is partnering with the Goethe-Institut, the Federal Republic of Germany’s main cultural institute, to expand the conversation on the central issues of the Sustainable Development Goals through a series of films.
“We’re delighted to be working with the Goethe-Institut on this project,” says Daniel Cooney, UNEP’s Acting Director of Communications.
“Science underpins everything we do here at UNEP, and it’s especially important for reaching the Sustainable Development Goals. We only have a decade left to achieve these high aspirations for the world. Ensuring that more people understand exactly how we can accomplish the goals will be vital.”
The Decade of Action is a worldwide push to achieve the 17 series of aims for the world we want in 2030, adopted by 193 countries in 2015. The goals aspire to everything from no poverty and zero hunger to gender equality, responsible consumption and production and a healthy environment.
“The Science Film Festival has been promoting scientific literacy and increasing awareness of contemporary scientific, technological and environmental issues since 2005,” says Andreas Klempin, Project Manager for the Goethe-Institut.
“Last year, the Science Film Festival reached 1.3 million people in 21 countries. We’re hopeful for an even larger audience this year, particularly given how important the Sustainable Development Goals are for the planet and the 7 billion people living on it.”
Over 20 countries in South-East Asia, South Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America will participate in the Festival this year from 1 October to 20 December 2020. All selected films to be screened will be translated into local languages. Films are screened non-commercially in museums, schools, universities and other educational venues in participating countries.
Additionally, the Science Film Festival works with local partners to develop activities that supplement the themes explored in the films, through hands-on experiments, projects, or learning games offered for young audiences.
The call for submissions to the 2020 edition is open until 3 April 2020.
More information can be found at: https://www.goethe.de/prj/sff/en/index.htm
