Science on Screen 2020

2020 ARCHIVE:

You can watch recorded events and panel discussions here from our Science on Screen 2020 Program

Through the Science on Screen grant, the Rosendale Theatre planned to show three movies, each of which were followed by local experts discussing the film’s content, its relationship to science topics, and contemporary relevance. Speakers were encouraged to share their thoughts on new developments in their respective fields and issues they find particularly intriguing or even controversial. The films are still available to watch elsewhere online.  Scroll down for our recorded conversations:

  • Interview with an Astronaut

  • An online discussion on Death and Dying

  • An Online Discussion on Viruses: What They Are and How They Spread

  • Space. Changes in the Science and the Imagination since 2001: A Space Odyssey

 

INTERVIEW WITH AN ASTRONAUT!

Our Science on Screen program was supposed to start in March. Our first offering scheduled was the film 2001, A Space Odyssey (we look forward to rescheduling this and can’t wait to see it on the big screen!).
 
On March 6, in anticipation of the showing of this film, Rosendale Theatre Board members Pam Kray and Wendy Saul headed off to Cambridge, MA to interview former astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman. Hoffman, now a professor at MIT participated in five missions aboard the Space Shuttle, including a repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Although the showing of the Science on Screen program will now be postponed, here are his answers to your questions.
 
 

 
 
 

FACEBOOK LIVE EVENTS – online discussions Science on Screen

Science on Screen – An online discussion on Death and Dying
(paired with the film, To Dust)

 

A Facebook Live streamed discussion on Death and Dying as the crossroads between spirituality and science, with Lawrence Bush, Editor Emeritus: Jewish Currents, and Barbara Sarah, Award-winning community activist and social worker, local moderator of Death Cafe.

 

The discussion on death as a part of life and as an intersection between spirit and body, between spirituality and science, was to be paired with the film To Dust (2018), directed by Shawn Snyder and featuring Matthew Broderick and Geza Rohrig. To Dust is available to view online free to Amazon Prime members. 

 

Watch the Trailer: To Dust

 

 
 

An Online Discussion on Viruses: What They Are and How They Spread
(Paired with the film, Contagion)

 

A panel discussion with Dr. Maureen Morrow, Professor of Biology and Virology, SUNY New Paltz; Dr. David Esteban, Professor of Virology, Vassar College; and Jim Metzner, Journalist and Host of Pulse of the Planet, as discussion moderator.

 

This discussion on the science of viruses, that is now so completely important and necessary, was originally to be paired with the film Contagion (2011), directed by Steven Soderbergh, with all-star cast including Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Laurence Fishburne, and is now paired with the real Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The film, Contagion, is available to view online via HBO and Amazon Prime.

 

Watch the trailer for “Contagion”

 
 
Science on Screen online at the Rosendale Theatre presents: Space. Changes in the Science and the Imagination since 2001: A Space Odyssey
 
Facebook Live Event on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 at 7 pm
 
Join us for an online discussion with: Dr. Daniel Freedman, Dean School of Science and Engineering, SUNY New Paltz; Dr. Amy Bartholomew, Director of Astronomy, Smolen Observatory, SUNY New Paltz; and Robert (Bob) Berman, Astronomer, Radio Host, and Author, Earth-Shattering: Violent Supernovas, Galactic Explosions, Biological Mayhem, Nuclear Meltdowns, and Other Hazards to Life in Our Universe.
 
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, Directed by Stanley Kubrick, with Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood), will screen at the Rosendale Theatre when we return to the theater, on the big screen and with our new cinema sound system!
 
Watch the Trailer “2001: A Space Odyssey”

 
 

ABOUT:

Science on Screen Comes to the Rosendale Theatre in 2020

The Rosendale Theatre is one of 36 proud recipients of the nationwide Science on Screen® Grant Program. This competitive program is funded by the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

 

Science on Screen® is a series that pairs film screenings with presentations by scientists. It was begun at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, Massachusetts and, with funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, has expanded to theaters nationwide. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a grant-making institution dedicated to the public understanding of science.

 

Through the grant, the Rosendale Theatre planned to show three movies, each of which will be followed by local experts discussing the film’s content, its relationship to science topics, and contemporary relevance. Speakers were encouraged to share their thoughts on new developments in their respective fields and issues they find particularly intriguing or even controversial. These films are:

  1. 2001: a Space Odyssey
  2. Contagion
  3. To Dust

In applying for the grant, Rosendale Board members Pam Kray and Wendy Saul sought to find great films that pose questions of current science interest. “We are so excited to receive this grant,” said Ann Citron, director of the Rosendale Theatre. “This fits right into the diversity of our programming and community interests. How science and technology affect our community invites our understanding of STEM  topics more and more, not just in the schools but throughout our town and rural areas.”

 

“I am deeply interested both in the intersections between creativity and science and in how people learn what they know,” Pam Kray said, “The Science on Screen grant is such a wonderful opportunity for the Rosendale Theatre and the community to explore entertainment as part of the ‘how we know what we know’ equation. I’m very grateful to the foundations (Coolidge Corner Theater and Alfred P. Sloan) for this funding and faith in our theater and community.”

 

Science on Screen® is an initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.