KOCHI: Banner Film Society is back with its monthly film fest. This time, the film lovers in the city will be treated to a bunch of movies paying ode to some of the noted contributors to Science. The films will be screened at Lenin Balavady on Sunday.
The festival will begin at 9 am with the screening of ‘Creation’. A tribute to Charles Darwin, the greatest contributor to the theory of evolution, the 2009 British film speaks about the biologist’s relationship with his family. A partly biographical and fictional account, the movie directed by John Amiel is based on author Randal Keynes’ book ‘Annie’s Box’, a biography on Darwin. It speaks of his strained relationship with his wife Emma, because of his theory which opposes the idea of God, aggravated by the death of his ten-year-old daughter Annie. The film had its world premiere at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, becoming the first non-Canadian film to be honoured in the fest since 1996.
The second on the list is William Dieterle’s ‘The Story of Louis Pasteur’. The 1936 American black-and-white biographical film pays tribute to Louis Pasteur, the advocate of pasteurisation who developed the first vaccine for rabies. Starring Paul Muni as the noted microbiologist, the film puts forth Louis’ struggles on the way of making his discoveries known to the world. The film won the best screenplay and best story at the 1936 Academy Awards. The film also earned Muni the Academy Award for the Best Actor as well as the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival.
The third film to be screened is a 1943 biographical film on Marie Curie by Mervin LeRoy. The American film ‘Madame Curie’ starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon narrates the story of the Polish-French physicist as she starts sharing a laboratory with her future husband Pierre Curie, her Nobel Prize wins for her research on radioactivity and her consecutive work. The work bagged a number of Academy Award nominations, including outstanding motion picture, best actor, actress and best cinematography.
Curtains will come down on the film festival with the screening of ‘The Man Who Knew Infinity’. Directed by Matthew Brown, the 2015 British biographical drama film on Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujam, is based on a book of the same name authored by Robert Kanigel. After having its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, it was also be screened at other festivals including Zurich Film Festival, Singapore International Film Festival and Dubai International Film Festival.