Non-profit Organization "Forskare möter Filmare" - FmF
(Scientists Meet Filmmakers)
Our Vision
We believe that science and research are fundamental ingredients in human culture.
We believe that the desire to know - and the desire to tell - are inseparable elements of human nature.
The non-profit FMF wants to be the place where science and story-telling meet.
The People and Sciences
We live in a society that is increasingly dependent on scientific knowledge.
Knowledge that is increasingly complex, increasingly difficult to understand and, for many people, increasingly intimidating.
Knowledge whose practitioners also feel that it is increasingly difficult to make themselves understood.
The very foundation of democracy rests on being able to understand, and to make oneself understood.
The concept "Public Understanding of Science" is acquiring an increasingly pivotal position.
Sciences and the People
But increasing dependence and significance also entail increased scrutiny. Science is being challenged today. The future of science depends on how well its values and attitudes survive the encounter with society's values and attitudes - a society that is becoming increasingly complex, multicultural and difficult to grasp. The ability of scientists to make themselves understood - and respected - basically depends on their understanding the society in which they live and work. "Scientists' Understanding of Society" is as pivotally important for the future of science - and of society - as "Public Understanding of Science."
Society and Science
Many of the major issues in the future embody a growing measure of challenges to science. The globalization of economics and politics. Energy and resources. Population growth and food supplies. Human freedom and responsibility. Concern for the environment and conservation of nature. Discussions about the development of society constantly stress facts, arguments and counterarguments concerning science and research.
Science and Society
But advances in science themselves provide the fuel for the debate. Molecular biology and genetic research. Atomic research and nuclear power. Electronics and information technology. The development of new knowledge and new technology leads to ethical dilemmas, and triggers doubts about sustainable development for society. Whoever wants to depict the contemporary experience must open a dialogue with contemporary science.
Science, Film and the Public
We know that film is a very powerful tool for creating insights into complex phenomena and knowledge that is difficult to comprehend. Prefiguring research results and the dilemmas and conundrums of science makes it possible to visualize and grasp both scientific procedures and results. In displaying the impact of science on social issues and the role of science in society, film is also an effective tool for making society comprehensible to the scientists themselves.
FmF, Science and Film
The goal of FmF is to stimulate and facilitate the meeting between science and society, to find funding for film projects, to organize seminars on film and science, to introduce young filmmakers into the wealth of inspiration and knowledge to be found in the university, for example, to give substance to the fruitful conflicts in the world of science - and to create an appreciation of the key essence of science: that every "truth" is preliminary and that knowledge is constantly developed in a critical process.
Contact: Chairman Bengt Orhall, M. Sc., Rådmansgatan 74, SE-113 60 Stockholm
Phone/Fax . + 46 8 34 36 85, cell phone + 46 70 314 13 44.
E-mail: bengt.orhall@sciencefilm.se