Curiosity: The Making of a Scientist is a unique research project encompassing storytelling, science communication and filmmaking. The documentary-style web series takes us into the labs and lives of scientists to explore what motivates, and is involved in, choosing a career in science, what inspires scientific investigation, and the nature of curiosity itself. Collaborative creative teams of postdoctoral scholars, graduate students and undergraduates employ STAGE’s interdisciplinary process in the development of each scientist’s story. Inspired by methodologies of experimental scientific research, the team analyzes the footage from the film shoots in a manner analogous to analyzing data from an experiment. This allows the team to arrive at the storyline without strong personal biases and lets the footage “direct” the content.
Each episode follows a scientist, balancing the character arcs of the individual and that of the science they practice. By showcasing the diversity of disciplines and of the individuals drawn to dedicate their lives to scientific pursuits, STAGE hopes the series can resonate with, and inspire, a broad audience.
Serendipity is a new documentary film by the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering’s Kawalek Lab, also known as the STAGE (Scientists, Technologists and Artists Generating Exploration) Lab. The 47-minute film, which is the latest in STAGE’s ongoing docuseries Curiosity: The Making of a Scientist, features Dr. Erin Adams, a senior immunology professor and Vice Provost for Research at the University of Chicago, as well as mother to a young boy, August Adams.
In its ongoing year-long festival run, Serendipity has already been awarded Best Film at the Sigma-Xi STEM Art and Film Festival and chosen as an Official Selection of the History, Arts and Sciences International Doc Fest, a Finalist at the Raw Science Film Festival and a Nominee at the IMDb qualifying Chicago Indie Film Awards. “Our goal with Serendipity and with all of our films is to dispel the idea of science as something locked away in an ivory tower,” said Sunanda Prabhu-Gaunkar, the film’s director and STAGE Lab’s director of science. “We present Erin’s work in a way that’s relatable to a broader audience, and our larger goal with this series is to shrink the gap between the reality of science and the public’s perception of it.”
Accolades
- Best Short Film at the Sigma‐Xi STEM Art and Film Festival (California)
- Winner of Silver Remi, WorldFest‐Houston International Film Festival (Houston)
- Award of Recognition, Best Shorts Competition (San Diego)
- Finalist, Raw Science Film Festival (Los Angeles)
- Nominee, IMDb‐qualifying Chicago Indie Film Awards (Chicago)
- Official selection and 6th Place, History, Arts and Sciences International Doc Fest (Greece)
- Official selection, Manchester Lift‐Off Film Festival (Manchester, UK)
Relevent News Articles
Newest STAGE Lab film highlights the power of chance in science
A newspaper want ad for a lab tech. A second set of eyes looking through a microscope confirming a crystal had formed on a T-cell. And a decision to become a single mother without sacrificing a career in science. Those were some of the moments of happenstance – of...
To make science more approachable, ‘Curiosity’ series takes viewers behind the scenes of scientists’ lives – Chicago Tribune
Read the Chicago Tribune Article by Darcel Rockett Here Stepping inside Erin Adams' lab at the University of Chicago is a bit overstimulating. Adams' work centers on molecular immunology. As the Joseph Regenstein Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and...