Science New Wave Luminary Awards

Science New Wave Awards & Evaluation Principles

Science New Wave Members contribute in another essential way—by evaluating our annual slate of 64 films. Think of it as our own version of what Academy Award Members or FilmIndependent do each year, but refracted through a Science New Wave lens.

Each year, the 64 selected films are assigned a unique genetic ID, displayed on their Labocine page. Learn more about this Genetic Barcoding SNW initiative, and how it timestamps and situates science moving-image works in history with a unique DNA barcode.

Poetically—and biologically—the Science New Wave ecosystem of researchers, filmmakers, and artists are evaluating the gene expression levels of these films. Just as gene expression varies depending on context, time, and interacting factors within a cell, cinematic expression shifts with its environment, collaborators, and moment of emergence.

This parallel isn’t only metaphorical; it’s a guiding principle for how we might redefine science/film evaluation. Each Science New Wave members becomes a transcription factor in the larger cinematic body—activating, muting, or modulating the ways these works resonate within our evolving ecosystem.

The Science New Wave Awards are : 

1. Science New Wave Award

   Film that expresses the 6 combined traits of the Science New Wave Manifesto. 

2. In Vivo Award

   Film that paints a daring yet realistic portrait of a scientist and/or other organism.

3. Avant-Garde Award

   Film best expressing hybrid aesthetics and experimentation. 

Guidelines on Luminary voting:

• The voting period during the festival week.

• The viewing takes place on the Labocine platform.

• You will see the Luminary Voting Ballot in the festival dedicated zone and individual voting cards on each film page on Labocine

• Only SNW members (not connected to any of the selected SNW films of the year) can view and vote for the annual selection. They should not share film links nor this voting form with anyone else as no other votes will be considered. We will ask for your Science New Wave DNA ID to identify you.

• Science New Wave members are a critical part of our evolution of the SNW movement/community. Hence, we always ask them to provide us with 7th trait that they think should/could be added to the Science New Wave.

A bit of film history... The 7th trait is reminiscent of the "art" of cinema being referred to as the 7th art (septième art / settima arte). In 1911, Italian film theoretician Ricciotto Canudo described cinema as the seventh art, announcing its place among the more established and reputable traditions of architecture, sculpture, painting, music, poetry, and dance.

If you're having trouble viewing a film or need assistance of any type with the voting process, send us a message to sciencenewwave@labocine.com. We will get back to you!