Science New Wave Luminary Awards

Luminaries, Awards & Evaluation Principles

This year Science New Wave Luminaries 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—Luminaries be 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 Luminary 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 Luminary 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 is the month of November after the annual in-person festival in October.

  • The viewing takes place privately via the Labocine platform.

  • You will see the Luminary Voting Ballot by email by the start of month of voting.

  • Only the SNW Luminary 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.

  • Luminaries 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 if you are a Luminary and haven’t received the ballot or need assistance of any type with this voting sheet, send us a message to sciencenewwave@labocine.com. We will get back to you!