Overview
The Science New Wave Festival, presented by Imagine Science Films, is an annual science cinema event held each October in New York City. Founded in 2008, the festival is now in its 19th edition. It programs approximately 64 films per year from around the world that push the boundaries of scientific storytelling across documentary, fiction, animation, video art, installation, VR/AR, and hybrid forms.
The festival is headquartered at 19 Morris Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11205. Screenings take place at venues across New York City, including DCTV's Firehouse and partner institutions. The festival also extends to the Labocine platform, an online cinema for science films that operates year-round.
Imagine Science Films was founded with the belief that science and cinema share fundamental impulses. Both seek to understand and reveal the world. The festival brings scientists and filmmakers into dialogue, building a community of practitioners working at the intersection of these two disciplines. The organization has developed connections with New York's scientific institutions, including Rockefeller University, the American Museum of Natural History, and Columbia University.
The selection criteria are deliberately broad. The festival ethos is to spotlight films where scientific exploration flows freely across disciplines and cultures. Submissions must present science and/or scientists in a narrative framework in a compelling yet credible manner. There is no requirement for a completion date, which is unusual for a competitive festival.
Submission Details
Submissions are handled through FilmFreeway. Key details:
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Submission Platform | FilmFreeway |
| Submissions Open | January each year |
| Submissions Close | End of August |
| Notification Date | October 1 |
| Festival Dates | October (dates vary by year) |
| Genres Accepted | Documentary, fiction, animation, video art, installation, VR/AR, hybrid |
| Language Requirement | English or English subtitles (except music videos and films without dialogue) |
| Completion Date | No requirement |
| Screening Format | Digital files (other formats by arrangement) |
All film entries are automatically granted a film page on the Labocine platform, ensuring future consideration in year-round programming regardless of selection outcome. Each submitter receives a one-year subscription to Labocine, providing access to curated programs and exclusive opportunities for open calls. Existing Labocine members can request a submission waiver.
The festival offers waivers for Science New Wave Luminary Members (yearly membership on Labocine) and for organizations in the Labocine PRO Network. Filmmakers should check the FilmFreeway page for current fee tiers, as deadlines and pricing may vary across the submission window.
Submissions must include a preview screener link. Additional press material, cast and crew bios, and other information about the film are welcome but do not influence selections. The festival explicitly states that it does not have staff to respond to submission status inquiries, and all filmmakers receive notification by October 1 whether or not their film is selected.
Programming and Selection
The festival selects approximately 64 works each year. The programming spans multiple categories:
- Feature Films - science-themed documentaries and narratives of feature length
- Short Films - science short films across all genres
- Experimental and Hybrid - formally adventurous works addressing scientific themes through non-traditional approaches
- Animation - animated films exploring scientific concepts
- Video Art and Installation - gallery-oriented science cinema
- Symbiosis Program - commissioned works created through the Symbiosis initiative, supported by the Simons Foundation, which pairs scientists and filmmakers to produce singular new forms of science cinema
The Symbiosis initiative is a distinctive element of the festival. Supported by the Simons Foundation, it pairs scientists and filmmakers to spark new forms of science cinema. This commission program provides unique opportunities for filmmakers to work directly with scientific research institutions and produce work that would not exist without the festival's facilitation.
Awards
The festival presents jury and audience awards. Specific award categories and prize amounts vary by year. Past award categories have included:
- Best Science Film - jury prize for the top feature
- Best Short Science Film - jury prize for the top short
- Audience Award - voted by festival attendees
- Symbiosis Award - for the best scientist-filmmaker collaboration produced through the Symbiosis program
Filmmakers should check the festival website for current award details and prize amounts.
Labocine Platform
Labocine is the year-round platform operated by Imagine Science Films. It functions as an online cinema for science films, with curated programs, thematic issues, and open calls. All submitted films receive a film page on Labocine regardless of festival selection, and selected films may be invited to participate in Labocine's year-long programming.
Labocine also hosts HABITAT, a networking and ecosystem tool for scientists, artists, and educators. This extends the festival's community beyond the October event, creating ongoing opportunities for collaboration and exposure.
The platform offers individual memberships (including the Luminary tier that includes submission waivers) and PRO organizational accounts for production companies, distributors, and collectives.
Festival History
Imagine Science Films was founded in 2008 by Alexis Gambis, a filmmaker and scientist who studied at Rockefeller University and NYU Tisch. The first Imagine Science Film Festival was held in 2008, making it one of the earliest festivals dedicated to the intersection of science and cinema.
Over 19 editions, the festival has evolved from a small New York event into an international platform. The rebranding to "Science New Wave" reflects the festival's commitment to challenging how scientific ideas are understood, interpreted, and appreciated. The festival has maintained its Brooklyn headquarters and its connections to New York's scientific institutions throughout.
The Symbiosis initiative, supported by the Simons Foundation, was introduced to create commissioned works that pair scientists and filmmakers. This program has produced some of the festival's most distinctive programming, as the collaborations generate films that exist only because of the festival's facilitation.
The Labocine platform was launched as a year-round extension of the festival, providing a distribution and discovery mechanism for science films outside the October event. It has grown into a curated cinema with thematic programming and a networking community.
What Filmmakers Should Know
The Science New Wave Festival is the most targeted platform in the United States for filmmakers whose work explores scientific themes. The submission pool is specialized, which means a well-crafted science film has a realistic chance of selection. The festival programs approximately 64 films per year from a niche submission base.
The lack of a completion date requirement is unusual and advantageous. Films completed in any year are eligible, which means older science films that have not found the right audience or platform can still be submitted. This is particularly relevant for documentary filmmakers whose work may have been completed a year or more before finding a suitable festival.
The Labocine inclusion is a significant benefit. Even if a film is not selected for the October festival, it receives a film page on Labocine and is considered for year-round programming. This effectively gives every submission an ongoing distribution opportunity, not just a single festival screening.
The Symbiosis program is worth investigating for filmmakers interested in science collaboration. The Simons Foundation support means commissioned films receive funding and institutional access that independent productions typically cannot secure. Filmmakers should check the festival website for Symbiosis application details and deadlines, which operate separately from the general submission process.
The festival does not have a traditional film market or industry marketplace. Its industry value comes from connections to scientific institutions, the Labocine platform, and the community of scientists and filmmakers it brings together. For filmmakers seeking distribution deals, this is not the primary venue. For filmmakers seeking scientific community engagement and a specialized audience, it is unmatched.
Past Winners
The Science New Wave Festival presents several juried awards each year. The top prize is the Science New Wave Award, which carries a $2,000 cash prize. Additional awards include the In Vivo Award, the Avant-Garde Award, and the Theme-Sensitive Award. Recent winners include:
- 2025 Science New Wave Award: Messengers - a multi-film program including The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing and To Use A Mountain
- 2025 In Vivo Award: Vox Humana
- 2025 Avant-Garde Award: Suspicions About the Hidden Realities of Air
- 2023 Best Film: Cyborg: A Documentary directed by Carey Born
- 2022 Science New Wave Award: The Sacred Spirit (Espirito sagrado) directed by Chema Garcia Ibarra
- 2022 Honorable Mention: Neptune Frost directed by Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman
- 2022 In Vivo Award: Haulout directed by Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev
- 2022 Avant-Garde Award: Wrought directed by Anna Sigrithur and Joel Penner
The 2025 awards were voted on by the festival's Luminary members, a body of artists, scientists, and thinkers. This was the third year of the Luminary voting system. Award categories map to the six traits of the Science New Wave Manifesto.
Notable Alumni Films and Where They Ended Up
- Haulout (2022 In Vivo Award winner) was nominated for Best Documentary Short at the 2023 Academy Awards. It was picked up by The New Yorker Documentary and reached a wide online audience.
- Neptune Frost (2022 Honorable Mention) premiered at Cannes Directors' Fortnight and was distributed by Kino Lorber in the US. It became a cult favorite in Afrofuturist cinema circles.
- The Sacred Spirit (2022 Science New Wave Award winner) world premiered at Locarno Film Festival. Sales agency Heretic picked up worldwide rights.
- Cyborg: A Documentary (2023 Best Film) premiered at CPH:DOX. It received a UK theatrical release through Tull Stories in September 2024.
- Symbiosis program films premiere exclusively at the festival and on Labocine. The 2025 Symbiosis films, created at the Simons Foundation's Flatiron Institute, premiered at DCTV's Firehouse Cinema.
Submission Tips Specific to This Festival
The festival values formal experimentation as much as scientific accuracy. Films that blend documentary and fiction, or use hybrid forms, tend to perform well in the Avant-Garde Award category.
The In Vivo Award specifically recognizes films that portray scientists or living organisms in a daring yet realistic manner. If your film centers on a scientist's work, highlight this in your submission.
The Symbiosis program is a separate application from the general festival submission. If you are a filmmaker interested in collaborating with a scientist, check the Labocine website for Symbiosis application details.
There is no completion date requirement. Older science films that have not found the right platform can still be submitted and compete.
All submissions automatically receive a Labocine film page, which provides ongoing distribution consideration regardless of selection. This means your film benefits from submission even if not selected for the October festival.
Industry Reputation Notes
The Science New Wave Festival occupies a unique niche in the festival landscape. No other US festival focuses exclusively on the intersection of science and cinema. Compared to general science communication events like the World Science Festival, the Science New Wave prioritizes formal cinematic experimentation over straightforward science communication.
The festival is smaller than major documentary festivals like DOC NYC or IDFA, programming approximately 64 films per year. This smaller scale means a more targeted audience of scientists, researchers, and science-curious cinephiles. The festival does not operate a film market, so distribution deals are not its primary industry function.
The Labocine platform extends the festival's reach year-round, functioning as a streaming service and archive for science cinema. This gives the festival a distribution mechanism that most niche festivals lack. Industry professionals in science communication, academic research, and museum programming follow the festival's selections.
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See Also
Calculate your total festival submission costs and projected return using the Festival ROI Calculator. For documentary filmmaking approaches, see Documentary Filmmaking Guide. For festival strategy guidance, see Film Festival Strategy. Submit through the Science New Wave FilmFreeway page or visit the official festival website. Explore the Labocine platform for year-round science cinema programming.
