Observer Film Screening
Member Only Event: Join us for a free film screening of the documentary Observer. After the film we will take a trip into Mirror Lake to make our own observations with complimentary observation kits. One observation kit will be given to each party and are first come, first serve.
OBSERVER, embarks on an experiment in which a series of keen-eyed observers – scientists, artists, a hunter – are brought to a range of locations around the world, and asked to simply describe what they see.
Date/TimeSaturday, May 31
10:00 am - 1:30 pm
At the height of the pandemic, many scientists were concerned about how their work had become so divisive and how public trust in science had eroded. At the same time, many admitted that the very things that first drew them to science—the joy of discovery, the awe of understanding the world, the endless curiosity—had been overshadowed by the pressures of grants and career demands. We asked ourselves: How could we make a film that speaks to this moment? How could we honor science in a way that reconnects it to the broader human experience?
IAN CHENEY BIO
Ian Cheney is a documentary filmmaker. He received bachelor’s & master’s degrees from Yale and a MFA in filmmaking from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. His twelve feature-length films prior to Observer (2025) include King Corn (2007), The City Dark (2010), The Search for General Tso (2014), The Most Unknown (2018), Picture a Scientist (2020), The Arc of Oblivion (2023) and Shelf Life (2024). He has helmed Wicked Delicate Films since 2003. A former MacDowell Fellow & Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT, he has taught at Yale College & the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy. You can read his blatherings on Subtack but don’t bother. He lives in Maine.
IAN CHENEY FILMOGRAPHY
King Corn (2007), The Greening of Southie (2008), Big River (2009), Truck Farm (2010), The City Dark (2011), World Fair (2012), The Melungeons (2013), The Search for General Tso (2014), Moon Mirrors (2015), Bluespace (2015), The Smog of the Sea (2016), The Measure of a Fog (2017), The Most Unknown (2018), The Emoji Story (2019), Thirteen Ways (2019), Picture a Scientist (2020), The Long Coast (2020), The Arc of Oblivion (2023), Shelf Life (2024), Observer (2025).
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