Florida Museum of Natural History
University of Florida
7–9:30 PM
October 13, 2022
Widely considered the most influential eco-science fiction film of all time, Silent Running (1972) is a stirring, beautiful, and uncannily prescient depiction of the terrible costs of environmental irresponsibility and the redemptive power of compassion and stewardship. The directorial debut of Douglas Trumbull, best known for his innovative special effects in films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Blade Runner (1982), and The Tree of Life (2011), the film is celebrated for its practical effects, a career-making performance by actor Bruce Dern as space botanist Freeman Lowell, and its endearing, anti-ableist portrayal of Lowell’s robot companions Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Featuring a haunting score by composer Peter Schickele and two original songs by American folk singer Joan Baez, Silent Running is an unforgettable vision of a way forward in a time of environmental calamity.
In commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the film’s release the screening will be accompanied by a roundtable discussion by Museum staff members and UF faculty with noted expertise in science fiction film history, disability studies, and space biology and botany.
Silent Running is rated G, for General Audiences. Some scenes of brief violence may be unsuitable for younger children
Admission is free. No advance reservations are required. Special needs seating and accommodations will be provided.
About the Speakers
Ian Breheny, Exhibit Designer at the Florida Museum, grew up during the golden age of late-night sf movies shown on local TV broadcasts, and has never fully recovered. He enjoys exploring the parallels between science education in museum settings and speculative fiction, which overlap on the common ground of science and storytelling.
Robert J. Ferl is Distinguished Professor of Horticultural Sciences and Assistant Vice President for Research. His work in space biology focuses on transcriptomics (the study of RNA synthesis), epigenomics (the study of epigenetic modifications of a cell’s genetic material), and proteomics (the large-scale study of proteins). Former Chair of the Science Council, Division of Space Life Sciences, the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), Ferl is the winner of numerous awards for his space-related research, including NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (2016) and Exceptional Public Service Medal (2022).
Terry Harpold, Associate Professor of English, is the Director of Imagining Climate Change and co-founder of the UF Science Fiction Working Group. His primary areas of research and teaching are the environmental and digital humanities, science fiction literature and film, and literary theory and criticism. His recent publications in sf studies have appeared in Épistémocritique, Galaxies, Science Fiction Studies, and Verniana; and in edited collections such as Los viajes extraordinarios de Jules Verne (2018) and The Cambridge History of Science Fiction (2019). Like Ian Breheny (see above), his devotion to sf was born of too much late-night television watching as a boy.
Anna-Lisa Paul is the Director of UF’s Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research (ICBR), and a Research Professor in the Department of Horticultural Sciences. Paul has served the space research community as the President of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research, as a member of the ISS Standing Review Board, on NASA’s GeneLab Science Council, and on an advisory board for the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (SARG). In 2019 Paul received the NASA Medal of Honor for Exceptional Scientific Achievement, and was inducted as a Fellow of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research. Her current research is focused on evaluating the epigenetic responses of Arabidopsis thaliana (the thale cress) to the spaceflight environment.
Delia Steverson is Assistant Professor of English and affiliate professor with UF’s Centers for African American Studies and Gender, Sexualities, and Women’s Studies Research. Her research and teaching focus on intersections of African American Literature and Critical Disability Studies. Author of a forthcoming biography of the celebrated African American author Delores Phillips, Steverson’s work has appeared in the CLA Journal, the Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies, The South Carolina Review, The Journal of American Culture, and The Explicator.
This event is sponsored by the Florida Museum of Natural History, the George A. Smathers Libraries of the University of Florida, and Imagining Climate Change.
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