Film and Science Collide at Coolidge Corner Theatre

Based on the line that stretched down the ’s adjoining pathway and snaked around behind CVS last Monday night, passers-by may have guessed that some sort of rock star was making an appearance at Brookline’s independent, non-profit theatre. But revelers were actually waiting to see scientist/author/inventor Ray Kurzweil and director Barry Ptolemy screen and speak about the film "Transcendent Man," which documents Kurzweil’s life and cutting-edge research on singularity, artificial intelligence, and futurism (among many other things).

The "Transcendent Man" screening and lecture is just the latest in Coolidge Corner Theatre’s Science on Screen series, now in its seventh season. Co-founded by the theatre’s associate director Elizabeth Taylor-Mead and long-time Coolidge Corner Theatre member and supporter Richard Anders, Taylor-Mead calls the genesis of the program “a lovely case of synchronicity.”

Having recently assumed the position of associate director at Coolidge, Taylor-Mead (a former filmmaker who worked on documentaries in the science and math fields for general audiences) was interested in launching some sort of science film program. When she originally pitched the idea to the theatre’s executive director, it fell flat due to concerns that, without some sort of program sponsorship, it was too risky of an endeavor for the non-profit theatre.

Around the same time, Anders also approached the executive director with what Taylor-Mead terms a more “linear” idea, also for a science series: “His idea was to combine great speakers—of which we have an abundance in this area, we’re very fortunate—with popular entertainment. So, for example, if you were doing a lecture on extra-terrestrial life, you would screen 'Contact.'”

Not only did Anders assist with seed money, but he was also in a great position to appeal to science lecturers for the series based on his job, which involved finding scientists to work as advisors to companies.

Though speakers such as Kurzweil often deal in complex, niche science, Taylor-Mead has made a concerted effort to make sure these screenings are anything but dry or overly academic. “Over the years, we’ve been trying to make them uncommon, less-expected pairings because I believe—and have seen over the years—that tactic brings a much wider audience. We draw many people who are not interested in science at all, but really want to see a great print of one of their favorite movies, which they never really get to see on the big screen.”

Says Taylor-Mead, “We try to make it as much fun as possible. I’m a big believer in making things an event—anything can become an event, more than just a screening. We like people to have fun and enjoy themselves because when they do that, they also tend to learn more.”

With this in mind, many of the theatre’s previous screenings have veered toward the quirky. At a screening of Alexander Mackendrick’s "The Man in the White Suit" (1951), for example, a chemist lectured on why it’s impossible to make a fabric that doesn’t get dirty. To accompany George Romero’s classic "Night of the Living Dead" (1968), Harvard Medical School psychology assistant professor Dr. Steven C. Schlozman presented his synopsis of the similarities between zombie brains as portrayed in movies and alligator brains, complete with diagrams and a PowerPoint presentation.

“The audience went wild for that one,” Taylor-Mead laughs.

As a testament to the Science on Screen program, the theatre was recently awarded a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, as a part of the foundation’s mission to popularize science. With this, Coolidge Corner Theatre’s program now serves as a template for the hundred other theatres from across the nation who comprise the Art House Convergence, a group of independent theatres that came together as an offshoot of  the Sundance Film Festival. Not only has the Brookline theatre presented the Art House Convergence with a thorough Science on Screen program template, but it also provides grants to up to eight of these other theatres that incorporate the program.

Of extending Science on Screen further, Taylor-Mead says, “We’re particularly lucky because we’re in Boston and have Harvard, MIT, Boston University, and so many other great schools all around us. But every community has an inspiring science high school teacher or industry. Everyone can do this.”

The Science on Screen series runs at the Coolidge Corner Theatre throughout the academic year. The next showing is on April 25 at 7:30 p.m. and will combine Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 classic The Birds with a lecture by Dr. Iain Couzin, an assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University who specializes in the study of actions and interactions that give rise to collective behavior. Tickets are $9.75, with discounts available for seniors, students, and Museum of Science members.