Scent of Fear - Documentary film describes fear of fear
With the German cinema premiere of the documentary film "The Scent of Fear", the event series "Science in the Cinema" will be continued on 23 May 2023 - this time in cooperation with the SILBERSALZ Science & Media Festival. Following the screening, medical scientist Prof. Dr. Anne Albrecht from Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg and risk researcher Prof. Dr. Ortwin Renn from the Dialogik Research Institute will answer questions about the film and discuss aspects of fear from their research discipline. The film starts at 6 pm in the Moritzhof. Admission is free.
Why do we actually have fear? How does it function and express itself? And how do we find a way to deal with it? These are the questions addressed in the documentary film "The Scent of Fear" by director Mirjam von Arx. Using concrete examples, she traces how people encounter or avoid fear, perceive or fight it, act with it or overcome it. Experts from the world of science explain in the film how fear works - and what effect it has on us.
The current edition of "Science in the Cinema" is a cooperation between the state capital Magdeburg and the SILBERSALZ Science & Media Festival. The film offers a first thematic preview of the upcoming SILBERSALZ Festival, which will take place in Halle an der Saale from 25 to 29 October 2023 under the motto "I see something you don't see".
The film: The Scent of Fear
"The Scent of Fear" is a journey around the globe where we meet people who are frozen with fear, people who seek them, who find them, who love them. There is the woman who sets off alone to the Arctic, there are the radical socialites who make themselves at home in bunkers, there is the young Korean man plagued by fear of failure who learns in a seminar how to die happy. Along the way we meet experts in neuroscience, psychology and politics who show us how our society is controlled by messages of fear. "The Scent of Fear" is an exciting and clever analysis of the universal question of why humans are afraid of fear.
The experts:
Afterwards, the audience can talk to the medical expert Prof. Dr. Anne Albrecht from Otto von Guericke University about the question of how fear and stress affect our brain and body. What happens to us when we are afraid? Which nerve cells, circuits and messenger substances play a role here?
Risk researcher Prof. Dr. Ortwin Renn will also be a guest. He was scientific director of the Institute for Transformative Sustainability Research in Potsdam until 2022. He is also the protagonist of the film and will provide insights into which risks we overestimate and underestimate, and how fear processes affect our lives.
The format: Science in the cinema
"Science in the Cinema" is a series of events that combines two different formats - film and discussion - with science. It was created in cooperation between the city administration, Magdeburg's scientific institutions and ARTist! e.V./ Kulturzentrum Moritzhof. At "Science in the Cinema", scientists and researchers answer questions about the film shown and at the same time give a brief insight into their research work. The current episode was produced in cooperation with the SILBERSALZ Science & Media Festival.
For the media:
The Scent of Fear - Der Geruch der Angst
Documentary, Director: Mirjam von Arx, Switzerland 2021, 93 min - Narration: Katja Riemann
Website: https://www.thescentoffear.com/
Press kit: https://www.praesens.com/praesens-pro-presse/katalog/the-scent-of-fear/regional/de/tsof-presseheft/