103133/Z/13/Z: Flatpack Festival 2014: Cafe Neuro

Project Summary:Flatpack Festival is renowned for offering a fresh perspective on the cinema experience by using venues imaginatively and mixing past, present and future in an unpredictable way. In 2014 they will take this adventure one step further, working in partnership with Dr Emil Toescu and the neuroscience team at the University of Birmingham to explore what films are doing to our brains. Over the opening weekend of the 8th Flatpack Festival (20-30 March 2014) we will present Cafe Neuro, a fizzing, fe rtile space where films collide with ideas and visitors can explore the internal mechanics of the mind through drop-in activities, short film screenings, talks and discussions. A fascinating lineup of scientists, filmmakers and artists will gather to talk about the neuroscience of film, and also how film can help to chart our inner world. The starting point for this project is Neurocinematics: The Neuroscience of Film, a Princeton research project which used advanced brain monitoring technolo gy to assess people's experience of cinema, and how in certain cases (eg, Hitchcock) a marked correlation in brain activity can be seen across a whole audience, while other films elicit a much wider variety of responses. One of those behind this research, Dr Uri Hasson, will join us at Cafe Neuro to explore the implications for culture, marketing and ethics, while the audience will be encouraged to think afresh about the transportational powers of the moving image.

Grant Holder:Dr Emil C Toescu

Organisation:University of Birmingham

Financial Year:2013/2014