An initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre,

in partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

41 grantee organizations from across the country were selected to take part in this 2024-25 season of Science on Screen. These independent cinemas, museums and community groups with film programs were awarded grants totaling $250,000 in exchange for creating and presenting three or more Science on Screen events between October 2024 and June 2025.

Interview with Colin Mannex, Executive Director

Tell us about yourself and KPAC.

I've been working at KPAC for the past three years. Before taking this job, I was an educator, with 12 years of experience teaching and leading programs in the arts. Taking this turn in my career has been a great way to synthesize a lot of what I loved about my previous jobs: building community, collaborating with colleagues to do cool projects, and mentoring young people.

KPAC has been in operation continuously since 1926, and people here love their single screen independent cinema. Our capacity is 268, and people like to talk about sold out shows the way that big football towns talk about a shut out. (We've got that too: Go Vandals!) 

How long have you been a Science on Screen grantee?

This is our second year with the program. We're kicking off the season with a free screening of GRIZZLY MAN and a preshow talk from leading bear researcher Dr. Heiko Jansen at Washington State University, located on the other side of the state border. Fun fact: WSU is the only university research center with live grizzly bears. Dr. Jansen will speak to the unique challenges associated with working in proximity to these beautiful, dangerous mammals.

What appeals to you about the program?

The educator in me can't resist the challenge of building popular, entertaining programs that are also informative to a general audience. My wife is a scientist, and we used to go to Secret Science Club talks in a Brooklyn bar years ago, while we were both in grad school. The success of these fun, informal events made a huge impression on me, and the tone informed our first year of programming with Science on Screen.

What have been some of your programming highlights in SoS?

We are lucky to have two major research universities (UI and WSU) right next door. With an abundance of available experts, we start with the film selections and try to find a clever hook to pitch to local researchers. First year highlights included a 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY kickoff event with physicist Dr. Vivienne Baldasseri who talked about how scientists discover black holes, intentionally. And she offered an illuminating sidebar about the growing problem of orbital space junk, which makes her work increasingly difficult. We had a huge turnout for that one.

In the following event, UI Agriculture professor Dr. Juliet Marshall offered some insights about the most frequently asked questions in INTERSTELLAR, including, "Is there any scientific reasoning to support the blight that spurs the plot?" (The answer: Yes, but it's complicated.)

Dr. Kristen Delevich did masterful work in bringing together structural elements of RUSHMORE to highlight her work in adolescent brain development.

With such high turnout throughout the series, we made enough money in basic ticketing revenue that we could allocate SoS funds to fly in a guest speaker, digital anthropologist Dr. Tamara Kneese, to introduce her new book Death Glitch in conjunction with Spike Jonze's movie HER. That was our capstone event last season.

What is your favorite thing about being a Science on Screen grantee?

I love the way that this program allows us to successfully engage university communities, especially students, with programs that highlight their faculty mentors. Scientists are like rock stars—or at least they could be, but their work is often inaccessible. This program helps us bring attention to the great STEM work that is happening all around us. It fulfills a simple but important outreach component for younger students who benefit from seeing top researchers talk about what they do.

Anything else you want to share about the upcoming season?

I'm most excited for a return engagement from UI Ag researchers to talk about new methods in measuring soil activity at an astonishing 6 feet of depth across wide areas. Apparently, we know more about what's happening on the ocean floor than we do the ground beneath our feet. Clearly, we have to show TREMORS.