Denver Film Society's Sci-Fi Film Series: 'Another Earth'

The Denver Film Society's Sci-Film Series launched its programming July 6, 2011 with an advanced screening of "Another Earth." The series was curated by DFS Artistic Director Brit Withey with the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. It screens some of the most thought provoking science fiction cinema, followed by discussions with local scientists.

Since "Another Earth" had its Colorado premiere at the Denver Film Center, it was followed by an informal discussion with Zoologist Aaron Spriggs. "Another Earth" tells a tragic tale of a young girl trying to redeem a fatal accident, set against the astronomical phenomenon of a parallel Earth appearing. While zoology didn't play an integral role in the film, Spriggs managed to lead a thoughtful discussion after the screening.

Spriggs, along with several audience members, admitted that the science within the film wasn't developed to plausible levels. It instead used the concept of a parallel Earth as a plot motivator to tell a metaphorical story of love, revenge, and forgiveness. As a zoologist absorbing the film's concept, Spriggs said, "I couldn't help wondering how similar migration patterns might be on this other Earth, or how things like light pollution might affect their view of us. Also if certain extinct species here on Earth may have survived there."

Good science fiction has always developed complex protagonists within fantastical realms, but they are rooted in physical laws of plausibility. Spriggs noted that the focus of "Another Earth" was anthropocentric and rooted in the human condition. As he said, "Often with Science Fiction the audience makes a contract where we suspend our disbelief." Something this zoologist understands all too well, as Spriggs is also a burgeoning author.

Though, several scientists in the audience seemed frustrated by its underdeveloped plausibility and an ending with much left to the imagination. It was the metaphorical layers that truly captured the audience, as some viewers expressed how it conjured thoughts of Argentinean writer, Jorge Borges. The author frequently used themes of doubles and doppelgangers, especially in works such as "Borges and I" and "The Other."

There is certainly a symbolic structuring of doubles in a film about a parallel Earth, a theme explored in Robert Parrish's 1969 sci-fi film "Doppelganger." The film was also known as "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun," and also posits the "Counter-Earth" theory derived from the ancient Greek notion of "Antichthon." A theory that has long since been put to rest since the days of Hubble; even back to Galileo, Kepler and Newton.

"Another Earth" was a darling of the Sundance Film Festival and Fox Searchlight will release it theatrically July 22, 2011. It is the debut feature film of Mike Cahill, as director and cinematographer, as well as co-writer with the film's star Brit Marling. The cinematography was subtle, but as James Dimagiba, a volunteer photographer for the Denver Film Society said, "It captured a lot of nuisances rarely seen in film today."

With the rest of Sci-Fi Film Series, audiences already know what they're in for with films like, "Children of Men," "Alien," "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Moon," and "Gattaca." Each screening will feature a post-film discussion with scientists from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. It promises a fusion between the best of Denver's film community with Denver's brightest, most scientific minds.