SXSW 2009 Preview: ‘Monsters from the Id’

THE U.S. RANKS 25TH IN THE WORLD GRADUATING NEW SCIENCE MAJORS

SCIENCE AND NEW TECHNOLOGY WILL DRIVE THE ECONOMIES OF THE FUTURE

THE CINEMA OF THE 1950’S ENTERTAINED THE GENERATION RESPONSIBLE FOR LANDING A MAN ON THE MOON

WHERE DOES SCIENCE INSPIRATION EXIST TODAY?

When David Gargani started making ‘Monsters from the Id’, he set out to make a montage-style genre study of the monster and science fiction films of the ’50s. Â  These were films he loved as a child, and his love affair with them spawned into the launching point of this film.

However, after delving into the genre, he uncovered an underlying theme. Â  He began to notice that the science fiction films of his youth told him more about science than they did fiction. Â  He also learned that, after watching these films as an adult, he no longer felt a fear of the atomic age or of Communism. Â  Hope and the belief that these films served in the progression of science were new themes he found when revisiting them.

Gargani also learned that he was not alone in this belief. Â  Scientists around the world shared in his ideas, some even going so far as to teaching from science fiction films to their students. Â  They and Gargani, subscribed to the belief that the science fiction and monster films of the 1950s served as inspiration to scientists all over the world, and this idea of the inspirational scientist was the leading force in propelling the United States into the future.

However, with all of this discovery about these films and the influences they create, Gargani had but one question.

Now what?

That is what ‘Monsters from the Id’ is really about, the idea that once we conquer through science the monsters that generate our inspiration, where do we turn for new inspiration?

‘Monsters from the Id’ incorporates clips from over 30 science fiction films and interviews with Homer Hickam (retired NASA engineer, author “Rocket Boys”), Dr. Leroy Lubeck (professor physics Temple University, author “Fantastic Voyages”), Dr. Patrick Lucanio (professor film studies, author “Smokin’ Rockets”), Gary Coville (historian, author “Smokin’ Rockets”), Richard Scheib (film critic for Scient Fiction…Review).

‘Monsters from the Id’ shows at SXSW three times.   Those times are:

Friday, March 13th at 9:45PM at Alamo Lamar 3
Wednesday, March 18th at 11:30PM at Austin Convention Ctr
Saturday, March 21st at 2PM at Alamo Lamar 2

For more information on ‘Monsters from the Id’, check out their official website.