Storyboarding for Researchers at Visions du Réel Film Festival (412)

20 and 21 April 2026

Dr Samer Angelone

We seek to challenge, inspire and train researchers to use the cinematographic storyboarding employed in film to produce persuasive presentations and videos for the general public. Borrowing communication strategies and techniques from filmmakers and applying them in research communication will help researchers for better communication of their research, and researchers are wise enough to do so! 

Workshop content

I. Theory

• Researchers learn cinematographic storyboarding from the filmmakers. 
• Researchers learn how to apply cinematographic storyboarding in communicating their research to the general public (PowerPoint presentations and short videos)

II. Practice

• Researchers attend Visions du Réel Film Festival 2026 (the 57th edition). Which is a great opportunity for them to meet professional filmmakers and discuss with them storyboarding technics.
• Researchers re-prepare their PowerPoint presentations for the general public by applying the cinematographic storyboarding used by the filmmakers.
• Eventually, researchers can prepare draft storyboards for science films for the general public.

Learning outcomes

After this course, participants can: 

• Build persuasive presentations of their research for the general public, using cinematographic storyboarding
• Prepare cinematographic storyboards for short films about their research

Nyon - Festival Vision du Réel

Date: Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st April 2026

Place: Festival Vision du Réel (Nyon)

Schedule: On April the 20th from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm and on April the 21st from 9 am to 1 pm (work in classroom) ; on both days: 2 pm to 6 pm (in the field, not mandatory). The tickets will be at the participants' expense.

The Trainer:

Dr Samer Angelone is a biologist and filmmaker. He teaches 'Filmmaking for Scientists', 'Storytelling & Storyboarding Science', 'Filmmaking Marathon', and 'Video-Journalism for Scientists' at various Swiss universities and research institutes, and film festivals (e.g., Locarno Film Festival). He is the founder and director of the Global Science Film Festival in Switzerland (www.sciencefilm.ch), and works as a jury-member for prestigious film festivals (e.g. Planet in Focus, Cinemambiente Film Festival). Angelone has directed several fiction and documentary films in Spain, Switzerland, and Kenya, mainly focusing on issues relating to science and the environment. He has developed scientific research on population genetics, diseases, forensics, wildlife conservation, social media, and human-elephant conflict. Angelone holds a PhD in population genetics, and master's degrees in film studies and film direction.

Participants are eligible for reimbursement of incurred travel expenses by train between the city of their university and Nyon.

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