Ardán in partnership with CÚRAM – the SFI Research Centre for Medical Devices – are delighted to announce the commissioning of a new research-based documentary as a part of their Science on Screen initiative.  

A filmmaking team (minimum of producer and director) will receive funding of €40,000 to make a 25 minute documentary incorporating one or more of the selected research projects being developed by researchers at CÚRAM, all based around the theme of Cardiovascular illness.  

Previous documentaries made for the Science on Screen scheme include topics such as Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, stroke and cerebrovascular research.  Some of the documentaries have screened and won awards at international film festivals and had national TV broadcasts. 

Information Day 

An Information Day on the Science on Screen Commission will be held in the Biomedical Sciences Building, North Campus, University of Galway (H91 W2TY) on Friday 19th April 2024 at 9:30am at which CÚRAM researchers will present their research project as a possible documentary subject matter. Filmmakers will have an opportunity to ask the researchers questions to find out more about their projects with a view to developing the story for a documentary.  

The researchers presenting at the open day will be expected to form the core of the documentary being developed and will be available to be interviewed during the production process.  There will also be some patients available for documentary interviews, but the filmmakers can choose to include other patients for their documentary should they be suitable. 

Spaces for the Info Day are limited, and registration (available here) is required for attendance. Registration closes at 3pm on Thursday 18th April. Those who cannot attend in person can join the Info Day via Zoom at a link which will be shared on Thursday 18th April 2024.  

How to apply 

After the open day, filmmakers will have one month to prepare their application for the commission. They can choose to incorporate one or more of the research project(s) in their documentary. If more than one project is chosen, the applicant will be expected to clearly outline in their treatment how they would incorporate each of them into the story of their documentary in a natural way.  

Applications are accepted from teams comprising at least one director and one producer. If an applicant is a producer or director without a team, there will be an opportunity to ‘pitch’ yourself to the audience with the goal of forming a team. 

Each application will be expected to have a treatment including a logline and synopsis developed for the documentary they are proposing to make as well as a budget, shooting schedule and crew list. Applicants will also be expected to have a production company to receive the funds for the documentary, which will be paid in installments as per the contract which will be provided. 

The successful candidate will work with their chosen researchers to explore and develop their project(s) and through the use of interviews, supporting footage and illustrations, will deliver a high quality 25 minute-long documentary by March 2025 to be added to the existing Science on Screen catalogue. 

The application form can be found here and the deadline for applications is 24th May 2024. 

About Science on Screen 

‘Science on Screen’ aims to facilitate, promote and increase the inclusion of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) content in Irish film and TV production. The partnership began in 2016 with CÚRAM funding documentary filmmaking and providing access to leading scientists to explore methods of scientific ‘story telling’ and to produce short films that incorporate current research at CÚRAM and its partners. 

Since 2016, eight Science on Screen films have been produced. These have been broadcast on RTE and or TG4, screened at numerous international film festivals and have scooped 6 international awards. The documentaries are used throughout the country at schools, for community screenings as well as at academic conferences and have reached an audience of over 1 million people to date.