Marine Documentary Night: Season ends with ‘Science Fair’ | News

The film offers a front row seat of the victories, defeats and motivations of an incredible group of young women and men who are on a path to change their lives, and the world, through science. 

Said co-director Cristina Costantini, “’Science Fair’ is a love letter to the subculture that saved me. As a dweeby kid growing up in a sports-obsessed high school in Wisconsin, the international science fair became my lifeboat. It validated my passion for science, taught me how to dedicate myself to a goal and set my life on a trajectory that would have otherwise been totally impossible. But most important, science fair is where I found my tribe.”

Costantini worked with Darren and Mariana Foster on an investigative TV documentary, “Death by Fentanyl.” Afterward, she suggested they document the International Science and Engineering Fair.

“By the end of [‘Death by Fentanyl’], I needed a break from investigative work,” said Darren Foster. “I was definitely looking for something different. That’s when Cristina told me about her idea of a documentary on science fair. I was a science kid, too, and participated in science fair, but the level that Cristina competed at was another world. What really sold me was this story about how she skipped the opportunity to go to the junior prom with her high school crush so she could compete at science fair. I won’t do the story justice, you’ll have to ask Cristina, but it was the nerdiest thing I ever heard. I was in.”

The free screening will be held at the Marine Village Hall (121 Judd Street) on Thursday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m. The Marine Documentary Film Series is supported by both Marine Library Association and a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council.