‘We Hope that Our Film Will Motivate Young People to Get Involved in Research’

2052: See the Future

RT

In honour of HSE University’s 30^th anniversary in November 2022, the RT television channel made a documentary film called 2052: See the Future. The film is dedicated to the university’s research achievements and how they will change the world in the decades to come. The film was released this year in English and Arabic. The first festival screening of 2052: See the Future took place as part of the 7^th Gagarin.doc International Festival of Cinema, Science and Contemporary Art.

The festival was held in Saratov, Orenburg, Kazan, and other cities. 2052 was screened in Orenburg.

Liudmila Mezentseva, Head of the Science Communication and Outreach Office at HSE University

‘When making the film, we focused on making it interesting to a wide audience. We wanted to show that today, research is not confined to dusty laboratories—it is developing rapidly and will be able to make our future better. We hope that our film will motivate young people to get involved in research and that some of them who see this film will go on to become renowned scientists.’ 

Ksenia Bregadze, Head of the HSE University Press Office

‘One of the main characters in the film is a student. We’ll let you in on a secret: he isn’t an actor, but a real master’s student at HSE University. He has already started working as a research assistant, is actively publishing papers and is involved in research. It is young people like this who can advance science in the future, make discoveries and make our lives better. We hope that some people who watch the film will be inspired to pursue a career in science.’

2052: See the Future is the vision of a group of creators trying to see the future through the eyes of scientists. Looking 30 years ahead, the film shows the consequences of economic and social restructuring, climate change, neuroscience research, AI, and the widespread application of digital technologies, including in the humanities and law. Fifteen leading HSE University scientists and researchers provided their expertise for the film. In December 2022, the film was screened at HSE University and broadcast on the RT Documentary website. This year, the film was released internationally and screened in English and Arabic.

The Gagarin.doc festival is a platform for dialogue in science and culture, a meeting place for representatives of the humanities and natural sciences: philosophers, physicists, mathematicians, philologists, as well as filmmakers, art historians, and creators. The goal of the festival is to use cinema and modern art to popularise scientific knowledge. The festival opened on April 7 with the premiere of the film The Challenge (Вызов), which was directed by Klim Shipenko and partially filmed on the international space station.