Insect Fear Film Festival
Encyclopedia
The Insect Fear Film Festival has been held annually at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
since 1984. Its format has generally consisted of two or three feature-length films alternating with animated or live-action shorts that illustrate various aspects of insect biology.
The film festival's founder, entomology
professor May Berenbaum
, conceived the idea as a graduate student at Cornell University
, where it was deemed undignified. Berenbaum was able to execute the project after joining the University of Illinois faculty in 1980.
The festival is usually organized around themes. These have included insect invasions, as exemplified by The Naked Jungle
and The Swarm, metamorphosis
, cockroach
es, mosquito
s, and entomologists themselves. The most popular offering at the festival, according to the National Wildlife Federation
's magazine, has been Beginning of the End
, which features giant grasshoppers invading the city of Chicago
after consuming radiation-treated vegetables.
Media outlets covering the festival have included the Canadian Broadcasting Company, National Public Radio, the Washington Post, and The New York Times
.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
since 1984. Its format has generally consisted of two or three feature-length films alternating with animated or live-action shorts that illustrate various aspects of insect biology.
The film festival's founder, entomology
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
professor May Berenbaum
May Berenbaum
May Roberta Berenbaum is an American entomologist whose research focuses on the chemical interactions between herbivorous insects and their host-plants, and the implications of these interactions on the organization of natural communities and the evolution of species.Berenbaum graduated summa cum...
, conceived the idea as a graduate student at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, where it was deemed undignified. Berenbaum was able to execute the project after joining the University of Illinois faculty in 1980.
The festival is usually organized around themes. These have included insect invasions, as exemplified by The Naked Jungle
The Naked Jungle
The Naked Jungle is a 1954 film directed by Byron Haskin, and starring Charlton Heston and Eleanor Parker. Telling the story of an attack of army ants on a Peruvian cocoa plantation, it was based on the short story "Leiningen Versus the Ants" by Carl Stephenson.-Plot:As the film opens, Joanna , a...
and The Swarm, metamorphosis
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation...
, cockroach
Cockroach
Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria or Blattodea, of which about 30 species out of 4,500 total are associated with human habitations...
es, mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...
s, and entomologists themselves. The most popular offering at the festival, according to the National Wildlife Federation
National Wildlife Federation
The National Wildlife Federation is the United States' largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization, with over four million members and supporters, and 48 state and territorial affiliated organizations...
's magazine, has been Beginning of the End
Beginning of the End
Beginning of the End is a 1957 American science fiction film directed by Bert I. Gordon and starring Peter Graves and Peggie Castle. The film is about an agricultural scientist who has successfully grown gigantic vegetables using radiation...
, which features giant grasshoppers invading the city of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
after consuming radiation-treated vegetables.
Media outlets covering the festival have included the Canadian Broadcasting Company, National Public Radio, the Washington Post, and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
.