OBSERVER (2025)
General Admission Tickets: $7
SAT, OCT 4, 2025
Join us for a special event and film screening presented by Illinois Public Media, home of WILL-TV, WILL-AM, WILL-FM, and Illinois Soul. In partnership with the Beckman Institute.
Join us for a special event and film screening presented by Illinois Public Media, home of WILL-TV, WILL-AM, WILL-FM, and Illinois Soul. In partnership with the Beckman Institute.
Not Rated
95 Min
In OBSERVER, filmmaker Ian Cheney embarks on an experiment in which he brings a series of keen-eyed observers - scientists, artists, a hunter - to a range of locations around the world, often without telling them where they are going, and asks them simply to describe what they see.
What unfolds is a deep exploration and celebration of the power of observation: what happens when you find new ways to sense and perceive the world around you? With customary whimsy and a small painted red square that Cheney brings on every journey, the film is an invitation to viewers to find beauty and meaning in even the most quotidian of locales.
Doors open at 1:30pm.
***BEFORE THE MOVIE***
From 11am - 2pm, Beckman Institute will host its first STEM Crawl, bringing hands-on exhibits to downtown Champaign.
Visit the various participating businesses to engage with the hands-on science that can change the lives of ordinary people. Meet the researchers and experience the impact of world-changing discovery. Visitors of all ages are encouraged to participate in hands-on demos while visiting local shops and restaurants. More information about the Crawl can be found on their website: HERE
The Beckman Institute hosted its first open house in 1997. From the start, the event provided a time and space for the larger surrounding community to experience the amazing science happening on campus.
After the crawl, join us for the screening of Observer. The first 200 STEM Crawl participants will be provided free movie tickets, courtesy of the following University of Illinois units:
Ian Cheney received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale and an MFA in filmmaking from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. His twelve feature-length films prior to Observer (2025) include King Corn (2007), The City Dark (2010), The Search for General Tso (2014), The Most Unknown (2018), Picture a Scientist (2020), The Arc of Oblivion (2023), and Shelf Life (2024). He has helmed Wicked Delicate Films since 2003. A former MacDowell Fellow and Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT, he has taught at Yale College and the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy. He lives in Maine.
For more visit: www.observerfilm.org/about
PLEASE NOTE: The Virginia Theatre is pleased to bring diverse programming to the stage and screen. The Theatre cannot always provide advisories about subject matter for events, as sensitivities vary. Not all events may appeal to, or be appropriate for, every person. Patrons are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the shows offered in order to make informed decisions prior to purchasing tickets.
95 Min
In OBSERVER, filmmaker Ian Cheney embarks on an experiment in which he brings a series of keen-eyed observers - scientists, artists, a hunter - to a range of locations around the world, often without telling them where they are going, and asks them simply to describe what they see.
What unfolds is a deep exploration and celebration of the power of observation: what happens when you find new ways to sense and perceive the world around you? With customary whimsy and a small painted red square that Cheney brings on every journey, the film is an invitation to viewers to find beauty and meaning in even the most quotidian of locales.
Doors open at 1:30pm.
***BEFORE THE MOVIE***
From 11am - 2pm, Beckman Institute will host its first STEM Crawl, bringing hands-on exhibits to downtown Champaign.
Visit the various participating businesses to engage with the hands-on science that can change the lives of ordinary people. Meet the researchers and experience the impact of world-changing discovery. Visitors of all ages are encouraged to participate in hands-on demos while visiting local shops and restaurants. More information about the Crawl can be found on their website: HERE
The Beckman Institute hosted its first open house in 1997. From the start, the event provided a time and space for the larger surrounding community to experience the amazing science happening on campus.
After the crawl, join us for the screening of Observer. The first 200 STEM Crawl participants will be provided free movie tickets, courtesy of the following University of Illinois units:
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
- Center for Social & Behavioral Science
- National Center for Supercomputing Applications
Ian Cheney received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale and an MFA in filmmaking from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. His twelve feature-length films prior to Observer (2025) include King Corn (2007), The City Dark (2010), The Search for General Tso (2014), The Most Unknown (2018), Picture a Scientist (2020), The Arc of Oblivion (2023), and Shelf Life (2024). He has helmed Wicked Delicate Films since 2003. A former MacDowell Fellow and Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT, he has taught at Yale College and the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy. He lives in Maine.
For more visit: www.observerfilm.org/about
PLEASE NOTE: The Virginia Theatre is pleased to bring diverse programming to the stage and screen. The Theatre cannot always provide advisories about subject matter for events, as sensitivities vary. Not all events may appeal to, or be appropriate for, every person. Patrons are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the shows offered in order to make informed decisions prior to purchasing tickets.
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