Coinciding with the Nobel Prize ceremony in Sweden on 10 December, more screenings of STEM CELL REVOLUTIONS are being organised. We have already confirmed events at the Filmhouse in Edinburgh, at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney.

Maybe you want to hold one where you are?

Update: Just added a screening in Cambridge. All events include Q&A with scientists.

Update 2: Just added two screenings at the Glasgow Film Theatre on 28 January (with Q&A) and 30 January.

Update 3: Three more screenings across the UK in March: in Cambridge, Biggar, and Caithness.

Stem cell researchers Shinya Yamanaka (pictured) and John Gurdon have just been awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine. Both are featured in the film STEM CELL REVOLUTIONS. 

Commenting on the news, Clare Blackburn, science producer of the film and one of the professors at the University of Edinburgh's MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, said: "The work of John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka has been transformative. We are so delighted to hear this news."

Filmmaker Amy Hardie added: "So many scientists have said that Shinya Yamanaka has overturned our understanding of basic developmental biology. And he has – with the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells.

"What Shinya Yamanaka himself points out and we were able to show in our film STEM CELL REVOLUTIONS, is the lineage from John Gurdon who cloned frogs in Cambridge. Shinya's groundbreaking discovery would not have been possible without Gurdon's pioneering work."

Here is a clip from the film that links Gurdon and Yamanaka (click the red button to watch it). There's much more about Yamanaka's work in the film.

Amy Hardie continued: "This is a Nobel Prize that celebrates both how science progresses from generation to generation and how individual scientists with one experiment can overturn knowledge that had been enshrined in biology textbook for years.

"It's been an honour to have been granted the access to both John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka and to have them generously explain their groundbreaking innovations in language a non-scientist can understand."

STEM CELL REVOLUTONS was released online and on DVD this summer. You can preview, rent, or buy the whole 70-minute film for personal or educational use here. You can also embed the clip above using the button on the player.

Stem cell pioneers Shinya Yamanaka, Ian Wilmut, John Gurdon in STEM CELL REVOLUTIONS

Our film just got reviewed in the influential Cell Stem Cell magazine:

"In their new documentary Stem Cell Revolutions, filmmakers Amy Hardie, director/producer, and Clare Blackburn, stem cell biologist, team up to present a fascinating portrait of the history of stem cell science and a provocative peek into its future. This is an elegant and deeply instructive piece of work, with wide potential for raising awareness of the promise and possibilities of stem cell science—both in formal educational settings and among lay generalists who are curious about the this area of biological investigation."

For a limited time, STEM CELL REVOLUTIONS is available as download for educational use at the introductory price of £49 (€55, $79). The regular price will be £85.

The package includes the full film download, the five thematic chapters as separate files, and a Teacher Pack. All will be yours to keep with no time limit on its use. You can download the educational package straight from Distrify. (If your institution cannot pay by card or by PayPal and needs an invoice for a bank transfer, please use this form to place your order.)

As the film was funded in the United Kingdom, we're able to offer some very special deals to secondary schools in the UK. Please see this page for an overview of all our products for educational use.

STEM CELL REVOLUTIONS just got reviewed in the Stem Cell Directory:

"Director/Producer Amy Hardie and Science Producer Dr Clare Blackburn do a great job of taking such a scientific/technical issue as stem cells and making it approachable, entertaining, and easy to follow. The film is a great way to introduce stem cells to non-technical audiences such as teachers and students."

Read the full review here. Get the film here.

We launched streaming and downloadable products last month, and they've proven very popular (especially the introductory offer for our educational download).

Now the film is widely available on DVD as well, both for personal and educational use. Starting at £9.50 (€10.90, $15.90), shipping to 60 countries is already included in the price of our DVDs. Just order your copy straight from the video player.

On the Node, a community site for developmental biologists, Claire Cox just wrote this review of STEM CELL REVOLUTIONS:

"My first thought after watching Stem Cell Revolutions was: wow, is education supposed to be this entertaining? Although I have been working in the stem cell field for a few years now, I learnt a lot from watching this film..."

From today, STEM CELL REVOLUTIONS is available online. For personal use, the film is available for rental and can be accessed up to five times within 30 days for one fee. For educational use, the film is available for purchase as a download-to-own file that won't expire. For those who prefer DVDs, these will be available soon – watch this space!

Unlike other posts you may come across on 1 April, this is no joke: Our film has just won at the Vedere la Scienza Festival in Milan. Here's what the international jury had to say: 

"The prize is given for the relevance of the subject, the effectiveness and the elegance of the animations, which well illustrate complex concepts. The documentary recounts the evolution of the stem cells studies in a clear and precise fashion, with an interesting description of the relationship between researchers, physicians and patients. The current clinical applications and their ethical implications are openly and honestly discussed. Interesting the introduction of the point of view of a well known writer."

STEM CELL REVOLUTIONS will be released on DVD and online very soon. Make sure you've signed up to get notified. 

The winning films will be screened again on Tuesday 3 April.

Amy Hardie, the Scottish filmmaker who collaborated with scientist Clare Blackburn on STEM CELL REVOLUTIONS, now has her own blog called Amy on the Edge – the title a reference to her acclaimed documentary, THE EDGE OF DREAMING. She's focusing on "life, death, and the power of the unconscious". 

It would be great if you could have a look and let Amy know what you think.

Recently, Amy also wrote a post on our website on her approach to STEM CELL REVOLUTIONS.