LOCARNO FILM FESTIVAL 2026
From 5–15 August 2026, a group of PhD students and postdocs will be our AoM Ambassadors of Science team at the Locarno Film Festival BaseCamp – Laboratory of Ideas.
Meet our team:
Meet our team:
Ana Maria Ganev
Pharmacist by training, bioethicist by conviction, reader by temperament: I am a PhD candidate in Bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome and an Associate Researcher with the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights, working on psychedelic medicine, AI, neurotechnology, bioaesthetics and the ethics of being human in a century that keeps redefining the term. The most useful bioethics I've encountered isn't always in a journal. It is in a film that won't let you settle, a novel that complicates your moral confidence, a TV series your students haven't stopped quoting since you showed it in class. I treat art (cinema, painting, fiction) as a thinking instrument, not as an illustration of one.
I will be joining the Locarno Film Festival because the most interesting moral arguments of the century are being written somewhere between a screenplay and a research protocol. I hope to find out whether a bioethicist can hold their ground among people who create as well as reason, and to leave as a slightly different thinker than when I first arrived.
Pharmacist by training, bioethicist by conviction, reader by temperament: I am a PhD candidate in Bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome and an Associate Researcher with the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights, working on psychedelic medicine, AI, neurotechnology, bioaesthetics and the ethics of being human in a century that keeps redefining the term. The most useful bioethics I've encountered isn't always in a journal. It is in a film that won't let you settle, a novel that complicates your moral confidence, a TV series your students haven't stopped quoting since you showed it in class. I treat art (cinema, painting, fiction) as a thinking instrument, not as an illustration of one.
I will be joining the Locarno Film Festival because the most interesting moral arguments of the century are being written somewhere between a screenplay and a research protocol. I hope to find out whether a bioethicist can hold their ground among people who create as well as reason, and to leave as a slightly different thinker than when I first arrived.
Nithila Kumar
I'm a PhD researcher at Heidelberg University and the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in the Micro Nano and Molecular Systems group. I currently work on imaging and understanding active particle behaviour at the nanoscale. A big part of my work is also building optical systems that can image these particles at high speeds and resolutions. We’re often told to see science as objective, de-personal, and above socio-political analysis but I have always found that the most compelling and illuminating narratives lie in the interface of science and society. I see BaseCamp as an opportunity meet scientists who share this worldview, but also to expand my ideas of what it means to be a scientist who wants to do more than science.
I'm a PhD researcher at Heidelberg University and the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in the Micro Nano and Molecular Systems group. I currently work on imaging and understanding active particle behaviour at the nanoscale. A big part of my work is also building optical systems that can image these particles at high speeds and resolutions. We’re often told to see science as objective, de-personal, and above socio-political analysis but I have always found that the most compelling and illuminating narratives lie in the interface of science and society. I see BaseCamp as an opportunity meet scientists who share this worldview, but also to expand my ideas of what it means to be a scientist who wants to do more than science.
Yusuf Qutbuddin
I am Postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, and I work at the interface of science and fiction, aiming to create synthetic life and through the process understanding the origins of life on our big blue beautiful planet. Specifically, I work on cellular membranes which act as a fundamental barrier to separate life from its surroundings. Albeit, membrane is more than a barrier, and it acts as a platform for important reactions and signals across the cell, necessary for its proliferation. Learning from these processes, I believe Locarno base camp would act as one such semi-permeable barrier where scientists and artists would share, learn and collaborate. Art and science are not separate worlds. They are different ways of asking the same essential questions about life, about origin, about what it means to exist.
I am Postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, and I work at the interface of science and fiction, aiming to create synthetic life and through the process understanding the origins of life on our big blue beautiful planet. Specifically, I work on cellular membranes which act as a fundamental barrier to separate life from its surroundings. Albeit, membrane is more than a barrier, and it acts as a platform for important reactions and signals across the cell, necessary for its proliferation. Learning from these processes, I believe Locarno base camp would act as one such semi-permeable barrier where scientists and artists would share, learn and collaborate. Art and science are not separate worlds. They are different ways of asking the same essential questions about life, about origin, about what it means to exist.
Jan Uhrhan
Hi there! My name is Jan Uhrhan, and I am a PhD student in the laboratory of Thomas Ward at the University of Basel. Ever since I was a child, I’ve had a habit of asking “why?”, and that habit has never left me. I am driven by curiosity and the desire to understand the unknown, which makes me extremely passionate about science. Independent research allows me to ask questions, explore ideas, and transform hypotheses into real-world experiments. I am especially motivated by the creative side of science: taking risks, pursuing new directions, and discovering unexpected results through experimentation. My specialization in molecular biology, biotechnology, and biochemistry enables me to uncover the molecular principles that drive natural evolution and to study the fascinating mechanisms that govern life at its most fundamental level. More specifically, I am interested in developing more sustainable approaches to chemical synthesis. This has led me to the field of biocatalysis, which, whether applied in living organisms or industrial processes, often provides a greener and more efficient alternative to traditional synthetic chemistry. My research focuses on repurposing natural metalloenzymes to catalyze reactions beyond their native function, with the goal of expanding nature’s enzymatic toolbox through catalytic transformations inaccessible to natural evolution. During my PhD, I have been deeply immersed in research, reading papers, designing experiments, and spending countless hours in the lab. While this has been intellectually fulfilling, it has also reinforced my belief that science thrives when it engages with perspectives beyond its own discipline. I see the Locarno Film Festival and the Ambassador of Science program as a unique opportunity to explore the dialogue between science and the arts, where different ways of thinking can inspire new questions, challenge assumptions, and spark creative ideas. I hope to contribute actively to the Basecamp community by sharing my perspective as a researcher while learning from artists, filmmakers, and fellow participants, fostering a vibrant exchange between science and the arts.
Hi there! My name is Jan Uhrhan, and I am a PhD student in the laboratory of Thomas Ward at the University of Basel. Ever since I was a child, I’ve had a habit of asking “why?”, and that habit has never left me. I am driven by curiosity and the desire to understand the unknown, which makes me extremely passionate about science. Independent research allows me to ask questions, explore ideas, and transform hypotheses into real-world experiments. I am especially motivated by the creative side of science: taking risks, pursuing new directions, and discovering unexpected results through experimentation. My specialization in molecular biology, biotechnology, and biochemistry enables me to uncover the molecular principles that drive natural evolution and to study the fascinating mechanisms that govern life at its most fundamental level. More specifically, I am interested in developing more sustainable approaches to chemical synthesis. This has led me to the field of biocatalysis, which, whether applied in living organisms or industrial processes, often provides a greener and more efficient alternative to traditional synthetic chemistry. My research focuses on repurposing natural metalloenzymes to catalyze reactions beyond their native function, with the goal of expanding nature’s enzymatic toolbox through catalytic transformations inaccessible to natural evolution. During my PhD, I have been deeply immersed in research, reading papers, designing experiments, and spending countless hours in the lab. While this has been intellectually fulfilling, it has also reinforced my belief that science thrives when it engages with perspectives beyond its own discipline. I see the Locarno Film Festival and the Ambassador of Science program as a unique opportunity to explore the dialogue between science and the arts, where different ways of thinking can inspire new questions, challenge assumptions, and spark creative ideas. I hope to contribute actively to the Basecamp community by sharing my perspective as a researcher while learning from artists, filmmakers, and fellow participants, fostering a vibrant exchange between science and the arts.