Film
Science Fair
A documentary following nine brilliant teenagers competing at the Intel International Science Fair. It's a warmly observed film about ambition, curiosity, cultural difference, and what happens when you're the smartest person in every room. Perfect if you love watching people chase excellence—and more generous toward its subjects than you might expect.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like competition stories where the rivals are treated as people, and you enjoy watching sharp, curious minds work at full tilt.
Skip it if you need one protagonist and a tightly plotted arc, because this spreads its attention across nine students and the competition floor.
What it asks of you: It asks you to keep track of many young faces and short portraits, and to sit with science talk at a hobbyist's pace rather than a lecturer's.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Won't You Be My Neighbor?2018
A portrait of someone driven by genuine curiosity and care about the world, uninterested in fame or profit. Like Science Fair, it argues for the value of thinking deeply about what matters.
But Deliberately quiet and meditative. If you want spectacle or conflict, the gentle pace will feel slow.
The Toys That Made Us2017
Episodes celebrating how ordinary people pursued obsessive curiosity and solved hard problems creatively. Same spirit of 'here's how smart humans think,' just applied to Play-Doh instead of chemistry.
But Unabashedly nostalgic and a little uncritical. It loves its subjects in a way that can feel naive.
Hoop Dreams1994
Follows two young athletes toward a dream over years. Like Science Fair, it's fascinated by talent, ambition, family pressure, and the gap between image and reality in high-stakes competition.
But Heavy and lengthy at 181 minutes. It's not celebrating achievement so much as documenting sacrifice and disappointment.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Science Fair
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Pumping Iron1977
Both follow competitors toward a single, absolute victory. Both are fascinated by how people bend their entire lives toward excellence. But where Science Fair asks 'what are you building,' Pumping Iron asks 'what are you becoming?'—a completely different energy.
Follows bodybuilders competing for a championship, with the same fascination for obsessive self-improvement and the gap between public image and private doubt. It's beautifully shot, funny, and genuinely moving in its way.
But The machismo register is utterly different—much trashier and more openly sexual. If Science Fair felt cerebral, this is purely physical and vain. Also, Schwarzenegger is on screen constantly, which shapes everything.
More like this (4)
My Octopus Teacher2020
A scientist driven by curiosity spending a year watching one animal. The same meditative approach to observation and learning, just with a different subject.
But More poetic and slow than Science Fair. Some find it precious rather than moving.
Bao2018
A ten-minute animated short about creativity and ambition within family and cultural expectations—the emotional core of Science Fair in miniature.
But It's a short, not a full film. Some viewers need more to sink into.
Indie Game: The Movie2012
Follows young game designers obsessing over tiny details and solving impossible problems. Same intensity and passion, just channeled into a different arena.
But Can feel like a vanity project for its subjects. Limited appeal if indie games don't already interest you.
Ping Pong2012
The structure mirrors Science Fair—following young competitors toward a championship—but animated and emotionally excavated in ways only fiction can be. If you loved the feeling of Science Fair but wanted to go deeper into psychology and doubt, this is where animation does the work documentary cannot.
A stunning anime feature about two teenagers who are crushingly good at ping pong, following them through a high school tournament. It's visually dazzling, emotionally mature, and genuinely about what happens when you're young and brilliant and afraid.
But It's anime. If you're expecting live-action documentary realism, this will feel false and stylized. Also, it's a fiction film, not a document of actual teenagers.
People
Directing
- Cristina CostantiniDirector
- Darren FosterDirector
Production
- Lula FotisAssociate Producer
- David LincolnCoordinating Producer